From The Japan X-files... Forgotten Jdm Cars

[Count Grantleyish]

Hey,

Never knew these cars actually existed!

Keep up the good work...

Cheers

Grant

[homer2288]

Rezz all these info...where did u dig them up from? Legend!

I bet the Debonair was a must have car back in the 80's...with that killing look..it's gotto be a jaw dropper. Those leather seats would make very good lounge suite...

[Big Rizza]

Some very interesting cars, for sure! I'd like to see what the fellas over on MBworld forums would think if they saw their beloved AMG badge on a Mitsubishi!!!

What's next? A Ruf tuned datson 200B?

[Demon Dave]

Funnily enough I see one of those, in white, on my way to work most days...

strange looking car though

[Rezz]

Drum roll please...

<span style='font-size:21pt;line-height:100%'>The A'pex A450</span>

The One and Only Complete car by A'pex.

A'pex, who first started business back in 1992, originally started off making the 'Super Megaphone' muffler. A'pex in the early '90s were well known for being one of the first companies to offer pipe diameters larger than 60mm, and they also made the 'monster tip' popular by offering the first 115mm muffler tip. By 1997, A'pex had a whole line up of mechanical and electronic goods, and were keen to show off their know-how by putting together a 'complete car' along the lines of the famous HKS ZERO R of 1994.

When discussing the A450, the first thing that people usually ask is "why on earth did they choose those tail lights?" Well to answer that, you have to look at the car as a whole... A'pex have redesigned *every* panel on this car bar the doors and the roof. The theme A'pex were going for with the design of the A450 was 'an GT car for Adults'... take that in any which way you want. To somehow defend the A450's rear end design, I for one think the 4 circular tail lights of the regular R32 GT-R would look out of place on this car, which shares VERY little to the R32 GT-R on the outside. If you want the quad tail lights, then don't buy an A450. If you let go of the A450's heritage, it's clear to see that the car isn't too extreme in any one area (the head light treatment might be debatable) and A'pex could've easily done alot worse.

The grille is home to the 'A' from A'pex, and is surrounded by no less than 6 headlights which gives the A450 a... unique look. Looking at the car from the front really gives you an idea of the increased width, all 1810mm of it. The 18x9 Volk Racing F-Zero Winning alloy wheels don't really do a good job of filling out the guards, but were chosen more for their cohesive appearance with the redesigned bodywork. The design as a whole shouts '450hp!'... or so A'pex would want you to believe.

Based on a 1994 BNR32 GT-R, A'pex threw 'about half' it's catalogue at the A450 engine bay, and before anyone shouts 'only 450hp?', the main goal performance wise was to top 280km/h, which the A450 did suprisingly easily at Yatabe Oval Test Course (it actually recorded 283.4km/h, and did the standing quarter mile in 11.9 seconds). Aerodynamic stability was another strong point, and the A'pex coil over suspension used special spring and damper rates to enhance high speed stability and cornering without affecting comfort beyond what would be expected from such an 'Adult' GT car. The single IHI A'pex RX6 ball bearing turbine runs slightly higher boost than standard, and gives the A450 almost seamless acceleration without a sudden boost rise, giving the standard capacity RB26 smooth acceleration all the way to redline, almost as if Nissan tuned the A450 themselves. Only the clutch has been upgraded in the driveline, as everything else was deemed strong enough to handle the higher output of the A450.

The largely standard interior is very tastefully upgraded in high quality leather, keeping with the 'Adult' theme, and extends to the doortrims aswell. The steering wheel was provided by Nardi, and the instrument cluster incorporates a 320km/h speedometer and 1.5 bar boost guage in it's factory positon on the center console. The interior really is classy and gives the feeling of an overall 'complete car' as A'pex intended.

So there it is, the A'pex A450 isn't a 1000hp beast capable of 8 second quarters or covering the standing kilometer in 12 seconds, but rather it's a mature redesign and upgrade of Nissan's flagship GT-R of the early '90s made to appeal to Adults after and bit of originalty and *a little* more power. As A'pex announced at it's release, "it's a car that wants to express itself in the world of 300 km/h on the autobahn giving the driver a feeling of high quality enhancement and safety".

The A'pex A450 sold for 8,900,000 yen (A$104,527).

Name: A'pex A450

Chassis: BNR32

Engine: RB26DET(T)

Capacity: 2568cc

Power: 335kw (450hp)

Torque: unknown

Weight: 1495kg

Transmission: 5MT

Drive: 4WD ATTESA ETS

Brakes: Ventilated disks

Suspension: Front and rear independent multi-link

[Player_Hater]

love reading this thread...keep it up Rezz

[CircusMonkey]

Always a good read.

Where exactly is Yatabe Oval Test Course?

