Yusa Heavy Industries (Y.H.I.) History

[ryutachi]

Yusa Heavy Industries was founded as a producer of powered sewing machines in Shikishima province, Kasuga Empire, 1863, by Yusa Kiwasa.

During the early 1910’s, Yusa began production of a motorbike for the imperial army. This is where the company gained its first taste of the vehicle industry which would be valuable in the coming years. From 1915 until after world war II had ended in 1945 Yusa was a producer of engines and shells for many military vehicles.

With the war over, and military conbtracts no longer offered, the company board decided to use surplus frames and engines from the war to design a cheap affordable car for the hundreds of thousands of Kasuga citizens who were left transport-less due to wartime bombing raids.

Y.H.I. first car had to be affordable for a population recovering from war time destruction aswell as reliable, and require minimum service.

By 1951 the first Yusa car was bought to market.

-----1951 YUSA Type 44C-----

The Type 44C was created using mashed up parts from surplus war stock, including using and engine originally used in 1944. Itfeatured seats for 2 adults, a 730 cc inline 4 SOHC 8 valve engine producing 36.7 hp @ 5600 rpm. The type 44c got 7.0km/L, and weighed 794kg.

Suspension was double wishbone in front, semi trailing arm rear. It had a steel ladder chassis as well as steel panels. A three speed manual was used for transmission. There was no radio installed and interior quality was extremely basic. Safety features were lacking.

While comparing unfavorably to foreign cars, the lack of foreign competition in Kasuga meant that the Type 44C sold well enough for YHI to turn a small profit, prolonging the production of the Type 44C for ten years(with minor upgrades) until 1961.

These cars are rare now, being considered a cheap run around in their day means that they were generally abused and discarded. Finding an original model today will set you back a fair amount. In total 9212 Type 44C of all years were made. The Type 44c was only available right hand drive, and was never officially exported.

[Knugcab]

An interesting company indeed! Looking forward for more of its history.

[ryutachi]

By 1957, The Kasuga economy had nearly recovered to post war levels.
The Type 44C was starting to show its age, by this time being 6 years old. With the rapidly expanding economy and a huge baby boom happening YHI executives foresaw the need of a four door family sedan in the coming years.

Therefore during mid 1957 YHI chief designer and former aircraft designer Kosuke Tachi, began work on YHI’s first new design not using recycled parts from left over war stock since the pre-war 1937 Type 04 motorcycle. Using the small profit made selling the type 44C, and a small government loan, preliminary work began on an all new engine, chassis, transmission, and fuel system.

It was 1961, and Yusa Heavy Industries was ready to release their new sedan on the market. it was called Famico.

-----Famico(Gen 1)-----

The Famico was an improvement over the Type 44C in nearly every way. Now it had 4 seats instead of 2, a much improved 1-S3-FE 749cc Inline 3 which output 42.4 HP @ 5800 rpm. Economy figures were 10.5 Km/L, meanwhile weight was 849 kg. Suspension consisted of double wishbones front and rear. The interior was basic but much improved over the Type 44C. A basic AM radio was standard equipment. Overall safety features were nothing to write home about.

However the real standout of the car was the amazing engine designed by Ryoto Ishi, which shinned using carburettors and instead used mechanical fuel injection which greatly improved fuel economy. Another stand out for the engine was its all aluminium construction, which was used in an effort to save as much weight as possible. This also helped with fuel consumption.

Although the Famico was highly advanced by Kasugan standards, it was still felt that foreign car makers still had the upper hand. The Famico is considered a landmark car in its native Kasuga, and the model is still ubiquitous on Kasugan streets, with the model receiving its latest generational leap in 2018.

Today, Gen 1 Famico’s are very hard to find in original condition, with many owners having swapped out the 1st gen engine and transmission for those from later models. The 1st Gen Famico was available in both sedan and 2 door convertible. The 1st Gen was produced from 1961 until 1969, when it was replaced with the 2nd gen. A total of 28,000 1st Gen Famico’s were produced. ( 25,000 sedan/ 3,000 convertible.)

[Sillyworld]

That’s a mean looking rear end!

[ryutachi]

1963 Famico Road-Star

After design completion of the Famico in 1961, was when the first test and prototypes of which would become a more sporty 2 door soft top version of the Famico, known as the Road-Star were began.

This car was developed in response to public demand for a more fashionable car, those of which were imported from foreign countries. The Road-Star featured the same engine as in the base Famico tuned to produce 49 HP, and for all intents a purposes was the same besides the bodywork, and a few small interior pieces.

Power steering was added as standard, along with a new suspension system. Weight was higher at 900kg. The car was a moderate success selling 3000 plus units in 6 years on the market. Today, as with older Yusa cars, original example fetch a good price. Many have said that it was this car that gave Yusa the technical know how on how to build a coupe, and that experience would good on to be valuable when designing their first true sports car in 1965.

[ryutachi]

1965 Yusa Heavy Industries S-750

Off the success of the development a launch of the Road-Star, it was decided that a sports car would be created to catch the attention of customers. Yusa approached engine design firm Kusakabe Inc, with help on the design of various parts of the engine. This enabled the use of a small capacity engine and also a decrease in weight.

The final engine design was a 750cc inline 3 cylinder of all aluminium construction, producing 66.6 HP. The engine had DOHC, with 4 valves per cylinder as well as individual throttle bodies, it was also mechanically fuel injected. Suspension was double wishbones front and rear. The engine powered the rear wheels. A state of the art 5 speed manual was used.

Because Yusa lacked the capacity and technical know how to build big powerful engines and because large engine were heavily taxed in Kasuga, it was needed that weight be kept to a minimum.
It was decided that the cars panels would be made of aluminium, which meant that mass production would not be viable. The panel work was contracted to Kasuga Steel Company.

On release of the car, it proved to be a major breakthrough in the Kasugan automotive industry, and even attracted a small amount of attention in other countries. The light weight of the car at just 686kg meant handling and performance were great, and while not world beating, it was the fastest car in Kasuga for over 4 years.

It was produced only in limited numbers, and was not exported out of the country. Today, this car fetchs prices on the second hand market upwards of 150,000, and its thought that slightly over a hundred remain, with 20 of them held in museums over Kasuga. The car was produced from 1965 until 1970. Around 1100 were produced.