I’m speechless when it comes to how epic this entire lot of JDM JGTC race cars headed to auction is. Current JGTC Team Taisan is auctioning off its good chunk of its 90’s former glory.
If there ever was an auction that distills but a small part of 90’s Japan racing glory summed up in one race team it’s probably this Team Taisan auction by BH Auction. According to BH Auction who posted up this epic auction earlier this week (Oct. 5, 2018) a lot of (10) race cars along with several rare and bespoke supporting race parts is going to be auctioned off in a little over a month’s time on November 17, 2018. Notable race cars include a real deal Group A JGTC Nissan Skyline R32 that completed the entire 1991 Japanese Touring Car Championship series and a Dodge Viper immortalized in the Gran Turismo franchise.
Although Team Taisan is still involved in racing today, arguably, the Team’s highlight, running multiple cars in different classes, was in the ’90’s. Although there isn’t an English Wikipedia article on the team’s history, there is one in Japanese, thank God.
Going back to the auction list, the ten cars headed to auction include
- 2007 Yunkel Power Taisan Porsche 911 GT3-R (Type 996)
- 1924 Bentley Speed 3.0
- 2001 Bentley EXP Sped 8 Replica
- 1964 D Type Production by Reynard
- 1988 Taisan Star Card F40 (JGTC)
- 1996 Lola Indy 500 car without a motor
- 1991 STP Taisan GT-R driven by Keiichi Tsuchiya
- 2014 STO Gaia Power GT-R
- 1997 STP Taisan Viper
- 2003 Dodge Viper Competition Coupe Formula Drift USA Ver.
As hinted by the auction lot, Team Taisan had a deep relationship with Porsche. It was in 1984 that Team Taisan won its first victory in a Porsche. But it was the partnership with Nissan that saw the team get the most backing from, a relationship that continued until 2014.
The star of the auction and arguably probably the least prestigious car by today’s standard has to be that Nissan R32 Skyline that, as mentioned, ran the entire 1991 season of the All-Japan Touring Car Championship. Although Team Taisan never got first and even with a retirement in Rd. 1 of that season, Team Taisan finished second overall with 128 points for each driver compared to 200 points to the winning team. Underneath the hood of this beast is an N1 spec engine that, when boosted to qualifying spec at 1.6 Bar, is capable of 650 HP. Normally, 550 HP is what they ran at the races. One of the two drivers was Keiichi Tsuchiya of drifting lore.
And that’s only one car!
I could go on and on, on each car, which I will in further posts, but you get the picture. For example, did you know that the last car I listed, the 2003 Dodge Viper, actually ran on U.S. Soil in the beginning years of Formula Drift as a demo car? And Polyphony Digital immortalized Taisan’s Super GT Viper in Gran Turismo 2?
Clearly, this is a team that appreciates the new and the old, a real car guy’s team. Each car should fetch a good chunk of change and I expect that R32 to garner even more press as the auction date approaches.
I’m going to try to chronicle each car, so keep this page bookmarked!
[…] Earlier this week I wrote that BH Auction’s is organizing a special auction just for Team Tais…, a prominent race team in Japan notable for their success in the late 90’s in Japan’s JGTC racing series. Out of the 10 cars that caught my eye headed for auction, this 2003 Dodge Viper Competition Coupe still set up for drifting might have the most appeal to anyone in the United States beyond that Group A Nissan R32. Info left by BH Auction was sparse but the names on the doorsill, Tarzan Yamada and “Rocky and Ricky” were more than enough to dig up a bit of information on this American in Japan. […]
[…] this week I updated y’all on an auction of epic proportions as BH auctions organized a lot of (10) cars and racecar parts from Team Taisan, a privateer racing […]