Before that, however, the 2000GT went on the racetrack, with two lightweight versions entered in the Japanese Grand Prix (not Formula 1, of course) in May 1966. One finished third, behind two factory Prince R380 mid-engine prototypes; the other overheated and didn't finish. Both lightweight Toyotas not only finished the Suzuka 1,000 km race in June, but placed first and second in Japan's first-ever endurance race.
The production model appeared right on schedule, and immediately appeared on the cover of "Car and Driver." Some critics carped about the car's front end, particularly the pop-up headlamps needed to meet the laws of some countries. Big fog lights behind Plexiglas covers had a low beam feature that operated with the main headlamps retracted. Everyone loved the rear three-quarter angle, the fastback roofline incorporating a faint ducktail and a hinged liftgate. Twin round taillights were set in bezels to the outside of vertical "overriders" that served as rear bumpers. There was no front bumper other than the T-bar grille.
If the body borrowed from Jaguar, the chassis cribbed from Lotus. A central spine frame, a la Elan, was forked fore and aft of the passenger compartment. Although stiff longitudinally, it lacked torsional rigidity. The all-steel body therefore contributed extra stiffness. Front suspension was conventional double A-arms with coil springs around tube shock absorbers. At the rear, the coil-over shocks were mounted on stamped upper A-arms and tall "horns" on the backbone frame, while the lower A-arms were tubular and adjustable. Front and rear anti-roll bars were used as well.
Yamaha used Toyota's stodgy Crown six to power the 2000GT, but kept only the cast iron block, seven-bearing crankshaft and connecting rods. A new chain-driven double overhead cam head had two big valves per cylinder and hemispherical combustion chambers. Stock compression was only 8.4:1. Three twin-throat 40mm Mikuni-Solex sidedraft carburetors were used, while two three-branch cast aluminum alloy headers led to a side-by-side dual exhaust system. Ignition was by a conventional breaker point system, and an engine oil cooler was standard equipment. Maximum power was 150 hp at 6600 rpm, with 130 lb-ft of torque at 5000 rpm.
A four-speed manual gearbox had a tailpiece with an overdrive fifth and reverse incorporated. This rather long unit-two-thirds of the distance to the differential-resulted in a driveshaft only 20.8 inches long. The limited-slip differential had a final drive ratio of 4.375:1, with 4.111 and 4.625 optional.
The 2000GT was the first Japanese car to have four-wheel disc brakes, solid discs front and rear, 11.0 and 10.5 inches respectively. Genuine magnesium wheels were used, with center locks that were tightened and loosened with a removable "spinner." Original equipment tires were Dunlop SP41 radials, 165HR15, tall 78-series tires.
The interior, though designed with American drivers in mind, was snug and had only two seats. Befitting Yamaha's piano-making business, the dash and console had beautifully finished rosewood panels. Instrumentation was complete with a 160-mph speedometer and a 9000-rpm tachometer, plus coolant and oil temperature, oil pressure, ammeter, and fuel level gauges. A novel feature was a signal-seeking radio.
But how did it go? Quite well, actually. Its $6,750 list price was not far below the $7,000 asked for a Porsche 911S, incredible for a Japanese car. But the 2000GT wasn't far off in performance, with a quarter mile time of 16.6 seconds (per "Road & Track"), compared with the 15.7 seconds for the 911S. Not bad, considering the 2000GT was trimmed as a luxury sports car and weighed 2,480-lbs curb weight. It was remarkable enough that the Toyota, a Japanese car, would be compared with the German sports car icon.
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Two convertible 2000GTs were constructed for the 007 film, "You Only Live Twice." James Bo
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