Some images are just really hard to digest, and these are a few of them. An impeccably maintained, 1967 Toyota 2000GT met a sudden and untimely death after an 98-foot-tall tree fell on it, crushing the supercar->ke177 into a flattened mess in the Toyoma Prefecture's Gokoyama area.
NHK is reporting that a 28-year-old driver was inside the car when the tree, which was already rotten inside, fell on it. Fortunately, the man only suffered cuts to his arms and legs, incredibly escaping more serious injuries, given the state of the 2000GT.
That's the good news. The bad news is that this 2000GT, considered as Japan's original supercar->ke177, appears to be beyond repair. It becomes even more sickening when you consider it was one of just 351 2000GT models Toyota->ke88 ever built.
What's more, a 2000GT actually sold for $1.15 million in 2013, making it the most expensive Toyota ever sold and the most expensive Asian car in history, according to Hagerty’s Price Guide.
Now all that's left of this particular 2000GT are scrap parts. What a sad sight.
Click past the jump to read more about the Toyota 2000GT.
Why It Matters
This car is considered Toyota's original supercar, among other superlatives that have been thrown its way. The 2000GT reserves a place of its own in the annals of Toyota's long and illustrious history. The fact that the company only made 351 models of this supercar makes this sight of a crushed 2000GT downright depressing.
Toyota 2000GT
Toyota sold the 2000GT from 1967 to 1970. Despite its relatively short life span, the 2000GT ended up becoming one of the most iconic models Toyota has ever built. Think to how Porsche->ke1 treats the 911->ke282, except that the 2000GT is a lot rarer than the classic Porsche.
That's how incredibly priceless the 2000GT has become.
The 2000GT made its debut at the 1965 Tokyo Motor Show and after two years of sitting idly in Toyota's concept vault, the supercar finally went on sale in 1967. The 2000GT was built as a collaborative effort between Toyota and Yamaha Motor Corporation, similar to how the Toyota-Subaru partnership gave birth to the Toyota GT86, the Subaru BRZ, and the Scion FR-S.
Toyota took the task of building the car using the design of U.S./German designer Albrecht Goertz, who later on was part of a team that designed the Datsun 240Z. One look at it and you immediately understand why the 2000GT was aesthetically ahead of its time. It had an elegant, free-flowing design that highlighted the long and swooping hood. It also had retractable headlights that added some extra sleekness.
As far as power was concerned, the 2000GT came with a 2.0-liter, straight-six, DOHC engine. The setup produced 150 horsepower and 130 pound-feet of torque, good enough to hit 60 mph in 10 seconds to coincide with a top speed of 135 mph.
During its time, the 2000GT became a cultural and racing icon. It's one of only a handful of Japanese sports cars featured in a James Bond film, a privilege the 2000GT earned when Sean Connery used it in the 1967 Bond film "You Only Live Twice." In addition, the 2000GT also established a handful of world endurance records, including the fastest average speed over 16,000 km (9,942 miles), a feat it achieved by averaging 128 mph in that stretch.
According to multiple reports, Toyota chief designer Tetsuya Tada used a 2000GT to influence the design of the GT 86 and by extension, the BRZ and the FR-S.