QotW: What’s your favorite Japanese race truck?

Both Nissan and Mitsubishi recently revived some old racing truck liveries for the Rebelle Rally, which kicked off over the weekend. We often discuss Japan’s racing cars, but racing trucks seem to have been inadvertently sidelined. Most of Japan’s manufacturers who sell actual trucks — Toyota, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Isuzu, Hino, Honda — have raced them as well.

What’s your favorite Japanese race truck?

The best comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What’s your favorite car book?“.

We really enjoyed reading the answers to this week’s question. They gave us a lot of titles to populate our library with, and that’s always a good thing (when we get around to reading them is a different story). We liked the range of suggestions, from how-to books like Ellis‘ recco of Auto Mechanics Fundamentals by Martin Stockel to collections of driving impressions like j_c‘s pick of My Life Full of Cars by Paul Frere.

We even had a Polish-language recommendation from Lupus, and yes, Dutch 1960‘s nomination of a parts catalog counts too. The fact that MWC70‘s choice of The Unfair Advantage by Mark Donohue appeared twice means we have to get it as well.

The win this week goes to RainMeister, who impressed us with their deep knowledge of automotive books and well-rounded selections. It also serves as a great starter library for anyone who’d like to delve into the realm of car titles:

Over the past several decades, I’ve come to gather a collection of car-related books, everything from coffee-table books with lavish photos to motorsport biographies to car histories. While I’ve read most of them, some were purchased before they went out of print (and became unaffordable), waiting to be consumed in retirement. So here is my list of favorite books read so far (there are too many categories and good books to list just one):

“That Certain Sound: Thirty Years of Motor Racing” by John Wyer. If you’re mad about Porsche 917s like I am, this out-of-print book is a must read. Wyer was the legendary team manager of the Gulf Porsche (and LeMans-winning Aston Martin) team. He was portrayed in the movie “LeMans”.

“Go Like Hell” by A.J. Baime. The story of the Ford vs Ferrari battle at LeMans. This fun page turner was the basis for the movie.

“The Unfair Advantage” by Mark Donohue. A very unique “autobiography” by this multi-talented champion racer, the book chapters are dedicated to each of the race cars he helped develop and drove.

“Against All Odds: The Story of the Toyota Motor Corporation and the Family That Created It” by Yukiyasu Togo. A very entertainingly told history of Toyota.

“Stainless Steel Carrot: An Auto Racing Odyssey”. This is a fascinating biographical account of John Morton through his championship winning BRE-Datsun years, written by author and partner Sylvia Wilkerson. Originally issued in 1973, it was republished in 2012.

If you’re a fan of Nissan racing history, another long-awaited book is the 2020 release, “Developing a Champion: The Electramotive Nissan GTP Story”, written by the team’s former engineer Chris Willes. It has a forward by team owner Don Devendorf and four-time IMSA GTP champion Geoff Brabham.

Enjoy!

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