Remembering Japanese cars from the past
This video shows what the average hachi roku enthusiast will drool over: 4:25 minutes non-stop hachi action on hachi-roku-day at Fuji Speedway!
Anyone actually able to count them all? I lost track at a certain moment and my guess is somewhere near 30!
Direct link to video: ８６走 富士ショート
When I found the picture of Fuji International Speedway I posted last week I got an Initial D feeling from the whole scene. So I could not resist modifying it with some comic sound effects from Initial D:
Comic version: Fuji Speedway International visit
Even better to keep this version in your family album, right?
What’s more 90s than visiting the Fuji International Speedway circuit with your friends? Especially if most of them own a sportscar?
Fuji Speedway International visit
Yes, that’s a whole bunch of AE86s, a Celica XX, a 280ZX and…and… a Sprinter AE82? And is that a female driver next to the panda white Levin AE86?
Definitely a picture worth keeping in your family album! :)
Found at ????????
We all saw the video of Itsuki’s voice actor screaming his lungs out when Keiichi Tsuchya takes him on a drift ride. Well, how about this female reporter riding along with Haruto Yanagida in the Nissan R810V shortly before the 1986 JSPC?
She literally screams her lungs out after the first two corners and bursts into tears when the lap is over… Poor girl…
I must say I probably would not like to trade places with her. The Nissan R810V was based upon the Lola T810 chassis and was powered by a high performance tuned Nissan VG30ET V6 engine. There were no official power outputs of this car, but its IMSA brother had an power output of 641hp and only a weight of 860kg! Imagine driving launched from 90km/h to 300km/h in a few seconds on a wet Fuji Speedway straight: I would probably scream as well. :o
It is a bit weird: in contrary of the Mazda Cosmo AP RX5 the Mazda Savanna RX3 is a very rare Bosozoku styled car. We could only find two pictures of one single car!
Bosozoku style Mazda Savanna RX3
Even though the Cosmo AP RX5 is a much bigger and meaner looking car, the Savanna RX3 is looking a lot meaner than its predecessor the Mazda Familia Rotary R100 and should really appeal all petrolheads.
Bosozoku style Mazda Savanna RX3
The Mazda Savanna RX3 also had a big racing history: it debuted in 1971 at the Fuji 500 Tourist Trophy race and won instantly! It came just in time to prevent the Nissan Skyline GT-Rs from getting 50 consecutive wins for the Japanese Grand Prix!
Winning Mazda Savanna RX3 on Fuji Speedway Tourist Trophy
If you are interested in this race, Japanese Nostalgic Car blog wrote an excellent article about this race!
The RX3 then continued to race for many years afterwards and even got over 100 victories at the end of 1976. It even is still being used for many different races nowadays: amoung them dragraces as well:
Mazda RX3 drag racer
The RX3 is based upon the Mazda Familia 808 platform (in some countries called 818), but then powered by a rotary engine instead of the inline 4 of the 808/818. The outside of the car remained the same except for the twin round headlights at the front and the round taillights at the back of the car.
Factory stock Mazda Savanna RX3 4 door saloon
On the inside the interior was a bit more sportier than the standard Familia: the dash remained the same but it featured semi bucket seats.
Mazda Savanna RX3 interior
What really helped was the weight of the car: the Familia only weights 865kg, so adding a powerfu
l rotary to such car makes it an instant winning combination! However the car still featured leaf springs and a live axle, so the handling of the car was not as good as the RX2 Capella. But what can you expect from a family car?
Factory stock Mazda Savanna RX3 4 door saloon
The Savanna was not only limited to the Coupe version of the Familia, but also delivered on the 4 door saloon and 5 door station van.
In Japan, Australia and Europe the Savanna was delivered with the 10A engine, while in the US only the 12A featured on the car. Starting from 1975 all it got an update and since then all Savanna RX3s got the 12A engine.
Mazda 10A Wankel engine
Of course the sporty image of the RX3 had to be mentioned over and over again. Take for example the poster for the RX3 SP:
Mazda RX3 SP: not a slowpoke
All in all I don’t really understand why the Savanna RX3 is not a popular bosozoku style car: it looks bad, it had racing history (with wide fenders!), it features a rotary and best of all it was also available in 4 door saloons! A large package of elements which create a good foundation for a popular bosozoku car!
Maybe that is the whole point: it just reminded too much of the Familia family car. Or maybe it became an instant classic and the price remained too high during the 80s and 90s? Or maybe it was just the wrong car: the car that killed the 50th consecutive victory of the Skyline? Or maybe it was too small: the car is the size of a Nissan Sunny or Toyota Corolla. Who knows?
[I posted this article earlier this week on bosozokustyle.com.]
Ekhatch posted these two beautiful vintage Skylines:
Two vintage Nissan Skyline KPGC10 racecars
At first I thought they were driving side by side on Fuji Speedway banking however water drains at the top of a banking do not make sense. When I opened the larger image it became clear that they are standing in the paddock and the picture was taken from somewhere above the paddock. Fooled by the sloping and the thumbnail I guess. ;)
Anyway, it is one of the most beautiful pictures I seen for a while! :)
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