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Million-dollar Toyota 2000GT begins restoration in Sydney

A very rare Toyota 2000GT sports car has begun its restoration journey, it has been revealed.


Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia announced the 2000GT's restoration kicked-off at a workshop in Sydney in recent days.

Only 351 examples of the Toyota 2000GT were made between 1967 and 1970 – with nine being delivered to Australian customers – making it one of the rarest vehicles to ever come from the Japanese car maker. And one of the most valuable.

In 2013, a yellow 2000GT broke records when it sold at auction for US$1.2 million, with auctions in more recent years fetching around a million dollars depending on the condition of the car.

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As a collaborative project between Toyota and Yamaha, the 2000GT featured a 2.0-litre six cylinder sourced from a Toyota Crown, but developed by Yamaha to produce 110kW and 175Nm.

While lacklustre by today's standards, in 1967 American magazine Road & Track called the Toyota "one of the most exciting and enjoyable cars we've driven," offering performance on-par with the Porsche 911.

Styling was heavily influenced by the Jaguar E-Type, with the final product being led by Nissan designer Albrecht von Goertz – the man who penned the BMW 507, and is widely credited with creating the Nissan 240Z's iconic shape.

Despite echoes of the E-Type in the 2000GT's design, the Toyota was more expensive than the Jaguar. At around $9,200, the car was ambitiously priced against Ferrari models of the same era.

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Yamaha had initially planned to partner with Nissan on the 2000GT – which explains the input from Nissan's design team – but the company backed out, and Toyota eventually took its place on the project.

Two convertible versions of the 2000GT were created for the Jame Bond film You Only Live Twice, starring Sean Connery. One of the movie cars is currently housed at the Petersen Museum in Los Angeles.

The local workshop performing the resto on the Australian 2000GT is part of McCarroll's Automotive Group, which owns a number of dealerships across seven locations in the Sydney area.

In July 2020, Toyota announced it would be providing factory parts support for the 2000GT, remanufacturing components for the gearbox and differential.

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Ben Zachariah

Ben Zachariah is an experienced writer and motoring journalist from Melbourne, having worked in the automotive industry for more than two decades. Ben began writing professionally more than 15 years ago and was previously an interstate truck driver. He completed his MBA in Finance in early 2021 and is considered an expert on classic car investment.

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