Toyota Sports 800

Toyota
Sports 800
Production period:	1965-1969
Class :	Sports car
Body versions :	Cabriolet
Engines:	Otto engine : 0.8 liters (33 kW)
Length:	3580 mm
Width:	1465 mm
Height:	1176 mm
Wheelbase :	2000 mm
Empty weight :	580 kg

The Toyota Sports 800 was Toyota's first mass- produced sports car.

history

The prototype, called Toyota Publica Sports, was first shown at the Tokyo Auto Show in 1962 . At the start it had a sliding roof like from the space age, as a drive it was equipped with the 28 bhp (24 kW) engine of the Publica 700. In Japan the Sports 800 is often referred to as "Yota-Hachi" (short for Toyota 8).

Toyota Sports 800 (1965)

Toyota Sports 800 Left Hand Drive

Toyota Sports 800 rear

In 1965, series production began with the type designation UP15 and a two-cylinder boxer engine Toyota-U with two carburettors, which had been bored out to 800 cm³. The power increased to 45 hp (33 kW) at 5400 min ^-1 . This engine was sufficient to move the car, which weighs just 580 kg, in the city with a consumption of 6.3 l / 100 km and accelerates it up to 160 km / h.

Shozo Sato , a designer from Datsun , and Toyota engineer Tatsuo Hasegawa were responsible for the aerodynamic styling of the vehicle. Hasegawa was an aircraft engineer during World War II , so the Sports 800 became a light and agile vehicle.

The Sports 800 was one of the first production vehicles with a Targa roof , even before the Porsche Targa . The targa roof made of aluminum could be stowed in the trunk when it was not needed.

Between 1965 and 1969, about 3,131 units were built by the Kanto Auto Works . Only about 10% of these vehicles have survived to this day, most of them in Japan.

1235 cars were produced in 1965, 703 in 1966, 538 in 1967, 440 Sports 800 in 1968 and 215 in 1969.

Most of the 3,131 cars were right-hand drive, but around 300 were left-hand drive, but were mainly delivered to Okinawa , which was occupied by the USA and therefore had right-hand traffic. A very small number of left-hand drive vehicles were used by Toyota for test drives in the United States; but then it was decided not to export the Sports 800 to the USA.

Over the years there have been subtle differences in the models. These were: From 1967, 1st gear was synchronized , in 1968 the radiator grille and bumper were changed and in 1969 there were side position lights. The styling of the body remained unchanged.

A two-cylinder boxer engine with a displacement of 790 cm³ propelled the car. Toyota Motor 2U made 45 hp (33 kW) at 5400 min ^-1 and was made 1965-1969, be similar successor 2U-B from 1966 to 1976. The manual in 1975 Buses produced Dyna Coaster shows that the Toyota 2U-B engine used as an auxiliary engine for the air conditioning system. The 2U motor was also installed in the Publica UP20 / UP26 and the MiniAce UP100.

The weight of the car was kept low through the use of aluminum sheets and thin steel sheets in the self-supporting body. In the first years of production, even the seat frames were made of aluminum. The curb weight was 580 kg.

There are registers for this model on the Internet in both Japan and the USA, in which the owners should register.

Sports 800 with gas turbine

Toyota Sports 800 gas turbine hybrid (1977)

Toyota manufactured a one-off Toyota Sports 800 GT for the 1977 Tokyo Motor Show . GT stands for Gas Turbine and not for Grand Touring. The 22 kW gas turbine drove a generator, which in turn fed an electric motor to drive the vehicle via a two-speed gearbox.

Web links

Commons : Toyota Sports 800  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Toyota Sports 800 Ownership Register in the US
• Toyota Sports 800 Ownership Register in Japan
• Yahoo-Group for the Publica 700/800 and Sports 800 models
• Japanese club site
• Yotahachi North American Resource Page

bibliography

• Toyota 2000GT Sports 800, Neko Publishing Co., Ltd.
• Toyota Publica & Sports 800, Miki Press.
• Toyota Sports 800 Production Figure Documents from Toyota Motor Corporation, Global External Affairs Division.
• 1968 Toyota Motor Sales, USA Press Release.
• 1975 Toyota Dyna Coaster Bus Manual.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ History of the Toyota Sports 800 (English)
2. ↑ The life story of Tatsuo Hasegawa (English) ( Memento from October 4, 1999 in the Internet Archive )
3. ↑ History of the Kanto Auto Works (English) ( Memento of the original from May 8, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
4. ↑ Japanese Showcars ​​2 Tokyo Motor Show 1970 ~ 1979, Japan, April 2008, ISBN 978-4-544-91033-9