If you're like us, your passion for Hondas is reflected in the artwork you buy and display. We have a few to share:

Years ago we bought this cloth print at the Honda Collection Hall at Twin Ring Motegi- it hangs proudly in our office.

This mural featuring some of Honda’s most iconic racing machinery hangs inside Honda’s closed-to-the-public R&D facility in Raymond Ohio.

The 100 foot long mural was produced by artist John Frye.

Mugen and Honda ran a single make racing series using the City Turbos. The cars were based on the production vehicles as were the motors. The motors had larger exhaust, injectors, production type turbo (with 22psi), production type intercooler, and a modified camshaft. These cars did the standing 1/4 mile in 13.5 seconds (which isn’t bad for a frontwheel drive car set up for circuit racing).

They ran very fat tires (9” front and 7” rear). The official Mugen figure for power output is 138+hp @ 5500rpm but the torque is around 22kgm @ 3500rpm (standard twin cam VTEC 1600 has 16kgm, NSX V6 has about 28kgm). It takes little work to produce these power figure in a street motor. The cars from the one make racing series were bought by an Australian entrepreneur with the vision for continuing the series in Australia. Unfortunately all the vehicles were in a warehouse in Osaka waiting to be shipped when an earthquake struck and buried the lot.

Update 2/20/2013:

If you were racing your Mugen City Turbo II in the mid 80's, chances are are you had this Mugen competition oil cooler kit.

Today we have a Mugen history brochure from 2003. It includes a storied racing timeline that starts in 1973 and covers Mugen's major racing contributions, engines and accomplishments up to 2003.

Right-click to see the images at full size.

We are proud to have the King Motorsports / Mugen GT3 CRX included as part of Mugen history!

The Honda RA301 was produced by Honda Racing for the 1968 Formula One season. It was introduced during the 1968 Spanish Grand Prix, the second round of the season. Like its predecessor (RA300), the car was co-developed by Lola Cars, and called "Lola T180" by Lola Cars.

The car was an update of the previous season's RA300, using the same RA273E engine. As Honda was also focused on developing the air-cooled RA302, the RA301's development suffered and Surtees only managed a best of second place in the France. Poor reliability saw him managing to finish just two other races.

The car was planned to be replaced by the RA302 at the 1968 French Grand Prix, but Surtees refused to drive the new car because of safety concerns. After the death of Jo Schlesser at that race, Surtees again refused to drive the RA302 at the 1968 Italian Grand Prix, and the RA301 was used until the end of the season.

With Honda's withdrawal from Formula One at the end of the season, the RA301 was the last F1 car raced by Honda until the 2006 Formula One season's Honda RA106.

** Thanks to Wikipedia for the history and Motorsport Retro for the pic **

Earlier this week we finally rolled up the garage door and nudged our Prelude race car project out into the bright, gleaming light of the winter sun. "San Pedro" is the 4th gen Honda Prelude we've been re-building from the floorboards up, and it's shaping up to be a performer!

Here are some of the first pictures of San Pedro freshly hosed off and ready for a few more aero "details" before we get ready for spring testing!

Bonus picture! Merrit M. sent us this photo she took of San Pedro circa 2000 (or 2001) at the SCCA Runoffs at Mid-Ohio. Thanks Merrit!

There are cars that find new life as race cars, and then there are cars that are practically delivered straight to the track. This 4th gen Honda Prelude (BB4) is a very storied car that's been a race car its entire life -- winning a few championships in the hands of Bob Endicott (it was Bob's car). We are currently reinventing this thoroughbred race car for its next chapter -- which is sure to be very interesting! :)

Orange is the color of the year over here at King Motorsports. The Prelude race car project -- nicknamed "San Pedro" -- is geting a fresh paint job in a bright new color. Some call it Hugger Orange, we prefer to call it Daytona Yellow!! Here it is over at Don's Auto Body in West Allis, WI (Don does all of our paintwork, give him a call at 414-541-5155 if you need anything).

Next stop back to KMS for final assembly and setup.

Now that "San Pedro" is back from Don's Auto Body with a fresh coat of Daytona Yellow (some call it Daytona Red), Chad begins final assembly. Installing the fuel bladder, rear tin work and a set of freshly rebuilt and revalved Penske triple adjustable shocks are the first on the build list.

Fresh new parts and fresh paint-wonderful!!

Rear tin work-bead rolled to eliminate vibration noises. Dzus fasteners are used for easy access to the fuel systems.

We just installed the engine/transmission assembly into "San Pedro" Trick transmission with carbon synchro's and a Mugen limited slip (super rare). The engine is built to the limit of SCCA EP prep rules with a camshaft set ground to our specifications. We'll be using a Hondata S300 for tuning. Can't wait to get it on the dyno!

