Nissan R381

The Nissan R381 was a racing car that Nissan Motors developed in 1968 for the Japanese Grand Prix, and it was the successor to the Nissan R380-II, which the Prince Motor Company had first developed. After the R380-II lost the 1967 Japanese Grand Prix, Nissan set out to build a much more powerful and faster car for the new Group 7 class that the North American CanAm series used. The planned Prince-built V12 was not finished in time, because it was the first V12 that Nissan or Prince had built, so the company used a Chevrolet 5.5 liter V8 making nearly 450 hp, twice the output of the Prince GR8. Borrowing from Chaparral, it had large dual rear wings that hydraulics could move independently to improve cornering. Its bodywork began as an evolution of the R380 coupe, but Nissan cut the roof off after learning of the new Toyota 7, leaving a thin windshield and a tiny rollbar.