Feature: A Gift of Nostalgia – The Rise Yokohama x Mid Night FD3S

Over the past several months, Rise Yokohama’s own Ogi-san was working tirelessly to complete a special project that was to be unveiled at Rotary Spirit this year.  Actually, in Ando’s own words, “Ogi-san risked his life to finish the car for the event” – and honestly in this summer heat, that’s not much of an exaggeration.  Ogi was quiet about the work in the days and weeks leading up to July 7th, and aside from a few close friends and colleagues, not many people in the community knew what he had planned.

The week before the Sevens Day event, he posted a black and white photo on X (formerly Twitter) of a new Rise Yokohama designed front bumper with styling cues akin to the old Mid Night cars.  This bumper was built by Kanna at CF Labs and appeared to be based from a N1-05 RE bumper with heavy modification below the mounting points and turn signal lights.  The next day, he posted a photo of the bumper on a newly completed FD, again in black and white.  This mystery build had the unmistakable look of the Samstag Abend RX7 from the FD once owned by the chairman of Mid Night Racing Team; Mr. Tadao Tamura.  At that point I was pretty certain that Ogi had been working on something special.

The photos below are courtesy of Ogi (ありがとう、おぎさん) and show Tadao’s original FD from the early 90’s.

 

 

I had originally assumed, incorrectly, that Ogi had somehow found Tadao’s original car that had been sold and was remaking it as an homage to the era once owned by Mid Night.  Once I spoke with Ogi at the event, however, I learned that the car below isn’t Tadao’s original FD, but Ogi’s personal FD that he rebuilt and gifted to Tadao as a gesture of respect and friendship.  Which, in my humble opinion, is actually much cooler.

 

 

The newly finished car is a modern take on a legend from the 90’s.  The Rise Yokohama front bumper, with it’s iconic fog lights, a tip of the hat to the Porsche’s of Mid Night and Auto Garage TBK builds, is paired beautifully with the modern finesse of the Y’s Produce fenders and rear widebody.  The TBK hood, and RUF inspired side mirrors, compliment the fog lights as a reminder of the golden era of Mid Night.  Ogi did a good job in modernizing the car while not completely letting go of its heritage.

The Frontline wheels, made to match the original OZ wheels in looks alone, and a staggered 18×10.5j -18 front, and 11.5j -18 rear and allow Tadao to run the 295 series tire much needed on circuit.  The engine is a modest side ported 13b with a Trust TD06-25G turbo setup so commonly found amongst Japanese tuners.  The engine was prepared by SCOOT and will serve well on track.

There were a few other notable aesthetic touches that I liked, namely the Turbo magazine decal on the back, Porsche hood ornament decal, and brush script Mid Night Racing Team rocker panel decals that were akin to the original car.  It’s been so cool to watch the progression of Mid Night and to see them participating so often at time attacks now.  Getting to see this FD at the track next season will be a highlight for sure.

Enjoy the gallery – a lot more to come soon.