Hi, Before the RA28 was exported to the world, the Japs had already made a 1st generation liftback, called the RA25. It was manufacturered from 1973 to 1975. It was built upon the long-nose JDM TA22 chassis. It had the long flat bonnet as the '22 and it had 5-lights per rear side (the RA28 had three). It came in three flavours; namely the LT, ST and GT. The GT had the 210-head 18RG twin-cam engine, with twin dual-throat Solex side-draught carbs. It had a P51 close ration all-steel 5speed manual gearbox which was patented by ZF (Porsche) and used C-rings instead of synchro gears - as per the early-mid 70's Porsche gearboxs). It had a two-piece tail-shaft and fed into a 7.5inch 2-pinion F-series 3.909:1 LSD. It had the GT interior trim, with overhead warning lights, power factory-tinted windows and air con. In late 1973 one was imported by Toyota at the behest of AMI (Australian Motor Industries) for evaluation in the Australian market. The vehicle was tested for some time, but due to its high performance and lightwieght (due to lack of intrusion bars or other safety features) the vehicle was deemed to be in a high insurance category and plans to import this model were dropped. The vehicle was used for a short time as the chariman of AMI personal transport and it was also taken to shows and demos. Then it was placed into storage for a number of years before being released to be sold (June 1982). This particular vehicle also featured in the Wheels and Modern Motor Magazines in Jan 1974. All those years ago I drove past the car yard. I saw the car. I bought the car - well, I actually traded in my tired TA22 LT for it. I've kept the RA25 ever since. Except for the wheels, it is in full original JDM glory. I am getting a set of wheels to complete my restoration, where it will look like it just rolled out of the Toyota factory, despite being 32 years old. It has an original 130,000km on the clock, whcih isn't much for a car this old. All lights, swtiches, air con, windows still work as good as the day it was built. Currently this is the only RA25 GT (model number is RA25-MQ-GG) in Australia that I know of. However, I know of someone who has recently purchased one in Japan and it should be in the country around Nov/Dec 2005. It has it's chrome bumpers painted and I am not sure how original it is. Rest assured, mine is full spec original and that is the full focus of my restoration. Also, there is an RA25 ST version in Brisbane, but it is undergoing a large restoration to bring it back to original. Rather that fill this area with pic, here is the link. Enjoy. seeyuzz river
