梅村 流子
PROLOGUE
November 1991
It was late that evening when Umemura was taking another drive down the twisty roads of Mt. Myogi. The 8-valve Quezon engine going through its rev range as it flew down the bend, before shifting to another gear as it left the bend and accelerated towards the straightaway.
She glanced down towards the gauge cluster, and anxiously watched as the temperature gauge steadily climbed alongside the the revs. A few days prior to this run, there was an unusual feeling with how the car was running, as the engine seemed to have a harder time climbing through the rev range, and again, the temperature gauge seemed to be in a different position than usual. It didn’t seem to bother her all that much, however, as she was still able to keep up with the other cars on the touge.
As she barrelled down the straight, the car slowly hit its 220kph top speed, and she began anticipating the bright reflection of the guardrail from the headlights as the road would begin to curve ahead, placing her hand on the shifter, and moving her feet into a position to downshift before the corner.
But then right before she could hit the brakes, a loud bang was heard from ahead of her, and the front wheels locked up in a loud screech. Oil splattered the windscreen and visibility was partially locked. Umemura was startled, and in a panic she had immediately and unknowingly went for the handbrake. The rear wheels cried as they locked up alongside the front. With the sudden shift in weight towards the front, the rear lifted and lost grip, and the car momentarily found itself in reverse, and back straight, then sideways, all whilst Umemura wrestled the steering wheel to keep the car straight. She released the handbrake, and the rear wheels found themselves rolling again and the car shifted its front back towards the road and hurtling towards the barrier. Once straight, she immediately slammed on the brakes to try and get the car to stop, but once again the weight shifted forwards and the car veered to the right, opposite the direction of the bend and into the guardrails.
The vehicle bounced off the guardrail with a loud bang, wrecking the front fascia and jolting Umemura about her seat. Eventually the car came to a stop next to the barrier, but Umemura’s adrenaline rush didn’t as she looked around the cabin. Everything seemed relatively intact, including her. She took off her seatbelt and opened the car door, immediately the stench of burnt oil and rubber filled her nostrils as smoke continued eminating from the hood of the silver Quezon.
“Goddamn, really?” She said as she looked down at the car’s nose. It was a wreck. The front bumper was smashed in and the right headlamp missing. The hood had latched off and was dented, and additional scratches were visible all around the car. Oil was thrown about on the fenders and smoke seeped through the gaps between the hood and the fenders, and through the area where the bumper once held on. She attempted to lift the hood up from the car, but was engulfed in even more smoke which left her coughing out loud from the strong stench of burned oil and engine fluid, and subsequently dropped the hood back where it was.
Umemura could only grieve at the sight before her. Her pride and joy, the automobile in which she had won plenty of impromptu races down this mountain, reduced to this damaged state. She could feel tears starting to form from her cheeks, and a cold shudder went down her body, but she suppressed the feeling as she sat down next to the car, sitting there for what felt like forever as she looked up at the clear night sky, the scent of the damaged engine and the nature around her eventually blending in as one bitter scent that pierced her nostrils like a sharp lance.
From the distance, she would eventually hear the fairly quiet grumbling of another engine, which steadily increased in volume as the large hunk of Australian steel went down the pass. Umemura sighed once again as the lights came into view from the end of the corner, slowly approaching before stopping ahead of her. Umemura looked at the car in front of her, not really able to make out what or who it was , then stood up from where she was sitting, before a red-headed girl hopped out of the vehicle that just stopped and spoke in a language somewhat unfamiliar to her.
“Woah, what the fuck happened here?” The girl said in English as she glanced over the wreck and noticed the girl standing next to the car. “Oh, my apologies…” She said as she switched languages.
“Are you alright? What happened here?”
Umemura scratched the back of her head and sighed as she looked back at the wreck.
“Well… To make a long story short, the engine must’ve blown itself or something. I’m not sure if it’s because it’s old or what, but I think the car’s totalled.” She said in a monotonous tone as she ran her hand down the rear quarter panel.
The girl approached Umemura. “Jeez, are you okay though? This seemed like a fairly gnarly crash.”
“Y-yeah, I think I am? Nothing seems to be hurting right now, so I assume I am indeed fine.”
“Right then…” She said as she continued walking around the site. No parts of the road itself seemed to be majorly damaged other than a few guardrails that could be described as ‘lightly bent’, but the car was definitely not doing well. Signs of a blown engine were indeed there, but the chassis seemed mostly intact and relatively salvageable. She placed her hands “Looks like you could use a tow, huh?”
