Racing with Hino
What started as a small club racing project for a friend in Japan ended up determining the life and direction of BRE for several years. When Peter Brock took on the construction of a tiny 1000cc sedan made by an obscure (and at that time never heard of in the US) truck and bus manufacturer in Japan, called Hino, it sparked some interest in the factory, which a year later contracted the construction of two more racers; this time larger and faster. That very successful 1300cc Contessa program, by chance led to Peter winning an opening event at the Times Mirror GP at Riverside that put the Hino and BRE on the map in Japan.
Part of the contract for the following year was the secret construction of the beautiful BRE Hino Samurai GT car, which eventually ran at Fuji Speedway in Japan. With Toshio Mifune (the Cary Grant of Japan) as the honorary BRE team manager for the race, it was a most dramatic display.
This Peter Brock designed and constructed prototype brought offers from Toyota to build yet another lovely prototype, this one called the JP6, and an offer to race Toyota’s 2000 GTs in the SCCA’s ferocious CP wars! At the last moment Toyota switched their allegiance, and the deal, to Carroll Shelby, so Peter Brock offered his services to arch rival Datsun!