1967 Tanaka C20X - Cars in History 3
car by @Aaron.W
Today, we delve into the history of one of the household brands, Tanaka Motors. The Japanese company is one of the big players on the market, with especially the Aventis and Atlantis being a familiar sight on the road, and long resisting the switch to Crossovers and SUVs. Although with the Ascent and Calgary and the upcoming Okanawa - which we are looking forward to and hope to review and compare against competition - the change in model focus appears to have been set off.
In terms of lower production vehicles, Tanaka, established in 1962, and producing cars since 1965, also has a rich history in premium vehicles and sport cars, all the way up to supercars, such as the exciting Akuma. The very first venture into all of this for the company was the spiritual predecessor to the X-series grand tourers: the Tanaka C20X.
This very car that we got to drive is chassis number n° 001 and currently in exhibition at the Tanaka Museum in Osaka, Japan. Originally unveiled in the 1966 Geneva Auto Show, it was an impressive engineering feat by the team of Mr. Haruto Tanaka, the founder of Tanaka Heavy Industries, to produce a sports car so soon after the Aventis, their first car, went into production.
The LR28DCOE-A1 engine is an adapted Aventis engine with 2 extra cylinders, turning it into a 2.8 liter inline-6. The single overhead cam engine runs extremely smoothly and produces 205 horsepower. The design is timeless and clearly already shows the sleek and aggressive lines that modern Tanaka models still use. Only 300 of these C20Xs were ever produced.
We thank Tanaka for allowing us to drive this history-laden example near the Museum around a specially closed road circuit. With only 10000km on the odometer, you would expect this car is in its original state. But in fact it was restored in the late 1990s. The owner of this particular was Mr. Haruto Tanaka himself, who sadly rolled the car in 1996, severely injuring him and leaving him unable to drive. After restoration, the car was driven on leisurely weekend outings by his son, Mr. Tatsuya Tanaka, for 2 years before the donation to the Museum.
Driving the C20X, we feel the grand tourer spirit. The car feels light with its tubular chassis and aerospace-grade aluminium panels; its leather-finished seats and high-quality radio indicate that this is not a circuit race car. The brakes are racing quality - for the time - disc brakes, which still feel very solid. Although we have noticed under heavy braking the rear feels like it wants to come round. This combined with the softer and comfortable suspension set up can lead to the occasional one-tyre-fire. We can imagine where it went wrong for Mr. Tanaka.
The C20X is an impressive sports car for a brand to produce so early in its history. It is, despite some inexperienced suspension and braking setup, a joy to drive. The engine note is enjoyable - even if slightly loud -, the 5-speed manual gearbox and clutch give an enjoyable amount of resistance making every gear change feel mechanical. The road feel and sense of speed is of the nature you can only find in these older sports cars. It is a blast.
With a 0-100 (0-60) time of under 7 seconds, the C20X is fast even by modern standards, and while not made for high-speed cornering or circuit racing, the whole machines invites you to push the gas pedal deeper and let the revs climb all the way to 6800 rpm before the satisfying mechanical clink into a higher gear. Equally mechanic in its operation are the pop-up headlights, which are raised via a crank on the left side of the steering wheel and activated separately.
The first Tanaka grand tourer can be seen as a success, even though with only 300 cars produced, it was a project made out of love for cars rather than for commercial goals. Despite some oddities in the tuning, and the strange choice for 190mm and 220mm wheels - making spares for surviving models a costly affair - the beautiful C20X has laid the ground for future Tanaka design accents, and started a line which evolved into among others the rare C30X Turbo Tanabe Racing, and the very successful late 90s V6-powered 300X.