Remembering the Toyota Sports 800 from 1960s

Having a performance car in the product lineup is considered a huge pride for any automaker. The engineering prowess to develop these machines which push technology to the limits is something completely different from developing ordinary passenger cars for daily usage.

Japanese automaker Toyota is often regarded as the makers of reliable & to-the-purpose cars but is coming up with some very exciting performance cars of late, such as the GR Supra, the GR Yaris, the GR Super Sport Hypercar and the upcoming GR Corolla hot hatch. Thanks to company’s president Akio Toyoda, who is himself a race driver and often races under the pseudonym “Morizo”.

But how did it all started? Many people think the first Toyota cars with racing DNA were the Celica or the iconic Supra or even the mid-engined MR2 from 70s & 80s. As a matter of fact however, the first sports car by Toyota was developed in 1965 and was called Sports 800.

Toyota Sports 800 prototype, called as the Publica Sports debuted at the 1962 Tokyo Auto Show, featuring a space age sliding canopy and utilizing a 28 hp powertrain. The Toyota Sports 800 was nicknamed “Yota-Hachi” which is a Japanese short form for “Toyota 8”.