Written by The Legendary Kakimoto Racing in Osaka…
Kakimoto Racing has been a shop I’ve been wanting to visit for a while now. Over the years on my annual trips, we’d drive past this section of the highway in Osaka where you could see the Kakimoto building. It’s a huge facility with a big sign that’s designed for you to be able to see it as you sped by. Kakimoto has been around for ages but they never really found their footprint in North America. I don’t know if they even tried. Their specialty is making exhausts and not only do they offer complete systems, they even sell metal that’s pre-cut and other raw materials for anyone to make any kind of exhaust they want. We recently put a Kakimoto GT1.0Z muffler on the white EK9 back at home and boy is that thing loud. I thought it’d be a good idea to get a silencer for it, thus creating myself a reason to go visit Kakimoto Racing…
One of the first race cars I saw in my early journeys in Japan was the Kakimoto Racing NSX at TAS. I’d only seen it in magazines previously so seeing it in-person really blew my mind in 2013. It’s one of those moments that really stuck with me. I finally got to see it again inside Kakimoto’s showroom. Again, this place is massive. The showroom not only featured the NSX, but also the Kakimoto Racing 32GTR Skyline and Yoshiyuki Kakimoto’s original S30Z drag car. They had engines on display and a pretty hefty collection of exhausts they currently have in their catalog hung up everywhere. Every open space is filled with exhaust parts, couplers, V-bands, and anything else you can think of exhaust-related. There’s a workshop area in the back and a visible alignment rack which hosted their R33 Skyline democar. From seeing old photos by others who have visited, it looks like they rotate their cars from time to time. Most of the photos I saw had the R33 inside…
We stayed for a bit, asked them for the part that I needed and I was able to snap some quick photos. I didn’t want to disturb them and ask too many questions. Maybe next time I go with my other friends I’ll be able to get a more in-depth look. Kakimoto Racing is woven into the fabric of the Japanese tuning scene with their rich history so I’m happy to have finally been able to visit…
Thanks for looking!…