We Need This Low-Mileage, Original Condition Toyota 2000 GT In Our Lives

The 2000 GT is one of the dark horses of the classic car market; overlooked for a long time because it wasn't European or American. An asking price of a million dollars for this one means those days are long gone

Matt Kimberley

13 Apr 2017

We Need This Low-Mileage, Original Condition Toyota 2000 GT In Our Lives

Low-mileage, original Toyota 2000GTs are rare. Really rare. And they’re also deeply lovely. It was the first credible sports car to come out of Japan, but it was so much more than that.

The 2000GT looked made for the coast roads of the Mediterranean. You can just picture a cream-suited millionaire playboy stepping out of one outside the Metropole in Monaco with his model girlfriend. There would be classic Ferraris and Aston Martins nearby, but the Toyota wouldn’t look out of place.

At least, it wouldn’t to my eyes, anyway. The 2000GT is now one of the most sought-after classics around, and over the last few years prices have gone through the roof. We spotted this 1968 example at Tomini Classics. It’s a left-hooker, one of just two 2000 GTs ever sold in Portugal. The paint, which the seller tells us is the correct Pegasus White, has been restored to absolutely concours standard, suggesting a pretty pampered five decades of life so far.

Documents with the car indicate that it was exported back to Japan by the early 1980s, from where Tomini Classics brought it back westwards. On the clock you’ll see less than 12,000km, or about 7500 miles, but specific information is pretty thin beyond that. It’s purely a hopeful assumption that if the paint is in such good order, the mechanicals will be too. Mind you, for the $900,000 (£720,000) asking price, you’d damn well hope so.

The sellers describe it as one of the ‘jewels in the crown’ of their collection, which is saying something when they also have a 1967 Aston Martin DB6, a 1966 Racing Shelby Cobra, a 1967 Ferrari 330 P4 racer and a very early Jaguar E-Type 3.8. There’s even a 1966 Lamborghini 350 GT in the showroom, in rare dark blue-green called Pino Verte Metalico (Pine Green Metallic).

Where is this showroom, you ask? Well, it’s a bit of a trek for most of us. Tomini is based in Dubai, having been operating there since 2010. Do let us know if you go to have a look, though, and bring us back something nice. Like a 2000 GT.