Ever heard of the Toyota 2000GT? It's quite a famous car, particularly for James Bond fans. A convertible version of Japan's super sports car was created for the film You Only Live Twice. It's the car that paved the way for all of Toyota's sports cars, including today's Supra and 86, and was first launched in 1965. Impressively, not only was the roadcar the fastest Toyota ever produced at the time - topping out at 128 mph - it was developed in a record-breaking 10 months. In today's era of digital everything, that would still be incredibly remarkable, but 55 years ago, that kind of turnaround time was phenomenal.

Not only was the car developed in the relative blink of an eye in order to be presented at the 1965 Tokyo Motor Show, but it was completed with the help of Yamaha. If you recall, this partnership continued, with Yamaha helping decades later with the development of the astonishingly brilliant Lexus LFA supercar. But back to the 2000GT, production ended in the autumn of 1970 after three years of production, as the car was only available in dealerships from 1967. Just 351 units were made, making this one of the rarest cars in the world. Now, two examples of a racing version have been acquired by the Toyota Collection situated in Cologne, Germany.

Considering that the 2000GT was the most expensive Toyota to date, it's no wonder that it belongs in such a collection. But it also deserves its place for being the first Asian car with a curved panoramic glass windshield. There was a great level of attention to detail on the small stuff too, with those involved even working on the windshield wiper rubbers to eliminate squeaking. As a racing car, it was seriously impressive too, claiming a double victory at the first-ever Suzuka 1,000-kilometer race in June of 1966. This was thanks, in part, to the input of the legendary Caroll Shelby who prepared three of the cars. These racers topped out at 155 mph. With a heritage like that, a museum seems like the right place for future generations to learn about the epic 2000GT.