Fuji Engineering Company was founded in 1938 by 26 year old Yoshimoto Takashi, in the town of Hakone, a small, mountainous town known for its hot springs and view of Mt. Fuji, located in the Kanagawa prefecture of Japan. Yoshimoto Takashi was an aeronautical engineer by education, and a mechanic by trade. Fuji Engineering Company was originally a small shop that Yoshimoto opened to repair and manufacture engines, capitalizing on the demand for aircraft engines primarily. Fuji Engineering Company closed in 1942, when Takashi was drafted into the Japanese Army.
After the war, Fuji Engineering Company remained closed until 1950, and served mainly as a repair shop for mopeds. Yoshimoto, now in his thirties and with a son, developed several small motorcycles himself, but none of his designs ever made it to market. In 1954, Yoshimoto and his son, who was now sixteen, began to develop a small, affordable, and utilitarian vehicle that could be adopted to civilian life in postwar Japan. This vehicle was the first Coherence - and would be put through to production by several investors in 1957. Fuji Engineering Company established their first factory in the town of Numazu, in the nearby Shizuoka prefecture, where the Coherence would be produced for eight years.
Over the next 45 years, Fuji Engineering Company would grow to become a large-scale player in the automotive world, conquering the markets with the introduction of the Clarity to Europe in 1965, a new mid-size sedan, the introduction of the Coherence to the American market in 1974, as an affordable, economical and practical small car, the spread of domestic cars throughout Japan and, eventually, the rest of Asia, with the first Imagination budget car rolling off Chinese and Russian production lines in 1978 and 1993 respectively.
Could you give side profile shots or 3/4 profile shots so we can see how big it is? Apart from that, over 100hp/L, premium interior, and still getting 40 mpg is fantastic! I would consider this irl! (If it’s RWD )
The first Coherence, and first car produced by Fuji, was a small, agile, and somewhat comfortable runabout. The prototype, which was a rather rough first attempt, had a 1.2 liter engine, taken from a Volkswagen, and rather boxy construction. Both of which no longer remained on the 1957 production model, luckily, replaced with a 1.1 liter engine of the company’s own design and more rounded styling, more reminiscent of its time. This powerplant made just 41 horsepower, but also produced 56 foot pounds of torque, meaning that in the manual transmission trims, the base Coherence could do 0-60 in 20 seconds. Automatics, however, were not in luck, as their economical gearing limited them to just 67 mph and an almost 40 second 0-60. If you thought it was worth it, an automatic Coherence could manage almost 30 miles per gallon with a two-speed transmission. The three-speed manual was stuck with a less outstanding 25, but both were light and nimble thanks to their longitudinal FWD construction.
Engines
#### Standard and Premier
Engine: 4B811 ECL
Power: 41 hp
Redline: 5500
Bottom End: Cast Iron 1100 cc L4
Top End:
Fuel System: NA SB-E x2Carb
Economy: 16.64%
Hakone Edition
Engine: 4B811 SCL
Power: 65 hp
Redline: 6200
Bottom End: Cast Iron 1100 cc L4
Top End: Cast Iron DAOHC 8V
Fuel System: NA DCOE Performance
Economy: 12.17%
4 cloth bucket seats and a basic AM radio adorned the interior of a standard edition Coherence. A three-speed manual transmission was the only option for a standard model.
4 leather bucket seats and a basic AM radio adorned the interior of a premium Coherence, along with a standard two-speed automatic transmission replacing the standard three-speed manual unit.
2 basic sporting seats to lower weight, no radio and a racing-derived 4 speed manual graced the interior of this hardcore sports car. A different engine tune and a new exhaust graced the 1200 pound go-kart with an extra 23 horsepower, and a rear wing kept all four tires on the ground even at the car’s top speed. Thanks to the extra power, the Hakone went from 0-60 in just eleven seconds.
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