The Nissan R383 was a race car built in 1970 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 brands ...

that was planned for use in the 1970

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 ...

. Replacing the

Nissan R382 The Nissan R382 was a racing car built in 1969 by Nissan Motors for competition in the Japanese Grand Prix. Built to the Group 7 motorsports formula, the car featured Nissan's first V12 engine. It was a replacement for the Nissan R381 from the pre ...

, it would be the final racing sportscar built by Nissan until the mid-1980s.

Development

Wishing to expand on the R382's winning formula even further, the R383 borrowed heavily from Can-Am cars running the

Group 7 Group 7 may refer to: * G7, an international group of finance minister *Group 7 element, chemical element classification *Halogens (alternative name) *Group 7 Rugby League, rugby league competition in New South Wales, Australia *Group 7 (racing) G ...

formula in North America. The R383 would retain the GRX-3 5954cc

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 ...

from the R382, yet would see power improved to 700 hp. Nissan concentrated on the aerodynamics however, with concentration on the downforce the car would be able to create. The venting on the nose of the R382 was removed, leaving the entire frontal area of the R383 flattened. This meant that the car's radiators were now moved to the sides of the car, with large vents placed in the car's doors. The air intake for the V12 engine was also aerodynamically redesigned, now being placed below the rollbar in order to allow more air to the rear wing, as well as slightly off center of the cockpit in order to avoid the driver's helmet blocking the intake. The R383 was also tested with a

turbocharger In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pro ...

added to the V12 engine, allowing for an increase of output to 900 hp.http://www.dailysportscar.com/2021/06/25/sportscars-that-never-raced-12-nissan-r383.html

Racing history

The R383s were planned to be entered at the 1970

, against heavy competition from Porsche,

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 ...

, Isuzu, and others. However the race would be canceled by the Japanese Automobile Federation (JAF) after Nissan and Toyota withdrew from the event, leaving the R383 without anywhere to race. Nissan would cancel the R380 program soon after, meaning the R383 never raced. In 2006,

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 ...

took up the task of restoring an R383 to working condition. The car currently runs at exhibition events alongside other cars in the R380 series.

References

External links

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