“That would definitely be appreciated. Could I ask for your name, perhaps? I feel as though I owe you a lot for this. I’m Umemura, by the way, Umemura Ryuuko…” Umemura observed as the other girl made her way towards the back of the vehicle, it became more obvious now to her as to what vehicle had pulled up. It was a blue pick-up truck, from a brand she’s never heard of before, although the front reminded her somewhat of a sedan. She initially hesitated to ask, but curiosity got the better of her and she asked anyway. “…and if you don’t mind me asking-”
“Name’s Ellie, Thomas Ellie. In case you haven’t found out from my looks, I’m a foreigner if that’s what you were asking.” Ellie said as she took out the equipment from the back of the vehicle.
“Oh, Ms. Thomas, isn’t it?”
“Just call me Ellie.” She walked past Umemura and towards the nose of the damaged car, before realizing she’d need to first maneuver the car to get the hook where it needs to be. Ellie quickly headed into the blue automobile, and adjusted the vehicle to make hooking it up to the damaged Quezon easier. It was here where Umemura noticed the vehicle’s type for the first time as the vehicle moved towards the car’s nose. ‘Marksman’, read the tailgate. Umemura had never been a car enthusiast per say, so the brand still remained unfamiliar to her. American? English? She wasn’t exactly sure.
Ellie got out of the blue Marksman, and hooked up the straps onto the vehicle’s towbar, before walking over to the Quezon and reaching beneath the car to hook up the other end to strap the front axle up.
“Is the handbrake off? Oh, and make sure it’s in neutral.” Ellie asked as she began walking back.
“I don’t think the handbrake is off, give me a moment.” Umemura ran over to the driver’s side door, opening in and getting in to release the handbrake, and wiggling the shifter to ensure it is in neutral, before closing the door and giving the other girl a thumbs up.
“What the hell are you standing there for? Get in! I’m not leaving you at the top of the mountain in the middle of the night for Christ’s sake.” Ellie yelled out the window, and Ryuuko eventually made her way into the passenger seat after nearly tripping on the straps. Once in, Ellie attempted to set off, but the Quezon initially refused to move. After a quick run-up, the car was freed and they went back down the mountain towards the nearby town, disappearing after a few bends.
ABOUT
Ryuuko Umemura (梅村 流子) is more or less just another office worker in a sea filled with wageslaves in a busy Japanese metropolis, overworked and never really paid enough. As an escape from the busy and repetitive greyscales of her office job, she secretly heads out to the nearby Mt. Myogi to race alongside her buddies in her 1987 Quezon Cordova GT.
This car of hers was the car she initally drove when she started out tougeing, a 1987 Quezon Cordova GT originally painted in Racing Metallic SIlver. Having inherited it from her late grandfather in 1990 after he died not too long after he bought the car, she decided to head out to the mountains one night and encountered a pair of cars barrelling down the usually-quiet and tight mountain roads. She tried catching up to the two cars, and the thrill of driving filled her senses and she eventually found herself driving more and more up and down the touge and eventually slowly upgrading her car as she continued racing.
Initially, her car first had been running the original car’s 2.0-litre NA Quezon Dual-Cam engine, with about 130 horsepower, and later upgraded to make about 160. The engine later blew itself after Ryuuko failed to change the oil properly after every run, causing her to spin out and leaving the front fascia damaged after crashing into a barrier. Before the engine blew, a couple of other upgrades were installed such as an RM-Sport suspension kit sourced from the Philippines, lightweight bucket seats, a lightweight racing wheel, and 14-inch Minilite Magnesium wheels. She went on hiatus for a few months as she saved up to repair her car, but in the meantime spent some time with a couple of touge friends who she’d later join forces with to become Jvniper.
Eventually, she’d managed to source a turbocharged 1.6-litre SART Group A engine from a Suisei racecar, tuned to make roughly 260hp, mated to a SART 5-speed transaxle from a JTCC car. Other upgrades included a late-model upper front fascia and hood with fixed headlamps, a Bayside Bhozxs bodykit, 14-inch CWS Magnesium Mesh wheels on a sticky rubber compound, as well as numerous other aero bits and bobs. The car was also resprayed in a metallic maroon colour, although the hood is painted black as they ran out of red paint.
