7 replies to this topic

[CJE]

I've got a diecast model of a 1966 Porsche 906 (Carrera 6). The livery is from a Japanese race. The tires are Bridgestone which at first thought appeared to be incorrect. Was Bridgestone constructing racing tires in the mid-1960's???????? Thanks in advance for any info.

[Frank de Jong]

The earliest I know of is 1970, Spa 24 hours race, Mazda factory team. For sure they would have experience in Japan before that.

[David Beard]

Originally posted by CJE
Was Bridgestone constructing racing tires in the mid-1960's???????? Thanks in advance for any info.

They were making racing motor cycles...and they had tyres. Who's would they have used?

[Rosemayer]

According to the Bridgestone website it was 1963

www.bridgestone-usa.com/racing/index.asp?id=bs1

[T54]

Indeed, Bridgestone, now one of the world's largest tire manufacturers, was deeply involved in racing tires since 1963.
Bridgestone built motorcycle, bicycle and automotive tires since 1931. Shojiro Ishibashi founded the company from the basis of his footwear business. By 1953 they had become the largest Japanese tire manufacturer, also producing other rubber goods such as V-belts and other automotive products and...golf balls!
By 1963, Bridgestone had branched into motorcycle production with very advanced 2-stroke designs featuring racing-like rotary-valve induction. They then purchased the assets of the Tohatsu motorcycle company, which had built a stunning twin-cylinder 50cc grand prix bike which had some success in the hands of Brit Dave Simmonds. Of course they were already building specialty racing tires for most of the Japanese motorcycle works racers, but these tires were inferior to the British Dunlop, so they were quickly replaced as the bikes made their way into world championship events in Europe.
In 1967 they raced several of the up-graded, 15HP, 14-speed twins at the Japanese GP but the engines were not quite reliable yet while not being quite as fast as the dominant Honda twins.
In the meantime, Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha made very clear to Bridgestone to quit building motorcycles, or they would get their tires somewhere else for their production bikes. So Bridgestone simply closed the doors on their bike factories in 1970. Today, the 175 and 350 Bridgestone motorcycles are very collectible and desirable.
By 1967, their automobile racing tires were becoming pretty decent, and Tetsu Ikuzawa won the Japanese Grand Prix with a Bridgestone-shod Porsche Carrera 6. They also equiped virtually all the Japanese works cars, from Prince R380/382 to Hinos and the likes. Just for your enjoyment, below are the race posters for the 1966 and 1968 Japanese Grand Prix:





In 1970, I purchased a then all-new Honda minicar (N600) from Bill Krause in Inglewood. It was fitted with beautiful Japanese copies of 10" X 5" Cosmic wheels and...low-profile Bridgestone racing tires looking like intermediates. They were just great but unfortunately wore out in 5K and there were no replacements available.
With this little car, a friend and I crossed the country from LA all the way to Nutley, NJ, in 53 hours flat. Try it today.
Regards

T54

[CJE]

Thanks guys! Excellent information.

[fines]

Originally posted by T54
Just for your enjoyment, below are the race posters for the 1966 and 1968 Japanese Grand Prix:

Sorry, not quite right. The first poster is from the 1968 Fuji 300km Race:



It says in the big black and red words at the head: "Nihon Sports Car Fuji 300 Kilo Race" and then a word I can't read, but take to mean something like "meeting". In the lower part there's the date (March 24) and beside that "Fuji Speedway". Unfortunately, the Coke ad at the bottom is a little blurred and I can't decipher it!



The second poster is indeed from the 1968 Japanese Grand Prix. The green (? - remember, I am colourblind ) words at the head read "Nihon Grand Prix"; the white writing in the middle is too tiresome to decipher for me as it's almost all Kanji. Then the date (May 3 - kenpo-kinenbi = Constitution Day), "FISCO" = Fuji International Speedway Company, and the words "Fuji Speedway" again. The big words in the Shell ad say: "Super Shell"; the small words are a mix of Katakana, Hiragana and Kanji - I only understand a few of them.

[onepablo]

Originally posted by fines




the white writing in the middle is too tiresome to decipher for me as it's almost all Kanji.

Assuming that the Chinese characters used in Kanji are similar in meaning, the writing in white reads (from left to right) :

"Country interior (domestic) cars versus outside (imported or foreign?) cars".

The second half I can't quite understand, but one character is that used to signify "life".