This was Toyota's answer to the Honda S800, although it proved rather less popular: only 3120 were sold in six years of production. The shape had echoes of the exotic 2000GT and the car featured a removable Targa roof panel - beating Porsche to the idea by about a year.
A modest 790 cc, flat-twin, air-cooled engine developing 49 bhp (for a brave and ambitious-sounding 97 mph) powered the diminutive S800. The engine, and indeed the rest of the mechanicals, were taken from Toyota's bread-and-butter Publica saloon, which meant torsion-bar suspension and a beam rear axle, but its manners were surprisingly good - and the drum brakes were well up to the task of hauling the S800 up.
Had it been powered by a more ordinary engine, the S800 might have made an impact outside Japan as a Midget/Spitfire alternative, but it wasn't to be. Collectors in Japan love 'em and they make good money too.
|
