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Toyotas most recent effort to win LeMans was in 1999. The Toyota GT1 was named after the category it competed in, the now defunct GT1 class. Essentially this stipulated that a road going version of the race car had to be offered for sale to the public, but only one had to be put on sale and it didn't even have to sell. This made a bit of a mockery of the rules, as most GT1's tended to be designed from the outset as racecars, one of which would then be "civilised" for road use. The Mercedes Benz CLK-GTR was another example of this, as was the Porsche 911 GT1.

The GT1 failed to win in 1998, but came very close in 1999. It was only narrowly beaten by the BMW V12 LMR, and took 2nd place overall and won the GT1 category. That car was the No.3 car driven by an all Japanese crew. The model shown here carried the No.1 and was driven by Martin Brundle, and two Frenchmen, Collard and Sospiri. It performed strongly in the first few hours of the race, but was eliminated early on following an accident.

Toyota did not return to LeMans in 2000, as they had switched their attention to a new Formula 1 project. The new F1 Toyota team started competing in the 2002 F1 season, but to date (January 2006) has not won a race in F1. Much of the technology from the GT1 has been incorporated into the new F1 project, so even though they never won LeMans, it was still valuable racing experience for Toyota.

This model is a fine representation of the GT1, with its narrow cabin allowing air to pass easily to the large rear wing. It also has two large air intakes for engine cooling each side of the cockpit. The doors form part of this ducting. The rear bodywork is removable revealing a detailed V10 engine, rear suspension and gearbox. A portion of the front bodywork detaches to reveal a towing ring. The model also has great red and white paint just like the real thing. The interior is excellent, with suede effect on the steering wheels and on the drivers seat. The rear wheels can sometimes appear a little out of line with the body, but otherwise they look good.