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Summary
- The Shelby Toyota 2000 GT sold for $2.535 million, becoming the most expensive JDM car ever sold.
- The car was one of only three racing examples built by Carroll Shelby, adding to its value.
- Appreciation for JDM cars like the 2000 GT continues to grow, setting record prices in the market.
The demand for special and significant classic cars has continued to grow in recent years. Many cars from this era are mainly Italian exotics or American muscle with some special British cars. But JDM cars have been receiving a lot of love lately ever since the debut of the Fast and Furious franchise. Other shows like Initial D and Wangan Midnight have also helped popularize the Japanese car culture and made enthusiasts appreciate JDM cars more.
This appreciation has led to a high demand for these JDM cars and has made them quite expensive and collectible. Cars like the Lexus L-FA and Nissan R34 GT-R are commanding million-dollar prices depending on the spec and rarity. While Toyota doesn’t play in this field of rare and desirable JDM specials, there is one car that has defied the odds and claimed the title of the most expensive JDM car ever sold.

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In order to give you the most up-to-date and accurate information possible, the data used to compile this article was sourced from various manufacturer websites and other authoritative sources, including CNN. Hagerty, Gooding and Company, and Classic.com.
The Toyota 2000GT Sold For $2.5 million
When talking about the most expensive JDM car ever sold, you would automatically think it would be a Lexus LFA Nürburgring Edition with prices hovering around the $1.7 million mark. Another guess would be a special Z-tune GT-R but it is a Toyota. The first time a Toyota sold for crazy money was in January 2019 when the newly revived Supra sold for $2.1 million at the Barrett Jackson. However, this was an outlier as this was the very first production Supra, but in early March 2022, the Toyota 2000 GT became the most expensive Japanese car ever sold.
The final price for the 1967 Toyota 2000GT was $2.53 million beating Toyota’s previous record by more than $400,000. This was the very first 2000 GT to cross the million-dollar mark and has now set the pace for other cars to follow. While this was a record price, it sold lower than the estimated price which was between $2.75 and $3.5 million. After this sale, another 2000 GT crossed the million-dollar mark on Bring A Trailer but that car only sold for $1.15 million.
A Brief History Of The Toyota 2000 GT
The 2000GT was quite a special car and a halo project aimed at changing the boring image of Toyota in the 60’s. The goal was to have a top-of-the-line sports car that would draw people into the showroom and help drive sales of other models. Many automotive brands made use of this strategy and it worked so Toyota wanted to try it out.
The 2000GT was built in conjunction with Yamaha as a front mid-engine sports car/ grand tourer. It was unveiled in 1965 at the Tokyo Motor Show with the first production hitting the roads in 1967. Only 337 were produced during its three-year production run which ended in 1970. This makes it one of the rarest Japanese sports cars available and they do not come up for sale often. It was such a leap forward in terms of technological advancements and design that it was dubbed Japan’s first supercar.

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The Shelby-Tuned 2000 GT
The record price of this 2000GT might seem insane at first but there is more to this story. While there were 337 cars made originally, this particular example is one of just three racing examples that exist and they were built by Carroll Shelby. The famous Carroll Shelby who helped Ford win consecutively at Le Mans with Ford GT had his hands on a Toyota.
Shelby built three 2000 GT race cars and a pair were entered into the 1968 SCCA production car races. They both performed well but that was the only year they participated. Toyota took back one of the Shelby race cars and restored it in the same paint scheme as their record-setting car which set a top speed of 144 MPH.
Toyota 2000 GT Racing In Japan
The Shelby cars weren’t the only 2000 GTs that went racing. Before Shelby took them racing, they already participated in races at home. Before the production cars hit the road, Toyota entered the 2000 GT in a competition where it placed third at the 1966 Japanese Grand Prix at Fuji. Its first win was at the inaugural Suzuka 1000 Kilometers in 1966. Other wins included the 24 Hours of Fuji and the Fuji 1000 Kilometers in 1967.
13 FIA world records were also set with a 2000 GT at the Yatabe High-Speed Test Track. This feat was achieved during a 72-hour endurance test which was subsequently beaten by Porsche in a purpose-built 911 R. Unfortunately, the record car was destroyed in a pace car accident and was scrapped. It has now been replaced with the aforementioned Shelby race car.

