YATABE: KAKIMOTO'S WHITE GHOST
Kakimoto Racing - since 1975, it's provided exhausts to many satisfied customers worldwide. In terms of the old companies and tuners from the early 80s, it was one of the few big shops that spent time at Yatabe, like HKS and TRUST. Kakimoto was no push-over, though. In 1981, their Z reached 263.73km/h, which made it the second fastest domestic, behind Amemiya's SA22C. For 1982, they decided to experiment with some new parts for their Z, and bought out a non-G-nosed example.
3096cc of L28 sat under the long, sweeping bonnet, with many standard parts sitting in it. Solex carbs sat hooked to a stroked engine, with a lot of Kakimoto parts fitted, mostly around the exhaust system, of course. Most likely, the system would have been similar to that of their Z from the previous year, as well as their drag Z from the time. These systems have been tried, tested and prasied by Z drivers both at the time and in the decades since.
Finished in a pearl white, the car was taken to Yatabe, and set for the run. And so it would have began, climbing through the gears, with the extra torque from the exhaust pushing the car through Yatabe's thick, cool air. However, while it was a potent machine, it had one flaw - the gearbox.
What was wrong with it is unclear, but selecting gears was hard and required precision clutch control and changes, and just like RS Yamamoto's hugely quick S130 from the same event, fifth gear would not select. And that was a pain for Kakimoto, as the fifth gear was the longest, and hence, the car was to try and aim for high speeds there.
With the gearbox bust, the best the car could manage was 242.83km/h, which was a shame. Kakimoto estimated that the car could do at least 280/290km/h, similar to RS Yamamoto's Z, as mentioned. What I do know is that for a car that was running on a damp track, in fast winds, with a broken gearbox, it didn't do too badly.