Japanese sportscars of the 60's

For today's blog post I thought I'd feature some newer model kits I've built over the past year showing some of the interesting Japanese cars that were coming out in the late 60's to compete with the world market.

The first one I'd like to feature is the 1964 Honda S600. This car was one of the first production cars that Honda produced after having made it's mark on the world as class winning motorcycle producers. This car featured a 606cc, aluminum 4 cyl engine with 4 carburetors and a chain drive system operating the rear wheels. It was small, light and fast, winning first in the under 1000cc class of the Grand prix in 1966. I see a lot of influence from some of the British sportscars of the era - it looks a lot like a Healey Sprite or MG Midget.
The model kit is the Tamiya 1/24scale kit, nicely detailed, full engine detail, chrome metal transfers and decals included. I painted it in traditional red with black interior.

The next car I'd like to show you is the 1968 Mazda Cosmo,
This car was Mazda's first production sports car and featured the first production Wankel engine (rotory engine design)  The name cosmo was fitting for the time as the world was watching the technology boom of the space race unfold - the new technology and forward thinking that came with the new Wankel engine seemed a good selling point.
I find the lines of this car to be very reminiscent of other car trends of the time, the enclosed headlights like on an E-type, the long tail and bulging rear window that looks very American..
These cars were quite rare and only a few thousand were produced - by hand, between 67-72.
The model kit I built this from is the Hasegawa 1/24scale kit. Built straight from the box in white with black interior. The kit is very nice with good curbside detail, though no engine.

Lastly I'd like to show you the beautiful and powerful 1968 Toyota 2000GT -
This car was more of a super car when it came out rather than a sports car. It featured a beautiful lightweight body design, similar in it's shape to the famous Ferrari 250GT of the 60's. It had an inline 6cyl engine with twin overhead cams and triple webber carburetors - just like what you'd find in an E-type or Aston Martin of the time.
The interior featured a lot of leather and a polished wood dash and console. These cars were fast, powerful and beautiful. They even had flip up headlights which were just becoming a new trend at the time.
These cars were rare and expensive and the value for one today has skyrocketed into the millions!
I built this model from the Hasegawa 1/24scale kit, and paintd it in original Bellatrix Yellow with black leather interior. Again, it's a nice kit in the same series as the Mazda cosmo - nice detail but no engine.

Well that's it for this week, ciao for now -