Toyota GT-One
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| Category | LMGTP (originally GT1) | ||||||||
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| Constructor | Toyota Motor Corporation | ||||||||
| Designer(s) | André de Cortanze | ||||||||
| Technical specifications | |||||||||
| Chassis | Carbon fiber and aluminum honeycomb monocoque | ||||||||
| Suspension (front) | Independent double wishbone pushrod system | ||||||||
| Suspension (rear) | Independent double wishbone pushrod system | ||||||||
| Engine | Toyota 3.6 liter 90-degree V8 twin-turbo, mid, longitudinally mounted | ||||||||
| Transmission | TTE 6-speed sequential manual | ||||||||
| Fuel | Esso | ||||||||
| Competition history | |||||||||
| Notable entrants | Toyota | ||||||||
| Notable drivers |
 Ukyo Katayama Toshio Suzuki Keiichi Tsuchiya Thierry Boutsen Ralf Kelleners Geoff Lees Martin Brundle Emmanuel Collard Allan McNish
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| Debut | 1998 24 Hours of Le Mans | ||||||||
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| Constructors' Championships | 0 | ||||||||
| Drivers' Championships | 0 | ||||||||
| Toyota GT-One Road Car | |
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| Overview | |
| Manufacturer | Toyota Motor Corporation |
| Production | 1998 (2 built, homologation reasons) |
| Assembly | Cologne, Germany |
| Designer | André de Cortanze |
| Body and chassis | |
| Class | Supercar |
| Body style | 2-door LMGTP race car |
| Layout | MR layout |
| Related |
Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR Porsche 911 GT1 Straßenversion McLaren F1 LM Nissan R390 GT1 |
| Powertrain | |
| Engine | 3.6L Toyota R36V twin-turbocharged V8 |
| Transmission | 6-speed TTE unsynchronized sequential manual |
| Dimensions | |
| Wheelbase | 2,800 mm (110 in) |
| Length | 4,840 mm (191 in) |
| Width | 2,000 mm (79 in) |
| Height | 1,125 mm (44.3 in) |
| Curb weight | 920 kg (2,030 lb) |
The Toyota GT-One (model code TS020) is a racing car initially developed for grand touring GT1 rules, but later adapted into a Le Mans prototype LMGTP car. It raced in the 1998 and 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans. It is the fastest racing car to compete at Le Mans. Its road car counterpart bears similar traits.
Following the end of the Group C era around 1994, Toyota decided to alter its plans in sports car racing by moving to the production-based GT classes for 1995. Toyota decided to approach this in two ways by using two different styles of car for competition. The first was a heavily modified Toyota Supra, referred to as the Supra LM, which would use a turbocharged 3S-GT (503E) inline-4. The second entry was a custom built car designed specifically to be a racing car, yet required a small number of production cars for sale in order to meet homologation regulations. This car was modified heavily from the Toyota MR2, and became known as the SARD MC8-R. The MC8-R would use a custom built Toyota turbocharged V8. While the Supra performed admirably in 1995, the MC8-R would appear superior for 1996. With development of high powered supercars for the GT classes at the time, Toyota decided that a car similar to the MC8-R, which was intended as a race car first, would be better suited to continuing Toyota's development of a GT car. Thus Toyota announced they would skip the 1997 24 Hours of Le Mans to be able to develop their new GT car for 1998.
Turning to Toyota's European arm based in Cologne, Germany, Toyota Team Europe (TTE) and Dallara were charged with development of the new GT car. With taking the one-year hiatus, TTE was able to look at what the competition was developing for the GT class, and exploit it to their benefit. In 1997, both the Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR and the Porsche 911 GT1 were dominant cars in their class that exploited loopholes in the rules in place at the time. Each car was a custom built super car of which only a small handful of production cars were built to homologate it. TTE realized that they would actually only need to build a single production car in order to meet homologation regulations, thus allowing TTE to have a car that would never truly be sold to a customer, meaning that any driver luxuries could be left out.
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