In honor of the 15th Annual Toyotafest this weekend, this week’s Friday Video is over 30 minutes devoted entirely to one defining moment in Japanese automotive history: the Toyota 2000GT‘s record breaking speed trial. 72 hours at Yatabe Test Circuit in 1966 set 16 international endurance records. And with an FIA representative on hand to officiate for the record books, this event caught the notice of the world. The grainy footage puts us in the thick of the action, and the soundtrack of Toyota’s twin-cam straight six echoing off the banked walls is a feast for the ears. Enjoy!
These are amazing clips. They really drove the crap out of that car and it took it. Great find!
Treasure. Amazing vintage documentary.
That six sounds incredible.
Awesome clips. I’ve seen the car in person at the Toyota Auto Museum. It’s awe inspiring.
The thing looks like a ww2 fighter from the front, brutal cool. hey, anybody like the little doll thing they made to chase away the rain:)?
the car on the video is a special body 2000GT… this car crashed and burned… the one in the museum is a replica based on stock body. FYI
Where on earth did this come from!?! Wow, thanks so much!
I wish they had never decomitioned Yatabe:( We could be wathcing Toyota Break records again with the LF-A, but nooooo! One little crack in the asphalt, and they shut everything down! Anyway, cool videos, I didn’t think anyone cared enough back then to document such a historical Japanese event, but I was wrong!
Thanks for this video guys. So awesome.
Rad. Maybe it’s camera distortion, but it looksl like they gave it a NASCAR alignment. Negative camber on the right side, positive on the left.