A Toyota Just Sold at Auction for Over $3 Million

A Toyota Just Sold at Auction for Over $3 Million

In super cool car news, a Toyota was auctioned off in the United States for $US2.5 million – translating to around $3.4 million in Aussie dollars.

According to the auction house behind the sale, Gooding & Company, the Toyota simultaneously set the world records for both the most valuable Japanese car ever purchased at public auction, and the most valuable Toyota sold at auction.

The car, surprisingly not a Camry, was a Toyota-Shelby 2000 GT, a model produced from 1967 to 1971. Though Toyota had initially set sales goals of 1,000 cars per year, the high cost of constructing these exotics brought the project to a close after just 351 were built, with only about 60 having been exported to the U.S..

Technically, this car is a pre-production model.

So how did this car come about?

By the mid-1960s, Toyota saw the need to create a halo model – one that would raise international awareness of the Japanese brand. Toyota aimed high, seeking to compete with the finest European sports and GT cars. During summer 1964, Project 280A commenced, which ultimately led to the creation of the Toyota 2000 GT.

[related_content first=”1768127″]

Weighing less than 2,500 pounds (around 1,100 kgs), the 150 hp straight six gave the car a 0–60 time of 10 seconds and a top speed of 137 mph. The 2000 GT’s extremely low centre of gravity and neutral weight balance produced a very satisfying driving experience, we’re told.

The car is the first serial-numbered example built and the first of just three examples that Shelby prepared for SCCA C-Production racing, Toyota’s first foray into U.S. motor sports.

You can learn more about the 1967 Toyota-Shelby from the auction page and admire its beauty below.


The Cheapest NBN 50 Plans

It’s the most popular NBN speed in Australia for a reason. Here are the cheapest plans available.

At Gizmodo, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.