Wednesday One-Off: Toyota EX-7

Toyota might not have many dedicated performance cars in its back catalogue, but those that it has built have typically been critically acclaimed. The 2000GT of the 1960s was a star of the Bond film ‘You Only Live Twice’, and now commands huge prices among collectors; multiple generations of the Celica were developed into rally-winning competitors; the original MR2 was praised for its performance and refinement; and the Supra has become a cult favourite.

In more recent years, the GT86 has been widely recognised as one of the finest handling production cars of its era, while the GR Yaris received rave reviews for its incredible cross-country pace and entertaining chassis.

One performance model that sadly remained in one-off concept form only was the remarkable EX-7 revealed at the 1970 Tokyo motor show. This radical supercar was based upon the Toyota 7 ‘578A’ racing car, albeit with that car’s turbochargers removed so that the mid-mounted 5.0-litre V8 produced ‘just’ 450hp.

The EX-7’s aerodynamic bodywork flowed rearwards from a sharply sculpted nose, and its roofline was set very low. Instead of conventional doors that opened outwards, the panels were connected to the rear roof section, rising upwards like a mid-mounted clamshell. In tandem with this action, the seats also rose up, providing easier access for driver and passenger. The interior was pure theatre, with control panels integrated within the lower seat bolsters, and a cylindrical dashboard readout.

Today, the EX-7 remains a curious one-off. While Toyota has occasionally returned to the supercar genre with its concepts, it has never produced a flagship production car of the same calibre (although its Lexus brand has of course built the sensational LFA). Arguably the closest Toyota has come was with the roadgoing version of the GT-One racing car; a twin-turbocharged V8 GT1 model now valued by Toyota at around €10 million.