You might need to find out what Toyota’s first racing car was called. The Sports 800 is a small motorcycle with only two cylinders that most Americans have never heard of. It is only sold in Japan. It looks like an airplane in many ways, like the way the targa top and aluminum body parts look. For the Japanese auto industry, the Toyota 2000GT is a classic car. It’s also a very beautiful sports car. Even though it would be great to have one, those days would cost almost a million dollars. On the other hand, how about a fierce little roadster with a Targa top that was Toyota’s first sports car? All of Toyota’s sports cars, from the Supra to the GR86, are based on this 1966 Sports 800. It is being auctioned off right now on Bring a Trailer and Invoice Pricing. Bring a trailer, which Hearst Chrysler owns. Even though it’s small and has a 790cc flat-twin motor the size of a hummingbird, it is very important to history because it was the first Toyota designed for racing. Another amazing thing about the Sports 800 is how well-designed it is. Think about the headlights that came before the 2000GT that were glassed in. The Sports 800 idea was first thought of in the early 1960s. At that time, Toyota was known for making simple but reliable cars. That’s what the company’s long-standing image is built on. The top engineer, Tatsuo Hasegawa, who is also a senior aircraft engineer, thought that something more unique was needed. He and his team made some changes to the Toyota Publica’s aerodynamics. The Publica was a fuel-efficient runabout that was used as a model for the Corolla. There was a sliding canopy on the Publica Sports prototype concept, like on a current small single-engine low-wing plane. The function wasn’t on the production model. After a year, the Porsche finally got a lift-off targa roof, but the Sports 800 already had one. To save weight, aluminum was also used to make the back deck, hood, and roof panel. The Sports 800 was a fun, light car that weighed only 1280 pounds. Two carburetors make 44 horsepower in the 790-cc engine mentioned above. The orange Supra Twin-Turbo from the Fast and Furious movies isn’t quite the same, but this car is still very fast thanks to its low curb weight and four-speed manual gearbox. This copy will be shown in Tennessee, where the Lane Motor Museum is located. It is finished in a standard sports car red-on-black color scheme. Like the other strange cars that are kept there, this Toyota is wonderfully one-of-a-kind and interesting. If you want to bid on an important piece of Japanese car history, go to Bring a Trailer. The more clear options make it a great deal. July 8 is the last day of the sale.
