Made in Japan

394 Datsun 240Z

375 Toyota 2000GT

336 James Bond's Toyota 2000GT

I had to split up my web site pages into smaller sections and decided to follow the Corgi catalogue practice of British, American and European models. It was only when the Whizzwheels ones were running off the page that I realised I had to put a Datsun 240Z somewhere and a Toyota 2000GT would be joining soon too.

As I had a TV / Film type category for the normal ones the one and only Japanese car was taken care of there.

Corgi made a brand new cast for the 240Z and this survived well. As well as the 'East African Safari' red version from 1972 to 1977 there is a nice white Rally model that saw three years on sale in the middle of that period.

The Toyota first appeared in the 1960s as the James Bond car with rockets firing from the boot. This cast gets quite a surprise return in 1970, sprayed in a delighful mirror-effect blue. The boot stays firmly shut but the jewels are still there and it is an attractive model. It is only around for a brief year and a bit from 1970 to 1972, though, and I have seen very few for sale. 

What does reappear, though, are two further uses of the cast for the Bond car in the 1980s, possibly the longest gap other than the DB5 #270 re-use in gold-plated 30th and 35th anniversary models.