When Japan goes (to) Sebring

The now defunct Speedhunters visited Garage Kamiya and Akamatsu-san’s MGC GT Sebring works car replica.

From an MGC GT, the car that Akamatsu-san has built takes a lot of inspiration from the works Sebring GTS racers. Working with (his father) Kamiya-san, who was at the time racing his own yellow MGB, the pair transformed the plastic surgeon’s leather sofa on wheels into a bare-bones weekend race car. Many of the parts were sourced from MG Motorsports in Bovingdon, U

To get the body looking right, Akamatsu-san entrusted Yamada-san of Yamada Auto in Kawaguchi to construct the oversized fender flares, by hand, with nothing more than a pile of photos and the book MGC GTS Lightweights: Abingdon’s Last Racers. The rear fenders are still Yamada-san’s work, but the front fenders have since been replaced by an MG Motorsport FRP set, after a wet track day at Tsukuba left the originals beyond repair. 

They used an alloy cylinder head, just like the Sebring cars, Cosworth forged race pistons, an MG Motorsport camshaft and tubular race push rods, all of which increased the engine’s rev limit from 5,000 to 7,000rp

They rebuilt the engine again in 2015 after it broke on the main straight at Fuji Speedway, this time with a forged steel full counter 12-bolt crankshaft, aluminium flywheel and forged conrods from Denis Welch Motors. The engine also received a new oil pump, which was the cause of the blow in the first place.

Akamatsu-san regularly participates in historic club days at various circuits, and because of JCCA (Japan Classic Car Association) regulations, certain parts of the car have needed to be kept original. Most notable is the suspension setup. Although springs and dampers have been added in the form of Aragosta coilover units, the front torsion bar system and rear leaf springs have been retained.

As this old GT car is now making almost double the power of its original self, stopping power has also been modernised. The brake rotors are from an Evo VII and Akamatsu-san has gone with AP Racing PC3307 4-pot callipers up front but kept original units in the rear. Apparently Kamiya-san had a hard time fabricating custom brackets for the AP callipers, because someone didn’t consult with him first on which size to buy. But hey, what’s a few millimetres between old friends…

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