Having been narrowly defeated by Porsche in the 2nd Japan GP (1964), the Prince Motor Co., Ltd. went full-out to develop Japan’s first real racing car. Since the 1965 Japan GP was cancelled, its debut race was the 3rd Japan GP (Fuji) in 1966. The car shown is Y. Sunako’s No.11 car, which defeated Porsche to win the championships. H. Oishi’s R380 (No. 10) came in 2nd place.
The R380 set new speed records in 1965 and 1967. First, on October 6/14, 1965, the R380-I established 5 world records. Then, on October 8,1967, this commemorative car - Type II (modified type II) - set no fewer than 7 international records (50km, 50 miles, 100km, 100 miles, 200km, 200 miles, 1 hour) on a course in Yatabe, Ibaraki Pref. (driver: T. Yokoyama).