Editor’s Note: Going on worldly adventures, witnessing incredible moments and sharing it all with you, our readers, is a passion of ours. And, regrettably, for the small handful of images we’re able to show you with each story we publish, countless others, though beautiful and deserving of admiration, don’t make the cut. That’s why we’re turning our cutting room floor into your new source for desktop and phone wallpaper.
“It’s easy to forget that the automotive brand responsible for seemingly 95 percent of all Uber vehicles once had such lust-worthy sheet metal on offer. The first 2000GT drove off the lot in 1967; if ever there were a reason to warmly embrace turning 50, surely this is it. In the late ‘60s, the most desirable cars in the world were (and still are) praised for their sensual Coke-bottle curves and ferocious performance. Contemporaries like the Ford GT40, Shelby Cobra, Jaguar XJ13 and E-Type, and even the Adam West-era Batmobile were all born of the same artful passion for automotive beauty and excellence.
The 2000GT, designed mostly by Yamaha, features proportions that seem almost impossible today. The cabin sits so far back, the hood is so long, the pop-up headlights are gorgeous. A modest 2.0-liter (later 2.3-liter), 150-horsepower inline-six provided power through a 5-speed manual gearbox — though in a rear-wheel-drive, two-seat, sub-2,500-pound fastback, that’s all the power you’d need. A short-lived racing pedigree smiles on the 2000GT, and the cars (two specially produced convertible models) were immortalized by James Bond in You Only Live Twice. But it’s the look and the feel that will prove timeless — and collectible. Since production was limited to only 351 units, and since examples have recently seen auction estimates north of $1 million, it’s certain that the rest will be preserved for decades to come.” – by Nick Caruso from Gear Patrol, Issue Two
Now Get Your Own Vintage Japanese Metal
