---
title: "1967 Toyota 2000GT by Shelby Is the Most Expensive Japanese Car Ever Sold"
description: "It's no surprise that a Shelby-built Toyota 2000GT would be the first Japanese classic to surpass $2 million."
date: "2022-03-07"
modified: "2022-03-07"
authors:
  - name: "Victoria Scott"
    job_title: "Contributor"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/victoria-scott"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/44624/1967-toyota-2000gt-by-shelby-is-the-most-expensive-japanese-car-ever-sold"
categories:
  - "News"
  - "News by Brand"
  - "Toyota News"
tags:
  - "Auction Block"
  - "Car Auction"
  - "car prices"
  - "Toyota"
  - "Toyota 2000GT"
---

# 1967 Toyota 2000GT by Shelby Is the Most Expensive Japanese Car Ever Sold

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2022/03/Toyota-2000GT-Hero.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

Amelia Island's Concours weekend is always down to match up would-be buyers and their eye-watering sums of money with some of the most desirable cars ever to roll out of a factory. This past weekend, it proved that statement with a new price record. This Shelby-built Toyota 2000GT is now the most expensive Japanese car ever sold at auction at [a staggering $2,535,000](<https://www.hagerty.com/media/market-trends/hagerty-insider/this-2-535-million-toyota-2000gt-is-the-most-expensive-japanese-car-sold-at-auction/>).

The car is a[ stand-out rarity among the already rare 2000GT line](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/44178/one-of-three-1967-toyota-shelby-2000gts-expected-to-fetch-millions-at-auction>), mind you. This specific example is one of just three ever prepared by Carroll Shelby for C-production class racing in SCCA, which it competed in the 1968 season of, *and* it's the first 2000GT to actually get a serial number (MF10-10001).

The car [underwent a frame-off restoration in the '90s](<https://mainelineexotics.com/team/shelby2000gt/>) and since then, it's competed in dozens of classic car and exhibition racing events, including a run up the hill at Goodwood Festival of Speed and a first in class show prize at Amelia Island in 2017. Throw in the fact that there were only 351 2000GTs ever made at all, and it's an exceedingly rare and desirable car even by the sky-high standards of Amelia Island.

https://youtube.com/embed/hiCCtd7DVQI

The previous high-sales record for Japanese-made cars was interestingly not a classic at all. Instead, it was the [first-ever production model of the fifth-generation Supra](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/25472/first-2020-toyota-supra-will-be-auctioned-off-for-american-heart-association>), which [fetched $2.1 million in an auction](<https://journal.classiccars.com/2021/01/27/11-most-expensive-japanese-cars-sold-at-auction/>) for charity. The Supra's much older brother blasted past that record by about $400,000, putting it at fourth on the Gooding & Company's auction leaderboard for the weekend. It still trailed a 1937 Talbot-Lago T150 that sold for over $13 million, as well as a Porsche 718 RSK and a '54 Bentley R-Type Continental.

Still, selling a 2000GT for two-and-a-half million bucks has more than proven that at long last, Japanese classic cars are worth big money and auction headlines.

https://youtube.com/embed/_JKMUbCz8OM

*Got a tip or question for the author? Contact her directly: victoria.scott@thedrive.com*

## Author
Victoria Scott is a former staff writer for The Drive. She began in the automotive industry as a freelancer in early 2021, fresh out of a programming job at NASA Mission Control.

### Author social links  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/vantimevictoria/>)  
[Instagram](<https://instagram.com/reimuracing>)  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/mikurubaeahina>)