NYT: Rare 1967 Toyota 2000GT Hits eBay for $650,000

March 31, 2011, 6:00 AM
Rare 1967 Toyota 2000GT Hits eBay for $650,000
By RORY CARROLL

The 1967 Toyota 2000GT coupe for sale on eBay.

Finding a Toyota 2000GT while combing the assembled coterie of Camrys and Corollas that inhabit the Toyota section of eBay Motors is equivalent to finding King Tut’s sarcophagus at the Container Store. Sure, the sarcophagus is technically a container, and the Toyota 2000GT a used car, but both stand out slightly when placed among their more pedestrian brethren.

Peter Starr of southern Maine, who is listing his 1967 Toyota 2000GT coupe for $650,000 on the Web site, began selling Toyotas as a dealer in 1969. After seeing a 2000GT at Watkins Glen, the upstate New York raceway, Mr. Starr said in a telephone interview that he became obsessed with the diminutive supercar. He acquired his first 2000GT in the mid-1970s.

Mr. Starr and a business partner claim to have either owned or restored 50 of the 62 Toyota 2000GTs that were officially imported into the United States. He knows most American 2000GTs and their owners personally, which is how he came to own the car that got the attention of car cognoscenti this week, when Jalopnik featured the eBay listing.

The Toyota 2000GT is the car that announced a focused, serious and competent Toyota to the world. Toyota struggled directly after World War II, often being rescued from the brink by short-term contracts with the American military. In 1957, however, Toyota became the first Japanese automaker to export cars to the United States. Its Toyopet Crown, while nothing to be ashamed of, was not exactly an exotic or exciting car.

But in the mid-’60s, through a canceled sports car project for Nissan, Yamaha developed a prototype that would eventually be brought to market by Toyota. Almost overnight, Japan had its own cutting-edge exotic car that compared very favorably to offerings from Porsche and Ferrari.

When they were new, 2000GTs were incredibly expensive and rare. Only a few hundred were made from 1967 to 1970, all hand-built by Yamaha.

For many, the most novel aspect of Mr. Starr’s 2000GT is the virtual marketplace it — for the moment — inhabits. Mr. Starr, however, sees eBay as perfect venue for publicizing such a valuable and unusual car.

“Posting a car like this on eBay generates a phenomenally wide range of viewers,” he said. “It’s out there for serious collectors, and someone who knows their particular interests will show it to them.”

Given the interest his listing is generating, it is hard to argue with the approach.