Throw Back Thursday-July 23rd edition

Throw Back Thursday-July 23rd edition

As we have covered many times before The Monterey Motorsports Reunion always delivers something unexpected.  Ten years ago the featured cars were those of Chaparral, as well as, several examples from Toyota's racing heritage. 

Seeing the surviving Chaparrals in one place was unforgettable, but then to see a car that some only thought existing in a video game was something else entirely.  Seen in Grand Turismo 4, the 1969 Toyota 7 was a 600HP beast originally built to contest races in Japan.  Due to regulations changes in Japan, Toyota decided to enter the car in the North American Can-Am series but in the process of testing two factory Toyota drivers were killed in separate testing accidents and the project was subsequently squashed.  Toyota would not reenter sports car racing for over another 10 years.