See a lot tuners bragging about topspeed runs at Yatabe from the early ninties.

Benchmark in the old days?

Edited September 8, 2005 by CircusMonkey

[PhantomS14]

Wow that's a pretty cool car. Interesting exterior design with those taillights, but seems to be a well thought out package.

How many were produced and did they sell well?

[lwells]

Awesome work Rezz. I didn't recognise it as a BNR32 at first although I kept thinking "those proportions look familar". Its actually not a bad looking car IMHO, particularly if the rear wheel filled the guards a bit more.

[AMS]

Good stuff Rezz....

Fantastic thread.....

[Wink]

Good thread resurrection.

Rezz got any updates?

[Rezz]

Update

Bit of oldskool history here:

童夢-零 DOME Zero

The original Dome Zero:

Japans first proper 'Supercar' born in 1978.

It was a prototype sportscar from DOME Co. Ltd that was exhibited at the 48th Geneva International Auto Show. The 'Dome Project', started by Minoru Hayashi in 1975, had the goal of producing small volume sports cars using knowledge gained from his racing exploits. The Dome Zero was the first of such low volume sportscars, and after failed attempts at getting Japanese domestic homologation due to 'bureaucratic barriers', their efforts were concentrated on overseas homologation. The project would never be completed...

The story of the Zero is one of bad timing, and although the Zero was the dream car of Mr Hayashi from the very beginning, an equal love of competitive racing would see to it that the Zero road car was put on the backburner indefinately. The initial design of the Zero started in 1976 with most of the work done on the prototype done by the end of the following year. It was at this time that Hayashi first had the idea to be able to compete at Le Mans, a prospect that had full support from his employees. Getting funds to be able to compete at Le Mans became a top priority, and being able to sell some low volume sportscars would help aswell. But this is where things got difficult. The Dome Zero prototype was completed in time for the 48th Geneva Auto Show in '78 where it was the hit of the show and had recieved alot of attention from various investors and interested buyers, but as mentioned earlier, Japanese homologation was discouraged. This led to more energy being commited to a second prototype road car and the Le Mans endevour, which began the following year from 1979 until 1986.

It's not entirely clear exactly why the Dome Zero (structurally) couldn't get Japanese homologation for such a successful concept car, but what is clear is that homologation rules were very strict at that time in Japan, and Dome hadn't the funds to go through with the costly homologation proceedure - which Japans mainstream auto makers with their giant budgets had no trouble doing. This led to the development of the Dome Zero P2, a car made specifically for the international market.

The P2 had unsightly large front and rear bumpers added (for the US market) and various other structural strengthening. Even so, the car was shown in Chicago and Los Angeles in 1979 and had rave reviews from the US 'Road and Track' magazine. It was at this point, Hayashi realized a high profile could be had by making a Dome Zero racing car dubbed the 'RL'. The RL was raced at Le Mans in '79 but DNF'd, and only managed a last place finish in 1980. It was at this time that Dome dropped the Zero road and race car projects altogether and continued contesting Le Mans with other cars until 1986.

The Dome Zero RL:

The Dome Zero wasn't really a supercar by todays standards, but for Japanese privateer carmakers at the time, it was an incredible step forward. It was by no means powerful with it's 2.8L L28 SOHC inline six cylinder engine producing 145ps (105kw), but it only had to propel a 920kg chassis. The exterior and interior styling was sensational for 1978, the wedge styling looking like a cross between a Lancia Stratos and a futuristic Lamborghini Countach... if you can imagine that.

The Dome Zero P2 was to sell for around 4,000,000 yen (A$45,631)

Name: Dome Zero

Chassis: - (mid engine rear wheel drive)

Engine: L28

Capacity: 2753cc

Power: 145ps (105kw)

Torque: 14.0kg/m

Transmission: 5MT

Weight: 920kg

Drive: Rear wheels

Brakes: Ventilated disks/solid disks

Suspension: Double wishbone/coils

Tyre: 185/60/VR13 Front, 255/55/VR14 Rear

[NateR31]

beautiful

[Wink]

Wow, I new the Dome Zero existed but I didn't know about the P2 and RL.

Keep updates coming as they are very informative Rezz. Two thumbs up from me!

[Bliksem]

Another update Rezz?

[Rezz]

Another update...

... and probably Nissans only attempt at a mid-engined supercar...

1985-87 Nissan MID4 (Type I and II)

"A grand protoype, for a grand vision."

