Twiggy's Toyota

Twiggy. She should need no introduction, unless you are on the young side. Essentially she was the most famous model in the world. Famous for being quite skinny. Her real name was Lesley Hornby and in 1968, Toyota gave her a 2000GT.

Twiggy had agreed to do what she did best at the 14th Tokyo Motor Show in 1967 and that was, stand next to the gold car.

Following shipment of the vehicle to Britain, Twiggy took delivery in February 1968. The press event and handover of ‘UBY 2F’ was hosted in the London showroom of the recently established Toyota (GB) Ltd.

As the 18-year-old Twiggy did not yet have a licence, following the staged photo above, driving duties were handed to then boyfriend and manager Justin de Villeneuve.

After Twiggy, the car became embroiled in a curious American TV show ‘The Ugliest Girl in Town. This new ABC sitcom first aired on 26 September 19’68 and focused on the antics of Canadian comedian Peter Kastner and his courtship of English actress Patricia Brake while disguised as a female model.

Modified for the part with hideous psychedelic, painted graphics, Twiggy’s old car could not save the series which was cancelled before all 20 episodes could be shown.

The car was resprayed and exported to America. Toyota USA purchased what was becoming an increasingly rare car, in 1981.

Sent away for restoration a second time after a fire, the job went to Shin Yoshikaw a 2000GT expert who discovered the original colour. A tiny arc of gold paint was visible around the door latch which clearly showed the Toyota’s original colour and when this was cross-referenced against the frame and engine codes, immediately revealed the car as one of only two in existence. The numbers also connected it right back to its early life as Toyota’s 1960s show star. See our original feature and pictures here https://cdn.lumara.digital/freecarmag/magazine/Free-Car-Mag-Issue-44.pdf A full restoration and bare metal respray was carried out and a total of seven coats of gold paint were applied, topped off with three coats of lacquer. Surely Twiggy would approve? Watch film of the restoration here: [[http://www.studiotime- capsule.com/restoration_of_twiggys_toyota_2000gt](http://www.studiotime- capsule.com/restoration_of_twiggys_toyota_2000gt)]