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How Japan Embarrassed the Racing World

5/5/202649 min

For decades, the world saw Japanese cars as just efficient, economical daily commuters. Then the 1990s hit, and Japan unleashed a lineup of obsessively engineered racing monsters that completely stunned the established European and American giants. Backed by the limitless budgets of the nation's economic "bubble era," Japanese engineers were given the ultimate green light to overbuild their machines without worrying about the cost.

From Subaru and Mitsubishi conquering unforgiving rally dirt, to Mazda’s unbreakable rotary engine surviving Le Mans, and Nissan’s R32 "Godzilla" destroying the Australian touring circuit—Japan didn't just show up to compet...

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First 90 seconds

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  10. Nolan Sykes· Host0:42

    It's the early 1980s, and somewhere inside a Japanese manufacturer's headquarters, the lights are still on, long after the offices have emptied. Spread across a table are blueprints, rule books, and race calendars from places on the other side of the world. Rally racing in Finland, touring cars in Australia, endurance races designed to destroy your chassis and break your spirit. Manufacturers around Japan are all asking themselves the same question, "Could our cars win?" Whether they were ready for it or not, they were about to find the answer, because a decade full of innovation

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