VIDEO: What it’s like to own a Le Mans car in Japan

Le Mans Cars Japan

Japan’s shaken roadworthiness inspection is one of the world’s toughest. But it’s not strict enough, interestingly, to stop you from registering a full blown Le Mans prototype racer for street use.

Motorhead and Maiham Media have produced a fantastic video about Mr. A, Takeshi Moroi, and Senji Hoshino, three gentlemen insane/passionate enough to own, care for and drive a Jaguar XJ220C LM, Porsche 962C, and a Mazda 767B. It is the ultimate race enthusiast’s dream. Watch the video below.

[via Jalopnik]

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15 Responses to VIDEO: What it’s like to own a Le Mans car in Japan

  1. Styles says:

    I recall a story in a magazine a number years ago about a guy that managed to register an Indy Light (or something similar) in Japan, he had to add lights etc, and I believe he had to have some testing done on the nose cone, but yeah, he got that on the road. Bizarre!

  2. Ryan Senensky says:

    a 787B is a legal road car? Japan is superior. they really should of won WWII…

    • Ben says:

      It’s a 767B, the predecessor to the 787B, and that one is not legal though I’m not sure if the owner tried to register it or not.

      • Ho says:

        Japan allows prototype road legal to a certain extent, There is no description on their law but once you car have signals, headlights that match the luminosity of the area, wheel have fenders on it, ride height can meets the regional standards, same on engine sound’s decibel that means suits their law, Once your car passed whatever what types your car, you can drive or even flyby on the public road.
        https://youtu.be/Yi0-g1BHcis
        If you can pay higher registration tax(I don’t know what actually happened, just guess may be this muffler is stock because tuner exhaust like this is not allowed) imported cars are exempt from the inspections. The reasoning is that since those cars were never sold in Japan, they can’t be expected to meet the Japanese government’s noise requirements(so on 767b, she never sold in Japan as a road car) ,so race car can be sliencer free in the registration due to this law since the car does not have road car version sold in Japan, just like the Mucielago rsv gt1 in the youtube video.

      • Ho says:

        Maybe I’m wrong cause I don’t delve into Japanese vechicles law too much,I may need to ask someone familiar with Japanese car laws to answer you.

      • Ho says:

        .Japan allows prototype road legal to a certain extent, There is no description on their law but once you car have signals, headlights that match the luminosity of the area, wheel have fenders on it, ride height can meets the regional standards, same on engine sound’s decibel that means suits their law, Once your car passed whatever what types your car, you can drive or even flyby on the public road.
        https://youtu.be/Yi0-g1BHcis
        Every cars thats are never sold as a road car in Japan are exempt from the inspections. The reasoning is that since those cars were never sold in Japan, they can’t be expected to meet the Japanese government’s noise requirements(so on 767b, she never sold in Japan as a road car) ,so race car can be sliencer free in the registration due to this law since the car does not have road car version sold in Japan, just like the Mucielago rsv gt1 in the youtube video.

        I think this statement is more accurate.

      • Ho says:

        I’m sorry if I provide wrong information to you

      • Ho says:

        But I think it is an accurate information.

      • Ho says:

        Let’s suppose I didn’t talk about it.

    • AcuriousLegend says:

      “they really should [have] won WWII…”

      I’m pretty sure large parts of China, the Philippines, and Southeast Asia would disagree with you about that.

  3. Jim-Bob says:

    The Shaken may be difficult, but much of the difficulty lies with the way most Japanese people care for their cars. Many of them do not do ANY maintenance at all on their cars before the first Shaken! Since it is not necessary until the car is 3 years old, this means they have not seen so much as an oil change in that time and that is why the failure rate is so high.

    • Kuroneko says:

      Hi. That might be the case for the cars sent to auction for the gaijin hordes, but the other 99.9% of our local cars are fastidiously maintained – before and after shaken… That is the Japanese way. Neko.

  4. Kuroneko says:

    Something about this clip makes me want to not like it, but it is essentially a good snapshot of Japan’s otaku-ness. From the driver vignettes, the street scenes, all the way down to Mr Walkabout from the local koban. Notably as I had a similar ‘problem’ with a shoot of many scooterists in Shibuya one night; the police arriving similarly on their bicycles asked what we were doing, and then helped by closing the street and directing what little traffic there was… Nicely civilized. Neko.

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