Getting closer to firing up San Pedro for initial engine break in on the dyno. The engine is now completely plumbed and the engine harness has been installed.

Fitting an oil catch tank on a Prelude is always tricky. We fabricated our own and plumbed it with Aeroquip -10 braided lines.

Here is where we vent the H series valve covers. Here the motor has a race header that DC built specifically for the car years ago. We will use it to establish a baseline before we start developing our own race header for it.

The fuel cell is completely plumbed. We ran a hard line under the car to the engine bay for the fuel feed and return. Connections are -6 Aeroquip.

The Penske triple adjustable damper canisters are mounted for ease of compression and rebound adjustments. Controlling wheel movement is the one of the most important considerations in making a race car handle properly.

Just started fabricating the dash for San Pedro. We use .080" sheet aluminum. We will mount an Autometer tach, oil press/temp and water temp gauge in this panel. Once fabrication has been completed we will send it out to be powder coated flat black to reduce glare.

View from the top of the dash.

San Pedro is alive!! The engine has been broken in on our dyno and we are now testing various intake and exhaust solutions.

It is critical that the initial start and break in of a new engine be monitored closely on the dyno with a wide band. We have seen far to many engines ruined by improper A/F ratios and poor "base line" tunes.

Chad is busy fabricating a new H23 dyno header for San Pedro...

On the dyno with San Pedro with our new H23 stepped race header.

Detail shot of the H23 header....

Finishing up TIG welding the 3" stainless race exhaust on "San Pedro" with a Magnaflow 3" stainless muffler.

Here is the header to Mid Pipe Flex Joint.

Some finishing details on "San Pedro" dash is in and gauges wired up.

Fuel filler fabrication.

Interior tin work completed and plexi windows fabricated and installed.

We rebuilt San Pedro's front suspension using new uprights, bearings, hubs and upper control arms. ARP extended studs were also installed.

More updates will be added to the blog as we go. Be sure to check out our Facebook page to see the updates on San Pedro as they happen!

Update 12/4/2012:

We haven't had an update on the progress of "San Pedro" in a while. Christmas came a bit early yesterday in the form of the correct steering hub to mount the steering wheel. We even hear a pair of factory side skirts are on their way to us. "All" we have to do now is fabricate a carbon front air dam to mount the splitter and it's off to the races!!

Update 12/13/2012:

Here's a picture of the newly-painted Volk TE37's with Hoosier race rubber:

Update 12/21/2012:

We are finalizing chassis setup on "San Pedro" -- this orange beast is on the scales and will soon be ready for testing!

Update 1/9/2013:

Finally... San Pedro gets a new windshield!

San Pedro sees the light for the first time in 2013! Spring testing is coming soon!

Clicky-click to see "Re-inventing 'San Pedro' Part 2" for a continuation of the build pics!

The Mugen SCCA GT-4 CRX. This race car was very important step in Mugen history, as it introduced Mugen to the American market. It was designed and built in 1984 by the Special Projects division of American Honda in Gardena, CA.

This team was led by Dix Erickson, Charlie Curnutt and Mugen lead engineer Takashi Uno. The 1.5 EW engine was designed and produced by Mugen and produced 165hp. Design features included a dry sump lubrication and twin 45DCOE Weber carbs on a Mugen intake manifold. The transmission was a close ration 5 speed also designed and built by Mugen.

This car destroyed the GT-4 competition and won several SCCA National Championships between 1985 and 1989.

Yes- Mugen had arrived.....

Here is the exhaust manifold for the GT-4 CRX being made at Mugen. The Mugen technician that built this exhaust manifold also built all the early Honda F1 exhaust manifolds!

Here is a finished Mugen GT-4 exhaust manifold. Amazing craftsmanship!

Here is a very rare picture of the Mugen GT-4 CRX at a pre-race season test session. Notice no decals, numbers or race markings yet- early days in its life as a racer!

Update 8/14/2012: An old friend from American Honda "Special Projects Department" stopped by yesterday and dropped off some really great old articles on the Mugen GT-4 CRX. Check out this one from the 1985 Runoffs edition Sports Car Magazine:

Update 10/19/2012: Below are scans from an article about the SCCA GT-4 RACING PROJECT. The race car was a key promotion for the launch of Mugen performance parts in the US. It was quick, biblically quick ...

Here's the text of the article and specs:

The 1984 American Honda Motor (A.H.M.) and Mugen jointly decided to enter into Sports Car Club of America GT-4 racing using the Honda CRX. The CRX is the car that Honda produced as their second generation sports car. When the CRX started rolling off the production assembly line, A.H.M. and Mugen started making race plans. Mugen took care of engines and drive trains, and A.H.M. took charge of the suspension and body works, which were done by Dix Erickson and the Special Project Team.

