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The Toyota Sports 800, the company's first sports car, is regarded as a national treasure in Japan.

Toyota unveiled the prototype for the Sports 800, known as the Publica Sports, at the 1962 Tokyo Auto Show, featuring a sloping fighter-jet style one-piece canopy (without doors). It used a 28-hp engine borrowed from the compact and lightweight Publica 700, a Japanese market economy car that was the predecessor to today's Toyota Corolla. When the two-seater Toyota Sports 800 officially launched in 1965, it had dropped the intriguing show concept for a more conventional design, with its engine upgraded for more power.

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The Toyota Sports 800 was manufactured by Toyota's subcontractor Kanto Auto Works, now under the company, until 1969. Only about 3,100 were made, making it one of the rarest Japanese retro gems. Predating the Supra, 86, MR2 and even the 2000GT, it was a proper sports car in every way. Because it was aimed at the domestic market, it has never received much attention from the rest of the world, but in Japan, the iconic Sports 800 is revered. Here are the 10 reasons why we love the Toyota Sports 800

Even though the 1967 James Bond movie "You Only Live Twice" made the Toyota 2000GT more popular worldwide, the Toyota Sports 800 sparked Toyota's transformation into Japan's biggest automaker. Being Toyota's first production sports car, it paved the way for the Toyota 2000GT and is essentially the Supra's and the Scion FR-S/Toyota GT86's grandfather.

It has gained a tremendous following in Japan, where it's affectionately called the "Yota-Hachi" - short form for "Toyota 8" in Japanese. It also remains one of the few cars inducted into the Japanese Automotive Hall of Fame because of its significant role in the country's motoring culture.

The Toyota 800's lightness set it apart from its contemporaries like the Nissan Silvia, Daihatsu Compagno, and Datsun Fairlady, helping it beat them with less power. The little Toyota only tipped the scale at 1,279 lbs.

While it's not comparable to today's canyon carvers, it's zippier and more fun to drive than many of its domestic rivals, even today. The amazingly low curb weight was achieved using a thin-gauged steel unibody, with its hood, roof panel, and trunk lid using aluminum. During the Sports 800's early years, even the seat frames were built of aluminum, similar to the period's aircraft seat frames.

The Toyota Sports 800's cool removable aluminum roof (held only by six screws) was another weight-saving innovation. Many believe the roof type was first used by the Porsche 911/912 Targa, which undeniably made it fashionable.

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However, that's not true. The Toyota Sports 800 and the 1961 Triumph TR4 with its "Surrey Top were the first mass production cars with such a removable roof panel. The Targa-style roof panel could be conveniently stored in the Sports 800's trunk when not in use.

The Sports 800 looks like an Italian-designed car. Many people are mind-blown, learning that Toyota made such a stylish sports car on its first try. It’s cool, semi-convertible design was done by Shozo Sato, a designer on loan from Datsun, and Toyota's lead engineer Tatsuo Hasegawa.

Hasegawa had previously worked on the Tachikawa Ki-94 high-altitude fighter-interceptor, a WWII aircraft, and was the major influence on the Sports 800 use of aerospace engineering principles to improve aerodynamics. The remarkable design continues to please the eyes of classic car aficionados today.

It's exciting to own a classic, fun car like the Toyota Sports 800, that's also stunningly beautiful. Only 3,131 units were made in the four years the Toyota Sports 800 was in production. Even fewer remain today, reported to be around 10%, with most in Japan.

That's because the thin steel used for the unibody turned out to be a double-edged sword. While it may have given it an edge in lightness, it also made it more susceptible to destructive corrosion. Due to the car's rarity, prices have gone up, making it collectible. A non-running Sports 800 project car with some rust sold for $40,000 in 2019 (Bring a Trailer USA). At the same time, a fully restored Sports 800 had been listed for sale in Switzerland for $89,000.

Right-hand drive (RHD) is standard for every genuine Japanese domestic market car (JDM). But that's if you don't count the Toyota Sports 800, which is probably the first JDM car that was made in RHD and LHD. Of all 3,131 units, less than 300 were left-hand drive cars. They were meant to be sold in the American-occupied Japanese Okinawa Island, where cars were driven on the right side of the road.

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Toyota, being ambitious, brought 41 of the LHD Sports 800s stateside for "test marketing" and to build a dealership network. However, they were told by American dealerships that the cars wouldn't sell well in the United States. Still, Toyota decided to leave them in the country rather than ship them back to Japan.

The Toyota Sports 800 was powered by a 790-cc air-cooled, horizontally-opposed, dual-carbureted, two-cylinder engine mated to a 4-speed manual gearbox sending power to its rear wheels. The power plant was so small that one person could carry it around. The little mill could pump out 45 hp while, according to the company's estimates, only sipping fuel at an efficient rate of 73 mpg.

Built Toyota tough, it was also shared with the Dyna Coaster Bus, and also made this micro car a top choice in Japanese Endurance races. Unlike the Sports 800, many Honda S roasters (the contemporary rival) have had their original engines changed or replaced for unreliability reasons.

Despite producing only 45 horsepower, the Toyota Sports 800 was not a slouch performance-wise, thanks to its low 1278 lbs. curb weight. The power was sufficient to propel it across the quarter-mile in 18.4 seconds, which was good for the period.

On a long enough straight, it could hit a 95 mph top speed.

The Yota-Hachi may be small in appearance, but was a lethal competitor destroyer. It was in a direct and extremely intense rivalry with the high-tech Honda S roadster in Japan. On paper, the Honda S roadster seemed the clear winner. It used a modern twin-cam water-cooled 4-cylinder engine churning out 70 horses, which also had a crazy high 9,500 rpm redline, making it one of the highest revving production sports cars.

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The Honda S roaster was equipped with modern disc brakes as opposed to Toyota's "stone age" drum brakes and could max out at 100 mph. But, race after race, the lighter and lower Toyota trounced the roughly 300-pound heavier Honda S roadster on twisty race courses. Young Japanese drivers loved it for its sporty performance, which came at a cheaper price of $4415 (595,000 yen) vs. the $4884 (658,000 yen) the Honda cost.

The Toyota Sports 800 established itself in motorsports by clinching its first win in the 1965 All-Japan Clubman Championship Race. In the 1966 Suzuka 500 km Endurance Race, where its dependability, large fuel tank, and fuel economy were big benefits, it was able to outgun its more powerful but thirsty rivals like the Honda S600, Lotus Elan, and Prince Skyline.

The same year, Toyota scooped all three podium places in the Fuji 24 Hours Endurance Race, with the Sports 800 placing third behind only a pair of Toyota 2000GTs.

Dennis Kariuki is a tech enthusiast who writes for Hotcars.com. Previously, he wrote for the.car .He likes covering the marriage between technology and cars. Besides that, he is big f1 fan. After working tirelessly through the week, you can be sure that on Sundays he is most likely enjoying and following motorsports events.