(March 9, 2017) HONG KONG — Infiniti Motor Company will show the iconic Prince R380 race car on Sunday, March 12 at this year's Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance in the Japanese Prototype class. It will be the first public appearance of this historically significant vehicle in the Americas.

After breaking several land speed records in 1965, four R380s beat a trio of Porsche 906s to win the 1966 Japanese Grand Prix. The R380 that will be shown at "The Amelia" is the actual Japanese Grand Prix winning car, and is believed to be the only surviving R380 in existence.

"The Prince R380 is a very important race car, and we are eager to share it with automotive fans from all over the world attending the Amelia Island Concours," said Alfonso Albaisa, executive design director for Infiniti. "Prince Motor Company, during its short time, definitely made history, and its engineering and design legacy continues to live on."



The rise of the Prince 380

Prince Motor Company narrowly lost the inaugural 1964 Japanese Grand Prix — coming in second to a Porsche 904 — with a specially modified Prince Skyline GT powered by an inline, six-cylinder engine from the larger and more powerful Prince Gloria luxury sedan.

Fueled by their success and a passion to be number one, the team set out to develop one of Japan's first purpose-built race cars, resulting in the Prince R380.

Built upon a Brabham BT8 mid-engine chassis, the R380 used unique mechanics and aerodynamic bodywork. Shinichiro Sakurai, head of Prince Motors engineering, developed a new engine loosely based on the Skyline GT engine originally developed for the Gloria sedan. Known as the GR-8, the 1996 cubic centimeter, inline six-cylinder engine produced 200-horsepower and was mated to a 5-speed racing gearbox.

Because there was no Japanese Grand Prix in 1965, Prince did not have a chance to campaign the four R380s they built. The company did use them for aerodynamic testing and as a result, the R380 set several global land speed records.

The second Japanese Grand Prix was held in 1966 at Fuji Speedway, and Prince was finally able to enter its R380. Against the performance of a trio of Porsche 906s, Prince took the victory with the R380 driven by Yoshikazu Sunako in first, just ahead of Hideo Oishi's second place R380.

As a result, the Prince R380, in its first official competition, earned its place in history as a very significant race car.