Yahoo Autos The Nicest Toyota 2000GT in the UK Has a Mysterious Bullet Hole in the Door
The 2000GT wasn't a Jaguar E-Type wannabe. Rather, it was Toyota's BMW 507 moment. For the first time in history, a Japanese manufacturer presented a proper little sports car with a 2.0-liter six-cylinder, a five-speed manual and a no compromise coupé body. Only 351 production cars were built between 1967 and 1970, and their success was secured not only by their looks, but also with a starring role in 1967's Bond movie, You Only Live Twice.
Of course the movie car was a white roaster prototype, built to accommodate six-foot-two Sean Connery, but that's another story. What's important is that while Toyota has no idea how many of those 351 GTs have survived the last fifty years, their value has tripled recently, with original examples fetching over $1.2 million at auction. That makes the Weitzmann family's decision to purchase one nine years ago especially smart. They parked theirs next to a classic Land Cruiser and a Sports 800 kei car like this one:
While restoring the car to its original specification, they also discovered a bullet hole in the driver's door, which perhaps explained the frontal damage sustained all those years ago. Not much else is known about the car's history, including the fate of the driver who was shot at. But hey-if James Bond taught us anything, it's that the Toyota 2000GT often finds itself in the middle of high-intensity car chases.
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