KIDNEY, ANYONE? Million Dollar Baby: 1967 Toyota 2000GT

1967 Toyota 2000GT belatrix yellow 02

A couple of weeks ago John wrote about a 1967 Toyota 2000GT that had come up for auction with an expected fetch of $650,000 to $850,000. We rarely do a followup on Kidney Cars but this one bears mentioning. This past weekend, RM Auctions put down the gavel on the Belatrix Yellow beauty for a whopping $1,155,000. The record breaking price for the Japanese supercar turned heads in traditional collectors’ circles, shining a new spotlight on Japanese classics. In other words, you thought $5,000 for a 510 was high? Prices are about to get a lot higher.

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24 Responses to KIDNEY, ANYONE? Million Dollar Baby: 1967 Toyota 2000GT

  1. Oracles says:

    Its about time JTINs gets the respect they richly deserve.

  2. degruch says:

    The bubble is about to explode…there must be 200 surviving 2000GT’s, unlikely there will be 200 millionaires willing to shell up this kind of money for them. 510’s? Far too common and look like a taxi, will hardly budge. Might be good news for Cosmo 110S, Hino Contessa Sprint, or Hino Samurai owners though.

    • xs10shl says:

      BTW there are only 50+/- known LHD survivors, and they trade at a premium to the RHD cars.

      Your statement is of course is a matter of simple economics, and is true with respect to every single collector car out there. For example, are there 40 billionaires willing to pay $50,000,000 for a Ferrari GTO, should all 40 come up for sale simultaneously? Perhaps, but unlikely. Is it likely that every GTO owner would rather have $50 million instead of a GTO? Clearly not, or a bunch of them would be coming on the market right now. Part of the scarcity equation is the current owner’s unwillingness to sell, for whatever reasons they have.

      The same goes for houses, diamonds, gold, everything that is rare.

      That said, it’s clear we are on a bubble. $1.9mm 330 GTS, and even $100K white TRs are a sign of a toppy market.

      • degruch says:

        $280k Messerschmitt Tiger and $40k Honda AN600’s, they’re the ones that alarmed me! Maybe 510’s are a chance to hit the heights. BTW, here in Australia a $5k 510 would be lucky to have an engine, despite their enduring presence, an excellent one will bring $15k every day of the week.

        • Ryan says:

          Such is life as an Aussie.

          I’m hoping by the time I finish my two Zeds they’ll be appreciated enough that I can sell one of them, buy another project and have a nice chunk left over to save.

          • degruch says:

            To true…expensive!

            Love Zed’s, I used to have 4 of them…I’d love another. πŸ™‚

  3. dankan says:

    Well, on the one hand the recognition is nice, on the other hand, the 2000GT has now, along with the Ferrari 250 GT SWB, become a car which is beyond my reach even if I won the lottery.

    Mixed emotions there. I think the Cosmo 110 mention is bang on though. That car has similarly got a ton of the same magic going for it. Although the lack of a Bond car connection will probably keep it more out of the mainstream, and perhaps keep a lid on values for longer.

  4. Power Tryp says:

    This is awesome and is a strong indication that JNC cars are becoming the next muscle resto boom. As the economy comes back people will start spending on restoration and customization of the cars they knew and loved back in the day, but because the pool of barn finds and slightly rusty mustangs-camaros-chargers is drying up these people are going to start looking at Nostalgics because European cars have always had their own crowd and never failed to command a decent price.

    This is the reason I purchased a 240Z and will be putting it through a restoration over the next couple years. As rust and accidents take more and more of them off the road their price will rise for good examples putting them out of reach of the average person. Don’t worry, I love the car and I’m not looking to get my money back on it, I just want a cool car that will be too expensive to buy outright in 5-10 years.

    • cesariojpn says:

      We should also be looking at “drift cars” like the AE86 & 240SX. Tons of them have been cut up and damaged by idiots, so stock survivors need to be preserved unmolested.

      • Gene says:

        Any old Japanese car should be preserved IMHO, can’t count how many times I cringed whenever I saw an old JNC rusting away (saw an old 1970’s Toyota corolla sprinter once that was so rusted I didn’t even recognize it till I opened the hood and saw the VIN plate.) Or when some douche retrofits a 1998 corolla headlight and grille into a 1978 corona (yes, that happens a lot here in the Philippines).

      • Brooks says:

        There’s a maroon 510 4-door down the street from me with stock hubcaps on it, and it makes me happy every time I see it.

        (It’s got a JNC sticker in the rear window, too!)

    • Mike says:

      Right on! That was my reasoning for buying my Celica XX, and now it’s (mostly) finished I’m stoked. Down here in NZ 240Z’s are already fairly expensive, and I’m sure their value will increase. My Celica on the other hand, who knows? I kind of think that it’ll never be worth much, which is kind of good, as then my insurance costs won’t get too bad!

      Not too sure about your reasoning with the usa-iron fans getting into JNC’s though, on the whole (well down here anyway) they’re definitely very different scenes/demographics, and I don’t see a whole lot of cross-shopping being too likely…..

      • degruch says:

        You should be on an investment with an XX, it’s the first 6-cylinder Celica, yeah? The only issues may be the subdued styling and the fact that few people would know what it is!

      • Power Tryp says:

        It’s not so much the USA iron diehards that I’m expecting to cross over but the people who maybe were a child when their parents had a Mustang but switched to a Corolla or 510 around the time they were teenagers. These people now have kids out of the house and more money to spend on car restoration, much the same way people ten years ago started pushing the price of muscle and pony cars through the stratosphere.

  5. Max says:

    what about the more obscure/rare but still more attainable Celicas, Te-27’s (and other Corollas, but I’m partial), and Skylines? Will they become 6 figure cars, or will they merely make a 25-60% increase jump? Long story short, hold on to what you’ve got, and don’t do anything stupid with it either.

    • degruch says:

      C110 Skyline’s are interesting…collectors from the Middle East and Australian profiteers have pushed local prices up easiely 300% in the last 12 months, and they’re not easy to locate on the domestic market either. I spotted a few examples of stock but mint Kenmeri’s a couple years back on goo net for ~$60k and laughed, but now it doesn’t seem unobtainable. Particularly as many current cars are being chopped up to make GTR replicas on every continent, a stock car in any condition is rare. I only wish I had one!

  6. Nigel says:

    Anyone have a spare warehouse so we can start hoarding !?!?

  7. DGH says:

    What about C210 Skylines? i picked up one that still road rego’d for 2.5k but it needs lots of work. They seem to be even more uncommon than the Kenmeris for sale, but a bit less desirable.

  8. Andrew says:

    So what about the old shovel nose corona like the 1600″s” model and even better still the uber rare RT55 1600 gt5. these dont seem to command much money at all.

    And the value of the 1600 gt5 seems to be the same today as it was 10 years ago…..
    Even in japan it is an extremely rare car though its value has stayed the same.

    • degruch says:

      RT54’s and RT55’s reportedly use 2000GT seats, so maybe they spares value will drag them up? πŸ™‚ Honestly, they’re a $30k car, as are Bellett GT-R’s, Mazda R130’s, Datsun 510 SSS Coupe’s, etc. and seems about the right price…can’t really see any of them getting higher and surpassing equivalent European’s on price.

  9. ylee says:

    beautiful news. beautiful. these classics are starting to get their rightful owned attention.

  10. Now if only it was a white convertable and Kissy Suzuki was driving it!

  11. Scs says:

    Check out Jay Lenos garage forma test drive of the white convertible 2000 GT

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