Alright. The date has come... It's time to take on Mr Number One in Japan himself, THE KING!
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There is a race today. I have to go to the circuit
:
Good morning, Mr Gunn.
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The Okitaka machine is really good.
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What an amazing conversation…
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I’m getting nervous…
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The toilet is here.
Good idea Hiro. A little pre-race pee is sure to calm the nerves.
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Oh it’s the King. He’s doing it.
By ‘doing it’ I think Hiro means he's also having a pre race pee.
Though… the door to the bathroom is clearly wide open. It seems King is ‘doing it’ on the fence.
What a power move…
Oh! All of a sudden we're heading that sad, wistful music again...
What’s he holding?
: …….
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Mother….
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Today, in my case,
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He’s a really lively guy….
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And that machine…
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It was tuned by my dad…
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who was known as the best sugar beet tuner in Japan
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Today, I will surpass my father.
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It might be possible.
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Please keep an eye on my mother too.
………..
Well, that was a sad moment to observe...
… King urinating on the fence.
You know what? Maybe this all plays in our favour. It appears us showing up with Kings father in tow is really fucking with the Kings head.
It's like we're taking a page out of Mamiyo's playbook - play mind games to win!
(though without the puff puff)
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The data from the other car has arrived.
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Toyota 2000GT with a fully tuned 4-litre Celsior Engine.
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And it’s 4WD? Is that even possible?!
That’s an amazing car…
Oh boy, it certainly is!
Excuse me whilst I get nerdy for a second…
The 1967 2000GT is widely known as the first Japanese ‘supercar’ and is a unicorn for car enthusiasts around the world.
Co developed with Yamaha, with it's interior made by their high class piano division, the car oozes class, power and prestige.
This thing blew the contemporary Porches and Corvettes out of the water at the time, and exclaimed to the world at large that Japan could also build high class, high performance, beautiful looking cars that weren’t just knockoffs of western vehicles.
It even had a serious racing pedigree, including setting thirteen speed and endurance records!
And... most importantly it even has POP UP HEADLIGHTS:
All this beauty didn’t come cheap - it was quite expensive at the time - and unlike today, people didn’t have high expectations of the Toyota brand - which led to poor sales. But this car left a lasting legacy for decades to come and is extremely sought after today.
But this car is probably the most famous… because it was a Bond car!
Yes, Mr Sean Connery himself was in one, in You Only Live Twice - aka the 1960’s Bond Film in Japan.
That particular model was unique, in that it was a convertible - made exclusively for the movie because Sean Connery was too tall to fit in the production car.
Only 371 Toyota 2000GTs were ever built, so they are extremely rare today.
So. The King here, decided to take one of these unicorns, pull the motor, swap in a 4 Litre V8 and somehow manage to shoe horn in a Four Wheel Drive drivetrain, for use as a drag car.
A very well considered move, given that today, one of these cars has a market value of $1,179,645 USD unmolested….
:
You’ll never be number one in Japan if you stick with this guy.
You won't be the number one richest, at least!