The world’s car fans wept in unison earlier this month when a freak accident caused a 30-metre beech tree to fall on an eye-wateringly expensive Toyota 2000GT. Widely recognised as the first Japanese supercar, the 2000GT has been known to sell for over 1 million dollars, and although we were relieved to hear that the driver escaped with only minor cuts and bruises, the photos of his trashed car brought tears to car-lovers’ eyes.
The 2000GT’s regular production run in the late 1960s was so limited that only 351 were ever built, and when these photos emerged of the flattened vehicle, many assumed that the number left in existence had just got that little bit smaller – and the car, therefore, a little rarer. However, Japanese website Nostalgic Car TV reported June 14th that the car in question is to be repaired and restored, promising regular updates as it is brought back to its former glory.
The 2000GT is perhaps best known for its appearance in the 1967 James Bond film You Only Live Twice, which was mostly filmed on location in Japan. Specially-built convertibles (two!) were made for the movie.
▼ It’s said that Sean Connery was finding it difficult to get in and out of the car quickly, so Toyota cut the roof off for him.
Just to recap, here’s what the 2000GT looks like before a 2-metre diameter tree falls on it:
And after. “A real 2000GT got so smashed up!” comments Twitter user @mirag32. “It’s even more crazy than a movie! I bet the owner is pissed.”
https://twitter.com/mirag32/statuses/475590086059233280
The online TV channel Nostalgic Car TV uploaded this video to YouTube on June 14th, declaring “It’s on the mend!”. While we’re delighted to hear that the car is being fixed, we’re not quite sure what the point of this video was, and wouldn’t advise watching it (unless 44 seconds of an entirely concealed car being raised painstakingly slowly onto a trailer is your kind of fun).
Nope? Skip that, and watch this cool car chase scene from You Only Live Twice instead.
Nostalgic TV say they’ve got the owner’s permission to keep the world up-to-date as the repair work progresses. You never know, we might actually get to see the car in the next installment. Fingers crossed!
Sources: Netorabu, MSN JP
Top image: @mirag32 via Twitter