In 1984 two prototype engines were made and sent to the United States. The engines were tested in the stock CRX body. Based on those prototype engines, 3 race engines were built by Mugen's Formula-II racing team. The engines were equipped with a dry sump lubrication system. This project was completed within two months. Even though they primarily worked on Formula-II V-6 engines, the team really enjoyed developing this in-line 4 cylinder engine.

Meanwhile, Dix Erickson's team was hard at work, stripping down the CRX and installing the roll cage. They believed in the CRX's potential and left the standard suspension layout on it. They did not use tube frame construction for the same reason. The body was painted in traditionaly Mugen colors.

In May 1985 the car won its very first race at Road Atlanta. After that, gears, exhaust systems, brakes, wheels, and suspensions were continually refined. In 1985 Doug Peterson won the National Championship in GT-4 driving the CRX and 1986 Parker Johnstone won the National Championship in GT-4 driving the Mugen CRX.

"On August 8th, 1985 we went Carlsbad Raceway with Mugen GT-4 car to attend SCCA National race. There we saw several GT-1, 2, 3 cars, and our GT-4 CRX had to race with them. But by Doug's Driving, at the qualifying Mugen CRX beat big cars and got the pole position. During the race it was repeated again, Mugen CRX finished First and became the overall winner."

QUALIFYING RESULTS

POSITION - CLASS - CAR - DRIVER

1 - GT-4 - MUGEN CRX - DOUG PETERSON

2 - GT-2 - FERRARI 308-GTB - HOWARD F. PYNN

3 - GT-1 - CHEV CORVETT - JIM DOUGHTY

4 - GT-3 - DATSUN 200 SX - JOE CARR

5 - GT-4 - DATSUN 510 - DEREK MCKESSON

6 - GT-1 - CHEV CAMARO - DAN CROFT

DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS

NAME: MUGEN XA-1 USR

TYPE OF ENGINE: IN-LINE 4 OHC 12-VALVE

DISPLACEMENT: 1529cc

BORE x STROKE: 75 X 86.5

COMPRESSION RATIO: 12.3 : 1

HORSEPOWER: over 165ps / 7800rpm

TORQUE: 17.0kg-m / 6000rpm

CARBURETION: WEBER SIDE DRAFT 45-DCOE

IGNITION: C.D.I.

WEIGHT: 111kg (with T/M)

GEAR RATIO:

1ST 1.824

2ND 1.474

3RD 1.227

4TH 1.047

5TH 0.920

FINAL:

4.067

4.267

4.429

Update 12/4/2012: We found this super rare photo of the Mugen SCCA GT-4 CRX race engine in our archives! The Mugen engine code for this engine was XA1 USR. 1592cc with a 75mm bore and a 86.5 mm stroke at 12.3:1 compression with dry sump lubrication, this engine made over 165 PS @ 7800 rpm. At first Webber 45 DCOE carbs were used, then switched to Mikuni 44 PHH. The Mugen GT-4 CRX dominated SCCA GT-4 competition for many years......

Right-click the image to see a larger version of this work of art!

Mugen's racing heritage really shines in the craftsmanship of their engine building. This Mugen literature proudly states "We at M-TEC have manufactured the engines of too many cars to count." 'Nuff said!

We love the specs of the Mugen MF408S (pictured below):

Engine 90° V8, naturally aspirated
Displacement 4,000cc
Max Power 590+ hp (440 kW) @ 9,500 rpm
Max Torque 383 lbf·ft (519 N·m @ 7,500 rpm
Restrictor Size 33.4 mm x2 or 46.8 mm x1
Ignition Type Direct Injection
ECU System EFI Technology Inc
CDI System EFI Technology Inc
Clutch Type/Size Carbon / 5.5 inch 4-plate
Maintenance Interval >3,000 km (>5,000 km at Le Mans 24h)
Length 559 mm (not including flywheel)
Height 577 mm (not including flywheel)
Width 720 mm
Weight 131 kg
Crank Height 92 mm

In 1973, the first racing project of the newly formed Mugen Co. Ltd. was the MF-318. Based on the Civic EB1 Civic 1200 engine features dry sump lubrication and Keihin 35mm CV carbs to make 135 ps at 8000 rpm. It was very successful race engine in both formula car and sedan racing. The team at Mugen completely remade or modified every aspect of this engine. Boring the engine to 1300cc, the Mugen MF-318 was victorious in its very first race in the Formula FJ 1300 racing series in Japan. It went on to become the dominant engine in this series for many years to come.

Here is a very rare picture of the Mugen FJ 1200 race car. Pictured here in 1973 at the first Mugen HQ.

Take your pick: big or small Mugen go kart?

Mugen was very instrumental in exposing young Japanese drivers to motorsports with a very active young driver program. The Mugen "Playing Kart" was the first step of that program. Here is the Mugen "Playing Kart" assembly line at Mugen in 1999.