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The 2000 GT Is Considered One Of The Most Beautiful Cars of its Era
When talking about the most beautiful cars in the world, the Jaguar E-type, Lamborghini Miura, Ferrari 250 SWB, and Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic are some of the cars that always come up. Design inspiration for the 2000 GT was taken from the beautiful cars of this era and most of the car’s design was originally done by Yamaha’s Jiro Kono. But when it was time to build the car, Toyota agreed to partner with Yamaha but the design would be changed to suit their image.
Toyota’s Satoru Nozaki was called upon to design the 2000 GT and he took inspiration from GT cars from that era with inspiration from the beautiful Jaguar E-type. There were some design elements taken from Toyota sports cars like the Sports 800 which was Toyota’s first sports car. But looking at the 2000GT, you could see elements from the E-type. It was low, long, wide and looked like rolling art on wheels. The car design was good enough that it ended up starring in a James Bond movie.
James Bond Appearance
The 1967 James Bond film “You Only Live Twice” featured a Toyota 2000 GT. The movie took place in Japan when the 2000GT had just been launched for production and it made sense to have Japan’s first supercar featured in the movie. Jay Leno checks out one of the two Convertible examples of the 2000 GT, that were made specifically for the movie. Although convertible versions were never made for production, the car made a lot of press for Toyota.
During filming, the 2000GT was seen racing through the streets of Tokyo which made many people wonder which car that was. When they found out it was made by Toyota, visits to local dealerships increased since people wanted to see the car in person. Recent Bond Actor Daniel Craig voted the 2000 GT as his favorite Bond Car of all time which is high praise considering the cars that have appeared in Bond movies.

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The Shelby 2000 GT Is Powered By An Inline-Six
Inline six engines were quite popular choices for performance cars in this era, the Jaguar E-type, Mercedes 300 SL, Aston Martin DB4, and Maserati 3500 GT all made use of straight six engines. Regular Toyota cars used inline-fours but the 2000 GT had to have a straight six engine with ample power and Toyota already had an engine for the job. It made use of a similar inline-six engine found in the Toyota Crown but with a few changes for its application.
Engine Specifications
Engine |
Inline six |
Inline six |
---|---|---|
Displacement |
2.0 liters |
2.3 liters |
Power |
150 Horsepower |
140 horsepower |
Torque |
129 pound-feet |
148 pound-feet |
Transmission |
Five-speed manual/three-speed automatic |
|
Drivetrain |
Rear-wheel drive |
(Source: Toyota)
There were two available engines for the 2000 GT, Both were similar in design to the original crown engine but with slight differences. The first was the 2.0-liter engine with dual overhead cams which made the most power. The latter is the larger 2.3 liter engine with a single overhead cam which made less power but more Torque. The second engine was made mainly for the American market to match the torquey attributes of big V-8 engines. Most of them came with a five-speed but some variants had the three-speed automatic sending power to the rear wheels.
The 2000GT also had some engineering firsts for Toyota and Japanese sports cars as a whole. These included:
- A limited-slip differential
- Four-wheel power-assisted disc brake, a first for a Japanese car
- Coil springs
- Magnesium wheels
However, this wouldn’t be a Shelby car if it didn’t make more power than standard. It made use of the 2.0-liter engine with three Weber twin-choke carburetors instead of the Mikuni-Solex ones that came originally with the car. It is estimated that the car made 210 horsepower which is 60 horsepower more than stock.

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Other Expensive Japanese Cars Sold At Auction
In 1968, If you wanted to buy a Toyota 2000 GT in the US, you would spend $7,150 which was more expensive than the Jaguar E-type and Porsche 911s at $5,539 and $6,790 each. In today’s money, the Toyota 2000 GT would be worth $63,367 which is not even close to recent values as they easily sell for 10 times more than that. This Shelby example is one of those rare gems that sell for big money and depending on the condition of the other race car it might sell for similar or even more money.
This recent sale has set the pace for cars like the 2000 GT and will bring more eyes to this classic Toyota. Just like other cars that have sold at record prices, it may cause regular 2000 GT models to start creeping up in value even more. Japanese/JDM cars have continued to appreciate in recent years and it won’t be long before we see more cars setting record prices.
Most Expensive JDM Cars Ever Sold
- 1967 Toyota-Shelby 2000 GT: $2.5 million
- 2020 Toyota GR Supra #1: $2.1 million
- 2021 Lexus LC500 Convertible VIN #100001: $2 million
- 2012 Lexus LFA Nürburgring: $1.87 million
- 1989 Mazda 767B: $1.75 million
- 2016 Acura NSX #1: $1.2 million
- Nissan Fairlady 240Z ‘432’: $1.1 million
- 2002 Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R M-Spec Nür: $675,000
- 1998 Subaru Impreza STi 22B: $604,517
- 1994 Toyota Supra – ‘Fast & Furious’ Movie Car: $550,000
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