By the time Toyota got into the sports-car game, they’d been making cars for more than thirty years. In this article, you’ll learn about Toyota’s entry into the world of sports cars, from its surprising debut to the solid performers that followed.

The Toyota 2000GT burst onto the scene in 1965, stunning critics and enthusiasts alike with its impressive performance and beautiful styling. Many of its features took their cues from European -- rather than Japanese trends -- which gave the newcomer an air of refinement. After all, even if the 2000GT was new, the concepts it employed were time-tested classics.


Toyota 2000GT
Toyota’s first attempt at sports cars, the 2000GT,
looked like it came straight from one of the fabled European automaker.
See more pictures of Toyota Cars.

Twenty years later, the Toyota MR2 became Toyota’s first car to utilize a mid-engine layout. Actual parts used in the “Mister Two” were all pulled from one previous Toyota model or another, resulting in a sort of kit-car philosophy. Despite this patchwork process, the combination and arrangement of components led to a fantastic machine.

In the pages that follow, you’ll learn more about Toyota’s sports cars, from specs and pictures to how they landed a role in the James Bond flick You Only Live Twice.

To learn more about Toyota and other sports cars, see:

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