The Nissan R382 was a

racing car Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

built in 1969 by

Nissan Motors , trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the Nissan, Infiniti, and Datsun bran ...

for competition in the

Japanese Grand Prix The Japanese Grand Prix ( ja, 日本グランプリ, Nihon-guranpuri) is a motor racing event in the calendar of the Formula One World Championship. Historically, Japan has been one of the last races of the season, and as such the Japanese Gran ...

. Built to the Group 7 motorsports formula, the car featured Nissan's first

V12 engine A V12 engine is a twelve-cylinder piston engine where two banks of six cylinders are arranged in a V configuration around a common crankshaft. V12 engines are more common than V10 engines. However, they are less common than V8 engines. The f ...

. It was a replacement for the

Nissan R381 The Nissan R381 was a racing car developed by Nissan Motors in 1968 for use in the Japanese Grand Prix. It was the successor to the Nissan R380-II, which had been originally developed by the Prince Motor Company Development Following the defeat ...

from the previous year.

Development

Although the previous R381 had shown its potential in terms of aerodynamics and reliability, the car had been unable to use the planned 600 hp 5954 cc

that

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. ...

was building for Nissan. With the V12 completed soon after the R381 won the Japanese Grand Prix, Nissan turned instead to developing an all-new car to house the V12 engine, now named GRX-3. Nissan GRX-II engine left Nissan Engine Museum

Nissan GRX-II engine left Nissan Engine Museum

The bodywork of the new open-cockpit R382 was scratch built, sharing nothing with the R381. A wide rectangular front end replaced the rounded front of the R381, while the adjustable rear wings were eliminated due to their being outlawed by the

FIA FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used. Fia or FIA may also refer to: People * Fia Backs ...

. Instead, a wing was designed into the bodywork of the tail, forming the rear fenders. Instead of allowing air freely through the bottom of the rear wing, a radiator was placed in the opening in order to better cool the new V12 engine. A large intake was also placed on top of the engine in order to better feed air to the motor.

Racing history

For the 1969

Nissan , trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the Nissan, Infiniti, and Datsun bra ...

was facing more competition than ever before. The

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The company ...

factory decided to bring one of their new

917 __NOTOC__ Year 917 ( CMXVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * August 20 – Battle of Achelous: A Byzantine expeditionary f ...

s to the event with

Jo Siffert Joseph Siffert (; 7 July 1936 – 24 October 1971) was a Swiss racing driver. Affectionately known as "Seppi" to his family and friends, Siffert was born in Fribourg, Switzerland, the son of a dairy owner. He initially made his name in racing ...

and David Piper. Various other

s were also part of the field.

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

had been continuing in development of their 7, while Isuzu entered for the first time with their R7-

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ou ...

s. With three R382s entered,

was able to dominate the field, taking the top two positions after 320 miles. Motoharu Kurosawa and 1966-winner Yoshikazu Sunako would share the winning car, which finished a lap ahead of the third place Toyota 7. Petersen Automotive Museum PA140217 (46141079121)

Petersen Automotive Museum PA140217 (46141079121)

In 2004,

Nismo , abbreviated as Nismo, is a division of Nissan Motorsports & Customizing focused in motorsport and performance-oriented car models for Nissan. Nismo was initially a company, , formed in 1984 as a result of a merger of two motorsport departmen ...

would restore one of the R382s for use in exhibition events around Japan. The car is usually run with the other cars in the R380 series.

References

External links

* * {{Nissan Sportscar Racers Nissan racing cars Sports racing cars Sports prototypes