A little piece of history: Toyota's first hybrid [w/VIDEO]

Now that Toyota has announced it will bring a new hybrid concept vehicle to the Detroit Auto Show, let's take a look back in history and remember Toyota's first hybrid car, the Toyota Sports 800 GT Hybrid. The GT didn't mean Gran Turismo (that would be quite a statement for such a small car!) but Gas Turbine. This cute little sportscar had a gas turbine connected to a generator that fed an electric motor with two speeds. The concept was a one-off model built for the 1977 Tokyo Motor Show, and the standard 2 cylinder air-cooled 790 cc engine and glorious aerodynamics managed to get the little bullet to 31 km/liter (73 mpg U.S.). There's video of the GT Hybrid – sadly not in action – after the jump.

[Source: Wikipedia, Gizmodo, Jsae]

The video meant to be presented here is no longer available. Sorry for the inconvenience.