The Toyota 7 made its racing debut at the fifth Japanese Grand Prix of May 3, 1968. Four 7s were entered for the race at the Fuji Speedway and one took away the honors in its class.

Toyota had skipped the previous year's race. Time had been too short to develop a brand-new racing car properly, because new rules governing design were not settled until very late. Toyota was determined to build a new racing car from the ground up, which made it much more difficult for Toyota than for its competition to put a machine together in time for the 1967 season. As with the current F1 project, Toyota did not build the 7 to simply win races, but also to help the company gain valuable experience through the process of developing a winning car.

Toyota targeted Racing Group 7 regulations, as specified by the FIA, the governing body of world motor sport. The car was conceived and masterminded by the talented Jiro Kawano, the man behind the Toyota 2000GT, but development and construction were entrusted to Yamaha. The design was typical of a Group 7 car of the period, with the main cockpit structure made up of aluminum side sills and scuttles, and glass fiber body panels. The prototype, which was first seen testing at Suzuka in February '68, had a DOHC fuel-injected, six-cylinder, two-liter engine borrowed from the 2000GT. By the time the car appeared at the Fuji circuit in March, the engine had been upgraded to a proper three-liter DOHC V8 all-alloy unit.

1970 Toyota 7 Specifications (Non-turbo version)

Taking on the Mighty Can-Am Cars

The Fifth Japanese GP was run over 80 laps of the high-speed, six-kilometer Fuji Circuit. The 25 entries were a mixture of Group 4, 6 and 7 cars. However, the organizers split the field into four classes based on engine capacity. Although looking strong in practice runs, sadly, the Toyota 7 cars did not shine in their debut. The best placings were eighth (and best in class) and ninth for Yoshio Otsubo and Hiroshi Fushida, respectively. The other two 7s retired with mechanical problems.

Undaunted, Toyota continued with its new car for the rest of the season. In the Grand Cup at Suzuka on June 30, the 7s dominated a field of privately-sponsored Porsche Carrera 10s and Lola T70s, taking the first four places. In the All-Japan Clubman race at Fuji on October 20, two 7s followed home two T70s for third and fourth places, beating four Nissan R380s.

The last big event of '68 in Japan was the Fuji 200 Miles held on November 23. Ten mighty Can-Am cars from America had been invited to compete. They were mostly McLaren M6Bs and Lola T70s, driven by such stars as Mark Donohue, Al Unser, Peter Revson and Jo Bonnier. Naturally, the Can-Am invasion force imposed its will on the competition, taking all three steps on the podium. Still, the Toyota's 7s did remarkably well to annex the next three spots.

The Twin Turbo Machine: A Faded Vision

In '70, JAF, the Japanese motor sport ruling body, decided that future GPs should be for single-seat racers. With that announcement, Toyota was forced to axe the awesome machine it was developing for that year's competition.

Today, the uncrowned king of Toyota 7s sits defiantly on a raised podium at the Toyota Automobile Museum in Nagakute. The world can only guess at what might have been.

*During 2003, this Toyota 7 raced in the Goodwood Festival of Speed, a famous historic car racing event in England. Some forty years after its development, the Toyota 7 is still amazing race fans.