It’s a good time to be a car enthusiast, despite the naysayers and the onslaught of electric cars.
Cars like the Toyota Supra and the Ford Mustang ensure that iconic names from the past can carry on and provide us with capable and fun vehicles in a world of EVs and hybrids.
When Toyota decided to bring back the Supra with help from BMW, it resurrected a cult sports car, one of many the brand is responsible for over the decades.
Currently, there is no Toyota MR2 or Celica replacement, but if they did want to bring back a true icon, it might be this, the Toyota 2000GT — a rare, limited-production grand touring sports car from the end of the ’60s.
Instagram artist Rostislav Prokop and this render commissioned for HotCars is a reminder of the beauty of the fastback coupe and of the legacy of the much-loved 2000GT.
UPDATED JANUARY 2023: This article gets updated to reflect any new information, and we talk about whether the original Toyota 2000GT ever came to the US. Toyota are also gearing up to eventually release new electric sports cars, and we look at the details of these.
The Rostislav Prokop Custom Toyota 2000GT Concept For 2022
This custom render displays in silver, with an overall shape that pulls inspiration directly from the ’60s classic Japanese sports car.
It’s surprisingly Supra-like in its shape and size, which you might expect too, as this concept would likely share the Supra’s same platform and very probably its engine and drivetrain too.
Up front, the pop-up lights of the original 2000GT are gone and in their place are sleek LED head lamps and below, the LED daytime running lamps are the first clue to this car’s source of inspiration.
Side skirts, large door ducts behind the front wheels and the sweeping roofline all make this car look like a modern coupe in the Supra’s image, but with a grand touring, halo-car twist.
Toyota’s Custom 2000GT Sports Car Concept Is A Success On Paper
So far, the design seems pretty cohesive in render form, with little to remind us of the 2000GT visually but perhaps with more spiritual meaning.
At the back, though, the design takes a turn for the better with an elegant rear end more in line with the legendary Toyota from 1967, the bodywork culminating in a pointed and round rear and tail lights in a similar position to the original’s: the inspirations are clear.
2022 is the year the fifth-generation Toyota Supra received a manual transmission, as well as the appearance of the Toyota Corolla GR-Sport hot hatch, and, of course the Toyota GR86 graces showrooms to prove the Japanese carmaker still has pure sports car blood flowing through its veins.
Unlike the Yaris and Corolla, the GR86 – the successor to the excellent GT86/86 and also the Scion FR-S – is a relatively-lightweight and fun sports car with an excellent chassis, sleek understated styling and just enough power.
Toyota’s GR86 isn’t a flagship sports car, that would be the Supra; but the spirit perhaps draws on the classic sports car era and a little of the 200GT: a naturally-aspirated engine, useable power and svelte exterior.
Fast-forwarding to Fall 2022, there is still no modern 2000GT by name, although it’s still just as likely that the upcoming electric GR (Gazoo Racing) EV could use the name, or the eventual fully-electric Toyota Supra successor, because we’ll likely see a hybrid Supra before the platform goes full-EV.
The Toyota 2000GT Was A Limited-Run Sports Car That Came To The US Briefly
This sports car icon got produced in a total of 351 units, sold mainly in Japan through special stores, but still found a home in other countries.
The Toyota 2000GT got sold in the US as 62 units came over to North American shores, though taking into account their rarity with only 351 total ever made, and the fact that some may have gotten crashed or broken down and rusted into oblivion, they are very rare indeed.
Not likely to come up for sale or auction very often, Classic.com’s historic auction results database puts the value high – the Toyota 2000GT is worth an average of $1 million based on 8 sales in 5 years, the lowest sale being $500,000 and the highest at $2.5 million. Hagerty says a good example should be around $800,000.
Now in 2023, Toyota is working on its new electric future plan, with EV sports cars ostensibly part of that plan. The Lexus Electrified Sport will be an indirect successor to the Lexus LFA and feature an electric powertrain.
There will also be a Supra-sized sports car EV under Toyota’s ‘GR’ performance brand, though we don’t know any details yet. It wouldn’t be a huge jump for the 2000GT nameplate to reappear for that car, though it’s unlikely; in any case the ‘2000’ part of the name stood for the fact that the 60s classic used a 2-liter engine.
