Hands up everyone who thinks the Subaru-powered 86 was Toyota's first foray into boxer-engined cars. Wrong! (This includes me, by the way.) Turns out their 700 - or Publica or Paburika (model code UP10), depending on the market into which it was sold - was powered by a horizontally-opposed two cylinder engine waayyy back in 1961. Not only that, various versions of the 700 - sedans, wagons, vans, and utes - were offered packing flattie two pots until 1 972. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Publica ). As a 1964 edition, this 700 - photographed in southern Tasmania on a glorious Autumn day - is from the very early stages of that fairly long production run. It looks pretty basic, featuring an auto 'box and what looked like an after-market heater / demister, but was in excellent, possibly even unrestored, condition. Its party-piece (other than being cute, obviously!)? According to its Wikipedia entry, it did 85 miles per imperial gallon or 3.3 litres / 100 k
Info on the John Goss Special version of Ford's XB Falcon hardtop is a bit sketchy when it comes to production numbers, with Wikipedia suggesting that there may have been as many as 800 built in two runs of 400 each ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Goss_Special ) . However, Survivor Car Australia magazine reckons the total was 700, as follows: Thanks, Jon! And then there's this excellent Tasmanian Featured in Five video - also courtesy of Jon, as is the black and white image that follows - that supports the final figure being 700 cars: https://youtu.be/gG8zUyJ8hTQ?si=yGlQD9lCOZpJHea6 . It's really, really well produced and is definitely worth watching! Most fans of Aussie muscle know the rest of the story: Built to celebrate Goss's 1974 Bathurst 1000 victory, as well as Ford Australia's 50th anniversary, they were based on a Falcon 500 shell and equipped with a 302 cu Cleveland V8, either a four speed floor shift or a three speed T-bar auto and featured th