This car, Lot 123, sold for $38,080, including buyer’s premium, at Kruse Auctions’ Auburn, IN, sale on September 3, 2026.
The Sports 800, also known as “Yota-Hachi” (Toyota 8), was Toyota’s first production sports car. If that reads like a simple historical footnote, it isn’t. This diminutive 2-seater was, in fact, the very seed from which Toyota’s entire sports-car line grew. The legendary 2000GT immediately followed the Sports 800, incorporating its signature covered headlights. Then came a string of sporty cars including the 1600GT, Trueno, Levin, Celica, Supra and MR2, among others. In a very real sense, every one of these exhilarating Toyotas owes its life to the groundbreaking Yota-Hachi.
The driving force behind the Sports 800 was Toyota’s chief engineer and former aircraft designer, Tatsuo Hasegawa, who was determined to push the company to build exciting automobiles. Having just completed a six-year program developing the enormously practical Publica, Hasegawa set out to use this car’s basic mechanicals to create the first exotic production Toyota.
The Toyota Publica was an economical family car built for the masses that was designed to comply with the “national car” standards set forth by the Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry. Powered by a horizontally opposed, air-cooled 2-cylinder, 4-stroke engine displacing 700 cc, performance was modest at best.
To transform the Publica into Toyota’s first true sports car, Hasegawa enlisted the help of automotive designer Shozo Sato. The completed aerodynamic rear-wheel-drive prototype, known as the Publica Sport, featured a sleek bullet-shaped nose, covered headlights and an aircraft-inspired sliding canopy roof. Introduced at the 1962 Tokyo Motor Show, the Publica Sport prototype was an instant sensation.
Go for launch
Based on the response of the automotive press and public, Toyota’s C-suite quickly approved the car for production. In an industry where prototypes typically undergo profound changes to simplify manufacture, the design of Hasegawa’s and Sato’s original car remained largely intact, including the roofline, nose and covered headlights. Dubbed the Sports 800, the first production examples were delivered in 1965.
To increase performance, Toyota punched out the Sports 800’s engine to 790 cc and fitted it with twin single-throat Aisan carburetors, which produced a peppy 44 hp at 5,400 rpm. While this may not seem like much oomph, it was plenty for the lithe Sports 800, which weighed just 1,279 pounds. Performance was good for its class, with a top speed of approximately 100 mph and an acceleration time from 0 to 60 mph of approximately 13 seconds. Weight saving was a major focus of the program and was achieved using light steel stampings for the underlying unibody as well as aluminum panels for the hood, trunk lid and removable targa roof. Significantly, use of aluminum body panels on a production Japanese automobile was nearly unheard of at the time.
The low-profile nature of the 2U engine facilitated the aerodynamic shape of the nose. It also allowed Hasegawa to position the driveshaft exceptionally low in the car, resulting in a favorable center of gravity and superb handling. The one significant feature of the prototype which did not make it into the production model was the sliding canopy roof. Here, Toyota reimagined the rear portion of the canopy as a fixed structural element and placed a removable targa roof panel ahead of it. This strategy retained the car’s original silhouette, added rigidity, and provided the driver with the option of alfresco motoring.
Although intended as a street machine, the Sports 800’s agility and power-to-weight ratio quickly attracted Japanese motorsports enthusiasts. In fact, the model was so popular among racers that it was homologated for international competition in October 1965. The Sports 800’s greatest victory came just a few months later at the 500-km Suzuka on January 16, 1966.
The Sports 800 was produced from 1965 through 1969, with Toyota outsourcing construction to specialty manufacturer Kanto Auto Works. The overall design remained relatively unchanged over the five-year production run, with the most notable modification being the introduction of a new grille in 1968. Whereas most units were configured as RHD, about 9% of the cars were built as left-hand drive to comply with the regulations in Okinawa, which at the time was under U.S. occupation.
Rare at auction
Our subject car was one of 703 units produced in 1966. This was a running and driving example that appeared to be in fair cosmetic condition. From a visual standpoint, the biggest negative was the modern-looking aftermarket wheels, which were incorrect, undesirable and unattractive. In addition, the stance of the car appeared to be a bit off, and the engine compartment was untidy. Other than that, this Sports 800 appeared to be an honest and authentic example.
While Sports 800s are not exceptionally scarce, they most commonly trade hands through private treaties and rarely sell through public auctions. Indeed, the most recent sale listed in the SCM Platinum Auction Database is from an event in June 2007. As a JDM enthusiast and collector, I am aware of several Sports 800s that have sold privately during the past few years. For running RHD cars, prices range from $25,000 to $50,000 depending entirely on condition. By comparison, LHD cars are highly sought after by collectors and generally sell at a 50% to 75% premium. As just one example, a non-running LHD Sports 800 in need of restoration sold on Bring a Trailer on November 5, 2019, for $42,000, including buyer’s premium.
The 2000GT has always been the iconic Toyota sports car and sells for many multiples of its immediate predecessor. Despite this, the Sports 800 is an incredibly fun and affordable sports car, and the first of its kind for Toyota. I’d call this sale a fair representation of the current market for a running and driving RHD example in fair condition.
