Inazuman’s Raijingo flew at Mach 3 and had a mouth — Guess the Tokusatsu Car

The 1973 series Inazuman featured one of the most memorable cars in tokusatsu history. Called the Raijingo, the convertible sports car had a reptilian mouth from which it could fire missiles. But perhaps more impressively, it could transform into a plane and carry its hero through the sky at Mach 3. This is one of the toughest cars we’ll likely every present in our “Guess the Tokusatsu Car” series, but see if you can take a stab at it.

The original Inazuman aired from October 2, 1973 to March 26, 1974. The 25-episode series told the story of a student named Goro who is drawn into a battle between psychic armies. He joins the Youth Alliance, in which psychic teens use their powers to protect humanity, fighting against the evil psychics of the New Human Empire, who want to enslave humanity. Using his powers Goro can transform into the hero Inazuman, using the Raijingo as his trusty steed.

The show debuted during a time when topics like UFOs and psychic powers were sweeping Japan. However, the Inazuman show didn’t quite have the ratings enjoyed by rival tokusatsu programs like Kamen Rider. The OPEC oil crisis hit Japan during the middle of the series as well, skyrocketing production costs.

In its followup Inazuman F, which aired from April 9 to September 24, 1974, the Raijingo was originally going to be cut out of the show. But, toys of the car had become unexpectedly popular, forcing producers to keep it in the program. Even today, there are fans re-creating the Raijingo with skins in Gran Turismo.

According to the show’s lore, Inazuman can summon the Raijingo anywhere on Earth. Its mouth can open and close to perform biting attacks, and its jaws hide a bank of four missile launchers and a massive tunnel-boring drill within. At the rear, it can release a smokescreen, and it can also transform into a plane or dive underwater. That’s quite the skill set, but can you guess what the base car is? As always, we’ll post the answer in the comments after readers have had a chance to guess.

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6 Responses to Inazuman’s Raijingo flew at Mach 3 and had a mouth — Guess the Tokusatsu Car

  1. Ben E says:

    Isuzu Bellet. Windshield made me think so.

  2. Alex says:

    Isuzu Bellett 2 door GT.

    The rake of the windscreen might suggest the lower roofed GT coupe (not fastback) version, rather than the more square-set 2 door sedan.

    Happy to be corrected though!

  3. speedie says:

    I honestly don’t think this could do Mach 3, Mach 2 maybe. I am still trying to figure out what the fans? on the ends or the rear wing do.

  4. Franxou says:

    About the rear wing, I have to say that I am a huuuuge fan. sorry.

    This time I am truly stumped about this car! The fact that it is a 4-seater convertible should help us, since there are less of these than there are 2-seater convertibles, but they could have simply cut the roof of any 2-doors sedan?

  5. Ben Hsu says:

    Those who guessed the Isuzu Bellett are correct. Man, y’all are good at this!

  6. Bob says:

    I guessed Bellett as well but everyone beat me to it, hahahaha

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