The Degeneve family has been dealing in classic cars for four generations. In 1971 the grandfather, Jean-Pierre, began selling Toyotas in France, making Degeneve dealership the oldest Toyota franchise in the country. Before cars, the family ran a successful bicycle business, but Jean-Pierre was always into classic sports machines. However, despite having owned and experienced the creme de la creme of cars in period, most notably a Ferrari Daytona, his most beloved was the 1967 Toyota 2000GT.
“At the time, it was very avant-garde,” Degeneve recalls in his interview with Petrolicious. “It was incredibly sleek, light and very fast. For 1967, it was quite ahead of its time.” That is why, on the occasion of his 70th birthday, Degeneve’s grandsons tracked down a 2000GT and gifted it to him. In the background of the video are the Degeneve family’s various Toyotas, including a Sports 800, N2 KP61 Starlet, FJ45 Land Cruiser, and at least two daruma Celicas, one stock and one in Toyota Team Europe rally spec. It’s a beautiful car, beautifully shot, and most of all, a beautiful story.
must then be the French Counterpart of the swiss Emil Frey franchice with a pretty similar collection:
http://www.jdmjunkies.ch/wordpress/2017-06-12/event-50-years-toyota-switzerland-exhibition-emil-frey-classic-cars/
Three quick takeaways:
1) They are the oldest Toyota dealership in France (1971), but the father loved the 1967 2000GT. What was he selling in 1967 and was the 2000GT the catalyst for getting a Toyota franchise? The Ferrari Daytona was produced from 1968-1973, which would mean he preferred the 2000GT to the Daytona when they were both new! For a European? That’s Wow!
2) Surely they videotaped the dad’s reaction to his gift. Surely!
3) I loved how the car is spotlighted in most scenes with its headlights up, allowing you to see it in greater detail, especially the chrome housing which I never noticed before.
The only thing preferable about a 2000 GT over a Daytona would be the price.
I live literally 10 minutes from this showroom and you can see the 2000GT in it from the road. We are very lucky to have 2 running 2000GT in the close Geneva region, both white. As this is my favorite car ever, it’s always a wonderful sight. On the opposite of Emil Frey one that always stays in the museum and is brought to the motor shows, those 2 are effectively being driven. This is nice.
Hello,
A Genève ? Passionné de voitures japonaises ? On devrait se rencontrer.
Luc
These Petrolicious videos are so topical. Six minutes of coverage? Come on. How about some technical or historical depth? “Drive Tastefully” seems to mean “Drive Fashionably” with little regard to the stuff that true car nerds obsess over.
On a more positive note, I love JNC and all that you guys do. Happy new year to all.
It was a true Japanese milestone and put The Japanese auto industry on the international map. Its styling and performance were on par with jaguar lotus and ferrari…
There’s a great video on this on YOUTUBE: CARTHROPOLOGY Toyota 2000gt The Japanese Supercar https://youtu.be/U191F5jVd0M
thanks!