Japan Grand Prix 1967 (TS) - Mini Cooper S #33
Added 2024-03-25 21:36:13 +0000 UTCPreviously released in the Mini skinpack.
Capital Mini was one of the more prominent Austin importers in Japan, primarily focusing on the Mini. These cars saw huge popularity in Japan for those looking to buy a "performance" car from abroad without the usual price tag attached to these machines. Capital Mini at this time mainly focused on servicing Austin A40's, A110's and Mini 850's, acquiring a crucial amount of knowledge for what was about to come.
In 1964, a Mini Cooper entered the 2nd Japanese Grand Prix, prepared by Capital Mini. During the race it was entered in, the Mini rolled over at the hairpin but miraculously landed on it's wheels and finished the race in 8th place. The rugged little car left a huge impression on the Capital Mini team, and so their motorsports operations expanded in the years to come.
By 1965, they started importing the top of the line Mini Cooper S models to Japan, and raced them extensively. Being homologated for Group 2, Capital Mini entered one in the 1967 Japanese Grand Prix Touring-Specials at Fuji Speedway, where it managed to finish in 14th overall, taking the T-II class win. More good results came in the following year, with a 2nd place finish at the 1968 Fuji 24 Hour race - 2nd overall.
By the early 70s, domestically built alternatives to the Mini Cooper (such as the Honda N600) were killing business for Capital Mini. Sales became stagnant, and the increasing pressure of the oil crisis killed off most hopes of selling tuned Mini's. In 1978, Capital Enterprise (parent company) decided to switch to Renault, being the sole importer and distributer of said brand in Japan for the next decade.
Capital Mini is still active today under the Saitoh Garage name. They restore and race Mini's in Japan.
