Why have Toyota 2000GTs become so valuable?

Wow, sadly at those numbers they will never be enjoyed again. Beautiful cars though.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1LV72QLdIE&feature=player_embedded]TOYOTA2000GT????? - YouTube[/ame]

 

Two factors - they are rare,

AND - few people have ever actually driven one.

 

Total cool factor. I think for 60's cars you'd have to get into 250 GTO, Cobra Daytona type stuff to get me as excited. Really I'd be more impressed to see a 2000GT than a GTO, despite the monetary value. Also yeah, extremely rare, unique. And as far as Japanese cars go, it's arguably the most interesting and collectible. It does seem like with over 300 cars produced they would have a difficult time maintaining that sort of pricetag, though.

I remember going to see a McLaren F1 get delivered a few years ago, and there was a Shelby 2000GT on the carrier as well. I was almost as excited to see the Toyota as I was the McLaren. Such a cool car.

 

They are pretty and rare. But i wouldnt pay $1m for them. But then, what is not $1m these days?

 

It's a super rare world class car from on the largest automakers in the world. Why shouldn't it be very valuable when high-end modern cars cost about half a million these days...?

 

Couldn't agree more. Japanese interest might be the reason prices have spiked, the cars themselves were never anything more than uglier renditions of the XK-E.

 

Bond.

James Bond.

 

Only about 300 or so cars were made. Iconic design by a very prolific manufacturer. AND James Bond.

 

We would not but maybe a Japanese individual would. Just look at what the all original corvette sold for at Barrett Jackson....3 million right? The old muscle cars are very popular worldwide but probably most popular in America because of the history. The same, IMO, is applicable abroad.

The car is an icon and only getting rarer.

 

A Japanese "250 GTO" in design plus rare.

 

Honestly baffles me. No competition provenance of which I am aware other than in Japan and a couple of "Shelby" cars that ran SCCA to no effect. 150 hp, no big deal.


Lovely car at $100k, but I'd just as soon have a Datsun Z car for under $100k and an F40 when you talk 7 figures for the 2000GT. Makes it obvious why a F40 is worth at least $1 million, though.

 

Here's a Toyota display at the Monterey Historics 2007 - both Shelby cars, 2 roadsters (one was the Bond film car), around 17 2000 GTs in total:
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Your a lawyer so you are not expected to understand honesty!!

See the IFWU smiley?

 

They were built by Yamaha for Toyota. Aluminum body.

 

It held (briefly) 13 FIA land speed records when it was first tested, and It has a significant place in the evolution of Japanese car manufacturing. As to price, well, the price is the price. I'd venture that a $1000000 price tag for one of the 80-or-so LHD examples actually demonstrates that a car such as this is not very popular among collectors, considering what it represents to the Japanese people. In contrast, there are probably 35,000 XKEs left to choose from, and even with that many, a good one with the right appointments will run $250,000.

 

Very cool cars, but $1 million doesn't really surprise me. Haven't they been $600-700k for a while.?

It could be argued that the jump to $1 million is a lot less dramatic than price increases for other models.

 

cool car, rare and unique, but mostly I think this is an example of the old adage, "a rising tide lifts all boats".

 

This.

I could see these at $100K - beyond that, no way. Get a Datsun 240Z and an E-Type coupe, and you'll get close to the same experience.

 

About 10 years ago I was at a small car show in Redondo Beach CA. A local guy had a yellowish one.

I bought it for 18 grand. No one at the time really paid attention to the car but I loved it.

It is unique in that

1) it's really an attractive and aggressive looking car
2) it's very rare
3) it's very much hand built. Toyota lost money on every single one they made
4) it shows Toyota's history from a nothing car company to the biggest in the world.
5) it's probably Japan's only classic super car

I think it helps that a coupe was turned into a convertible for "You Only Live Twice". There is some mystique there.

Is it worth $1M. No. But a lot of cars are not worth what you pay for them today. At least this one has some reasons.

 

You summed up what I was trying to say, very well.

 

Very Cool Mr Mayor!

 

The Mazda Cosmo shouldn't be ignored as a real Japanese supercar.

Other than that I agree with what The Mayor said. I love these cars. I don't think they are worth what people are paying for them, but they are quite attractive and unique.

 

You bought a 2000GT for $18,000 in 2003/4?

 

No a guy in LA did. I met him about 10 years ago. He had it for a while but at the time they really weren't that big a deal.