It has been an eventful 12 years since I had been to the Honda Collection Hall in Tochigi. During that time so much has changed. Even Twin Ring Motegi, where the Hall was located, has been renamed and the muse1um itself thoroughly renovated. I felt like the first time I went, I didn’t fully appreciate what I had been looking at. We had a big group with us at the time and we were doing so much that everything just visually overloaded my brain. I didn’t fully take in the experience…

With Chuy and Kristian having never been before, we decided to make a trip out to Tochigi to visit the Honda Collection Hall. For Ryan Der and I, it would be a return to see what had changed and for others, their first initial viewing. As it turned out, Yasu had also never been before so he was seeing both the Hall and Twin Ring (Mobility Resort Motegi) for the first time…

We ended up being there for hours. Not so much so because there was a lot to see, but more because Kristian was crawling under all the cars and studying areas of these old Honda race cars that had never been photographed before. He really got in there and took a deep dive into each car, the EG6 in particular. He said that most of these cars had been photographed an endless amount of time over the years but some parts were just never shown. He made it a mission to see all the little intricacies of these legendary Hondas…

I just took the time to study the aesthetics and little details. Having all these Hondas in scale model form, I just wanted to really see all of it in 1:1 scale. I wanted to see the grit, the wear and tear, as well as some of the visual choices made inside and out. All in all, it was a fun day. Got to see two of my favorite NSX GT cars, the Castrol Accord, and got an in-depth view of the JACCS EG6…

There were a couple more I wish they had inside the Hall we could see but I guess we’ll just have to go back again some day…

I posted these photos on Instagram but now you can see them full-size, plus I’ll also put some of the captions behind the cars from the museum so those that won’t ever make it there can see what it says…

“PEOPLE CENTERED ENGINEERING
‘First create a comfortable interior for four adults. We can make the engine later using our own technology.’ This kind of thinking led to Honda’s first-ever Kei-class passenger car, the N360, which offered unprecedented passenger space and comfort for the time. Along with its highly affordable price tag, the N360 became an instant bestseller and the Number One selling Kei car in Japan.”

“I don’t know if we’ll succeed or not, but this is something I need to do.” -Sochiro Honda

“Honda’s next big challenge was competing in Formula One, the absolute pinnacle of world automobile racing. After breaking with convention by building not only the engine, but also the chassis of its first F1 racer—and all in less than six months!—Honda’s first race was the mid-season 1964 German Grand Prix, though it was forced to retire before the finish. However, in the final round of the 1963 racing season—the team’s second year of F1 competition—Honda surprised everyone by grabbing a remarkable first victory in the Mexican Grand Prix.”

“Proving You Technical Capabilities With a Wing

Honda returned to Formula One racing in the spring of 1983, after an absence of 15 years, in the hopes that as many people as possible might see and appreciate its world-leading technology and indomitable spirit of challenge. Thanks to drivers like Ayrton Senna and Satoru Nakajima, and all the people involved in racing, not to mention its innovative new technologies, Honda teamed-up with various chassis builders to leave a distinguished track record of 69 victories and four consecutive double championships by the team it withdrew again from the sport in 1992.”

“A Winner That Lives Up to the Dreams of Those Who Drive It

The NSX represented the ultimate realization of its developers’ dreams. However, the story didn’t end there. Instead, its engineers wanted to achieve their dreams in the truest sense possible, by creating for their customers the “finest sports car in the world”, and then proved it by taking on one of the three most prestigious endurance races in the world, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The following year they achieved even further victory in the GT2 class, consistently showing off Honda’s greatest potential by competing in and winning touring car races with vehicles based on production cars, including the Civic and the Accord. These challenges and hard-won victories have long been shared with both customers and motorsports fans alike.”

“During 2000, in its fourth year of the All-Japan GT Championship (JGTC), 4 teams entered 5 cars. Together (Honda) won four races and the team championship. Ryo Michigami was the series champion.”

