L.A.’s coolest car – 1967 Toyota 2000GT

Undoubtedly the coolest car at the L.A. Auto show – but one which I did not get to write about at the time – was this 1967 Toyota 2000GT, although you had to look for it. Stuck in a corner separated from the main Toyota & Scion stands were this car, a 1961 Land Cruiser, and an early 1990s Eagle MKIII/Toyota IMSA GTP car.

The 2000GT is a landmark car in the history of the Japanese auto industry – one of the first Japanese cars (along with the Mazda 110S Cosmo) to genuinely wow the global automotive press, it was viewed when new as Japan’s Jaguar E-type. The format was certainly similar – a swoopy and dramatic coupe with a DOHC straight six up front, in this case a Yamaha engine. Many other technical details were world-class, including disc brakes all around (still a rarity in 1967).

Just 351 2000GT’s were built – costly to build and essentially created by hand, they sold for almost $7,000 when new, considerably more than the price of an XKE or a Cadillac Eldorado at the time from a manufacturer few outside of Japan knew well and few took seriously prior to this car’s debut. A little over 50 2000GTs came to the USA.

It’s hard to imagine now, but in 1967 Japanese cars were regarded with derision – perceived as cheap clones of European cars or scaled-down American cars. Cars like the 2000GT changed that. Three years later, a much less costly straight six sports car from Japan would elaborate on the themes of the 2000GT and win many hearts and minds, but that car came from Datsun, as the 240Z.