The Toyota Sports 800 Targa is believed to be the Japanese automaker’s first mass-produced sports car and is now up for bidding with the current best offer at $41,000.
After showing a prototype to the world at the Tokyo Auto Salon in 1962, Toyota launched production three years later. This particular example was made 56 years ago and has around 51,000 km (31,700 miles) under its belt.
As the model designation suggests, the engine is a 800cc (0.8-liter), two-cylinder, air-cooled flat block with two carburetors. The output amounts to just 45 horsepower, which a four-speed manual transmission carries to the rear wheels.
The company used particularly thin steel for the frame and aluminum for the exterior bodywork, ending up with a car that weighed just 580 kilos (1,280 pounds) while begin 3,580 mm (140 inches) long. The top speed was estimated at 160 km/h (100 mph).
Out of the total production run of 3,131 units, only around 300 had their steering wheel on the left-hand side. Rumor has it only around ten percent of these cars survived to this day.