Michigami won the series championship in this Mugen x DOME Castrol NSX, which is also one of my personal favorites…

OZ Racing-produced centerlock Mugen M12 wheels were used during that season of JGTC and a couple after…

This is the Group A Civic EG6 JACCS competition vehicle that was piloted by Naoki Hattori during the 1993 season of the Japan Touring Car Championship. Though it is definitely one of the more memorable Group A Civics of that era, it actually only competed in one season, which speaks to why it is still in such fantastic condition. After the 1993 season, the rules changed and Super Touring rules required sedans to be used so Honda switched over to the Ferio chassis…

Centerlock Mugen MR5 wheels with AP Racing brakes wrapped in a Bridgestone Potenza racing slick…

Lock at the texture on the faces of these Mugen wheels…

It was interesting to finally see the interior of the EG6 up-close after all these years. It still retained the factory dashboard but with a switch panel in place, custom gauge cluster, Mugen steering wheel, and a single race bucket seat…

The fuel door tack-welded shut since the fuel filler was moved to the rear hatch…

Also never noticed the Mooncraft decal on the car since it wasn’t commonly known that they had involvement with this Group A chassis…

Loved this JACCS decals with the Mooncraft logo incorporated into it…

Mooncraft was responsible for making the ducting like this which runs under the car and cools the brakes…

The boys were obviously super-interested in the car, all of different reasons. Kristian was all up under the car getting whatever photos he could because he said he’d never seen any published photos of this particular EG6 before when it came to its more technical aspects…

It was mainly the suspension itself, which most of the stuff turned out to be custom-made, but he looked underneath to see the transmission and engine components as well…

The Castrol Mugen #16 Accord from the 1996 and 1997 seasons of the Japan Touring Car Championship, driven by Osamu Nakako. During the 1997 season it actually had 15 consecutive victories which won them the overall championship…

Like the Castrol NSX, this Accord and the other twin #33 Accord were also built by Mugen and DOME…

I actually have one of these in 1/43 scale available on my other storefront site if you want to own a piece of Honda’s racing history.

CLICK HERE to check it out…

“During the 2000 season of the Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC), the three big automakers Honda, Toyota and Nissan were engaged in a fierce battle for GT500 prominence. The Honda (Acura) NSX engineers made major changes to its race car that year, placing an idler gear between the output shaft and transmission. They also used thinner and more compact gears of Formula cars. As a result, the exhaust pipes that once ran under the engine were moved around the sides, allowing the powerplant to be lowered for improved center-of-gravity.

Five teams raced the revived NSX in 2000. Among them were the Castrol Mugen NSX and Takata Dome NSX, which assumed the role of advanced-development “works[1] cars” for the NSX camp. The car with the overwhelming speed was the Takata Dome NSX, and it took two wins right away. Because the JGTC used a weight-handicap system to even out the competition, the Takata Dome NSX’s handicaps were too much to overcome to take the championship. In its shadow emerged the Castrol Mugen NSX that progressed through the season with consistently good finishes. The driver were Ryo Michigami and Sebastian Philippe, with Philippe being replaced by Hidetoshi Mitsusada halfway through the season. The Castrol Mugen NSX handled the weight handicaps incurred from its 1st place finishes and went on to take the series championship.”

The rear driver’s side Mugen M12 wheel had markings identified on it maybe with the idea that they might eventually restore it? I’m not really sure, but it was the only wheel of the 4 that had these markings and a complete set of decals…

Just a rad decal. The magnesium forged M12 may have been produced by OZ Racing but was most certainly designed by Mugen…

I love studying old decal designs from this era of motorsports so it was cool to see a legit MUGEN x DOME PROJECT decal…

See on this side, the M12 is void of all its decals…

Definitely one of the best liveries of that time…

Well, that’s all I got from this trip. I got a vlog episode I still need to make so stay tuned for that one!…

Thanks for looking!!…