Even after the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics ended, Olympic fever continued among consumers wanting to drive one of the stylish symbols of the competitions. 

About 2,700 vehicles provided by Toyota Motor Corp. to support the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics stirred a buying frenzy among car shoppers.

Featuring the Games' iconic red and blue "ichimatsu" checkered patterns on a white background, the official vehicles were used to carry officials to match venues and as lead cars for marathons and other competitions.

Customers and used car dealers scrambled to get their hands on the reasonably priced, environmentally friendly vehicles.

Two of those cars were found in late October at Koriyama Jidosha Gakko, a driving school in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture.

The two Mirai fuel cell vehicles had the school name painted above the "Tokyo 2020" logo on the body.

"We also expect them to raise our profile because they are attention-grabbing," a school official said. "With an increasing number of young people shifting away from cars, we want them to know that cars come in many varieties, including eco-friendly ones."

The used cars have around 100 kilometers on their odometers.

New ones would cost more than 7 million yen ($61,600), but the school was approached by a car dealer with which it has long done business with and purchased them at a reasonable price, the official said.

Because they are a little too large to use for driving lessons, the school utilizes the cars to shuttle about 60 students to and from the school.

The official vehicles went on sale in the used car market in mid-September after the Tokyo Games concluded.

They became a hot topic on social media. One user said, "The price may be reasonable," while another asked, "Who wants to buy them?"

Originally, Toyota, a top sponsor of the Summer Games, provided about 3,350 vehicles including electric cars and automated buses.

The automaker decided to sell about 2,700 of the passenger vehicles including Prius, Corolla and Mirai models in the used car market, hoping they would be put to good use after the Games, a publicist said.

Netz Toyota Koriyama, a Toyota dealer outlet in Koriyama, had an inventory of 54 Mirai vehicles and 21 other automobiles, including Prius cars, associated with the Olympics and Paralympics.

All the 21 cars were sold to individual customers by mid-November, while all the Mirai vehicles are also expected to be sold.

"They were well-received by customers who remember the 1964 Tokyo Olympics," said Yuzo Kato, general manager of the sales division. "With softball and baseball competitions also held in Fukushima Prefecture, customers may have been encouraged by the thought that their communities were also part of the Games."

An employee of a car dealer in Ishikawa Prefecture also said that the official vehicles were much sought after for their reasonable prices and particularly because they came equipped with a car navigation system customized for those cars.

The Prius PHV A model also sold well because it was about 800,000 yen cheaper than new ones, which are priced at about 3.8 million yen, the employee added.

It appears that the Olympic vehicles are popular because of the new coronavirus pandemic, in addition to reduced production of new cars stemming from the worldwide semiconductor shortage.

There have been many delays on deliveries of new cars, prompting higher demand for used cars.

"Car dealers were scrambling for (the Olympic vehicles). They have low mileage and are as good as new ones. They were sold the moment they were put up for sale," recalled a source close to a dealer in eastern Japan.

After the Olympics and Paralympics were over, the Toyota-provided vehicles were lined up at the former site of the Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo's Chuo Ward, which served as a parking lot for official vehicles and shuttle buses brought from across the country during the Games.

The cars were transported to car dealers by the end of October.

The public was split over the government's decision to proceed with holding the Games amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Some social media users said they would shy away from buying the vehicles for their flashy decorations, but car dealers say they can remove the decals.

"Apart from the interest for the Olympics and Paralympics, there are many people who genuinely want to buy cars immediately," said another insider in western Japan. "At least 80 percent of our customers removed the adornments before driving the cars."