RE: PH in Japan: Blog diary

[GC8]

I thought the same whaen I read that!

Porsche even have a country code for LHD Japanese specification because LHD is more popular than RHD.

[V8 4EVER]

PZR said:

SO - WHAT is the story with this mustard yellow reptil-ica of the 2000GT ???

Dan needs to go to Specsavers and 'Automotive re-education camp' in Pyongyang if he really thought that 'thing' was a Toyota 2000GT !!

[Carparticus]

TristPerrin said:

That Toyota 2000GT

I saw one for the first time is the flesh at this years Festival of Speed and it was love at first site. The most beautiful car to come from Japan in my humble opinion!

Way way back in 1985 I tried to track down a 2000GT. I found out there were just two in the UK! Gorgeous car, but I simply could not get in it at all. Its really teeny tiny.


The asking price back then was £20k. Last time I looked they had risen to over £200,000 . . .

But just look at :-

[toobusy]

GC8 said:

I thought the same whaen I read that!

Porsche even have a country code for LHD Japanese specification because LHD is more popular than RHD.

I used to see LHD Jaguars and Bentleys in Tokyo - which used to strike me as slightly odd.

[PZR]

V8 4EVER said:

SO - WHAT is the story with this mustard yellow reptil-ica of the 2000GT ???

Dan needs to go to Specsavers and 'Automotive re-education camp' in Pyongyang if he really thought that 'thing' was a Toyota 2000GT !!

Looking closer, the pillars are a big giveaway ( super slim pillars on the genuine car ). As is the wiper orientation ( RHD car but what would be LHD wiper orientation for a genuine MF10 Toyota 2000GT ).

[dc2rr07]

The Toyota 2000GT's They did two convertibles of the Toyota 2000GT for the James Bond movie You Only Live Twice which may be even better looking.

[samoht]

Carparticus said:

Way way back in 1985 I tried to track down a 2000GT. I found out there were just two in the UK! Gorgeous car, but I simply could not get in it at all. Its really teeny tiny.

Which incidentally is why James Bond drove a one-off convertible version in You Only Live Twice - Sean Connery had the same problem that you did. Fortunately for him, Toyota immediately responded by tasking a team to cut off the roof.

[samoht]

TristPerrin said:

That Toyota 2000GT
I saw one for the first time is the flesh at this years Festival of Speed and it was love at first site. The most beautiful car to come from Japan in my humble opinion!

What's really interesting to me is that the detail surfacing is very modern, with well-defined edge lines - it's 40 years ahead of its time.

[DanielSan]

samoht said:

Which incidentally is why James Bond drove a one-off convertible version in You Only Live Twice - Sean Connery had the same problem that you did. Fortunately for him, Toyota immediately responded by tasking a team to cut off the roof.

Bugger. I was hoping to get that fact in first

[swindler]

I fear they're alot more than £200,000 in the current boo-, sorry, market. The replica has a hint of 240Z to me.

[samoht]

The Integrale is very popular in Japan. When I was teaching out there, one of my colleagues had owned one, eventually changing to an Lancer Evo 5 because it had a bigger boot and easier servicing.

I think the Japanese value European heritage brands, and the Lancia name qualifies - it's not sullied by association with rust as it was in the UK. Plus of course it's pretty compact (good for narrow roads), practical, 4wd (they get plenty of rain and snow), as well as the usable power for overtaking.

[dinkel]

j_s14a said:

Looks more like the KC10 'Hakosuka' Skyline GTR

Want . . . just want.

Keep your Miura . . . and hand over the keys to this 275 brake 2 litre screamer.

[bobberz]

People quote the 2000GT as being "inspired" by the E-type (which it certainly was). Some even say it's an outright copy, but I wouldn't go so far. However, if I may be so bold, I actually think that, in some ways, the Toyota actually looks better than the E-type, particularly the coupe. I also like the sharp body line atop the quarter panels. I don't think Toyota has made a truly desirable car since. Sure, the Supra was a great performer in its day, and I quite like both original generations of the MR2 (AW11 and SW20), but the 2000GT was truly exotic, especially in a Japanese market used to low-powered boxes-on-wheels. It must've had the same impact on Japanese passers-by as Britons who saw an E-type for the first time. Awe and desire; that's something that's been missing from Toyota's lineup for far too long.

[PZR]

bobberz said:

It must've had the same impact on Japanese passers-by as Britons who saw an E-type for the first time.

It looks like that ersatz lookalittlelikey Toyota 2000GT kit car in the car park certainly had an 'impact' on Dan P.

Don't want to be rude, but he must have been very tired to have mistaken that thing for a real Toyota 2000GT in the metal...

[EskimoArapaho]

I'm going against the flow here, but I don't really like the 2000GT. It's all very slightly klunky (those rear lights, the over-size front spots, etc). It's a bit like the Honda S800 coupe. At this time Japanese designers hadn't quite nailed the technique of combining different functional elements into something easy on the eye. IMHO.

I saw a 2000GT in the flesh at the little motor museum on Odaiba island in Tokyo, and after rushing up to it all excited, I was disappointed.

The 240Z was a significant step forward.

[dinkel]

This is the highly original and superb looking Toyota in the Dutch Louwman Collection (Wassenaar).

The mustard car is . . . yuk.

[Hellbound]

toppstuff said:

Bloody lovely.

I want one.

Check out Nissan's Youtube site. If Nissan receives positive feedback for the concepts (design study?), it'll bode well for the final design of the GT86 rival.

I never thought I'd say this, but I've got a serious chub on for a beige Datsun with Nismo bits. I'm off to see if there are any Grand Seiko's on ebay. Might as well begin the transformation into a Japanese salary man now.

[Matt Bird]

Hi all,

Just a quick note on the batch of pics accompanying Dan's latest update. We know they're the Nurburgring pics but we don't yet have any from Japan. They will be substituted as soon as images from Tokyo arrive!

Thanks,


Matt

[Ved]

Matt Bird said:

Hi all,

Just a quick note on the batch of pics accompanying Dan's latest update. We know they're the Nurburgring pics but we don't yet have any from Japan. They will be substituted as soon as images from Tokyo arrive!

Thanks,


Matt

Reads Dan is missing, trying to sweat out the sake in some random hotel while someone files his posts

[Hoofty]

PZR said:

V8 4EVER said:

SO - WHAT is the story with this mustard yellow reptil-ica of the 2000GT ???

Dan needs to go to Specsavers and 'Automotive re-education camp' in Pyongyang if he really thought that 'thing' was a Toyota 2000GT !!

Looking closer, the pillars are a big giveaway ( super slim pillars on the genuine car ). As is the wiper orientation ( RHD car but what would be LHD wiper orientation for a genuine MF10 Toyota 2000GT ).

Took me a while but the rear wheel is further back on the rep, which is (I think) what makes it look most fishy. Roof line at the rear seems higher too.

In fairness to Dan, he probably didn't have a reference picture to hand when looking at it!