The 1985 Type I:

Nissans infamous MID4 prototype actually came to fruition in 1985 as the 'Type 1', and was completely revised in 1987 as the Type II, or better known as the 'MID4 II'. The Type I MID4 prototype was displayed at motorshows all the time the project was running, but Nissans original intent for the project was to test new technologies (chiefly focusing on roadgoing performance) and ideas on a capable chassis where, if successful, those new technologies would filter down into the domestic model lineup. After many extremely favourable receptions at motorshow events, Nissan finally warmed to the idea of building a world class supercar as it's long term goal. The Type I introduced a 4WD system that would eventuate in the ATTESA system as found on many of Nissans sports orientated models, the most obvious one being the BNR32 Skyline GT-R of 1989. The HICAS 4-wheel steering system was also tested on the MID4, again eventually finding it's way into many mainstream Nissan models. Add to this 4 wheel discs and an Anti-lock Braking System, the MID4 was extremely advanced for 1985 and showed other manufacturers what Nissan was capable of.

One of two Type I MID4s produced.

The original Pearl white version.

A VG30DE (3000cc, DOHC 24 valve) powerplant was used in the original Type I, producing 230ps @ 6,000rpm and 28.0kg/m torque, which was good enough to exceed 250km/h. The twin cam version of the VG30 was introduced a year later in 1986 in the Z31 Series II updated model. Looking at the Z31 Series II you can see some of the MID4s styling coming through especially on the front bumper and fenders, as - if successful - the MID4 was considered to replace the Fairlady Z by the late 1980s. By the end of the second year of development Nissan decided that development of the Type I had reached it's limit, and a new layout was needed.

The 1987 Type II:

The biggest and most obvious change between Type I and Type II was the engine placement. Whereas the Type I had a horizontal engine layout to minimize rear overhang behind the rear wheels, the Type II layout was dramatically changed and lengthened to accomodate a longitudinal layout with the addition of two turbochargers and intercoolers, to the detriment of the minimal overhang sought after in the Type I. An FR transaxel (well, RF in this case) was deemed necessary as the limit of the original prototype ATTESA 4WD system would be exceeded if any more performance where to be added. As the picture below shows, the Type II was basically a prototype of the BNR32 GT-R layout, but the other way around... and with the (then) new VG30DETT instead. The new twin turbo powerplant produced 330ps @ 6,800rpm and 39.0kg/m torque at 3,200rpm, enough to propel the 1400kg coupe to 295+km/h.

The Type II now had front and rear Viscous LSDs, aswell as an HICAS oil pressure pressure cylinder mounted on the suspension arm for each rear wheel, greatly improving the lock to lock movement and reaction time. One interesting feature of the ATTESA system on the Type II was that it was possible to disengage all drive to the front wheels. This feature wasn't intended to to become part of the ATTESA system, but rather as a way in which to demonstrate the power of ATTESA itself. There were at least three prototypes produced, two for show duties and one silver coloured one which was used for track testing. The systems incorporated into the Type II MID4 were immediately obvious, and from this program Nissan embarked on another supercar program, but due to the worsening economic climate in Japan, was never realised.

The proportions of the Type II were an instant hit with double wishbone suspension on the front enabling a low nose design, which when viewed from side on, takes an a very beautiful shape reminiscent of a smaller Ferrari 348 as opposed to the Type I's Testarossa looks. This car was one of the prototypes responsible for the 'copycat design' which many accused the Japanese manufacturers of in the late 80's and early 90's. Spriralling costs put an end to the MID4 program, and it's appointment as successor to the Z31 Fairlady Z would never come about. The BNR32 GT-R and Z32 Fairlady Z of 1989 would eventually utillize most of the technology introduced with the MID4, and eventually the HICAS and ATTESA systems would trickle down throughout Nissans lineup to even the Pulsar and Bluebird models... in one form or another.

Type II interior lent cues to Z32 Fairlady Z.

Steering wheel may be familiar to some...

Name: Nissan MID4 (II)

Chassis: -

Layout: Midship 4WD

Engine: VG30DE(TT) DOHC 24 Valve V6

Capacity: 2960cc

Power: 230ps (330ps) @ 6,000rpm (6,800rpm)

Torque: 28kg/m (39.0kg/m) @ ---- (3,200rpm)

Transmission: 5MT

Suspension: Double wishbone

Weight: 1400kg

performance: 4.9sec 0-100km/h, max speed 250+km/h

[Simbera]

Good stuff, been interested in the Mid-4 since I saw it in a Hot Version DVD, but info is hard to find to say the least. Keep it comin!

<^>

[EKSMUD]

Another update...

... and probably Nissans only attempt at a mid-engined supercar...

1985-87 Nissan MID4 (Type I and II)

"A grand protoype, for a grand vision."

1990 Honda NSX

looks similar, any comment?

[Rezz]

1990 Honda NSX...

looks similar, any comment?

Yeah, the the MID4 II is 3 years older than the NSX but still looks more modern

[CircusMonkey]

Yeah, the the MID4 II is 3 years older than the NSX but still looks more modern

Biased