Well preserved yet not forgotten, this old footage of the RA270 Prototype was discovered in a warehouse in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. It is known as the only footage of the prototype vehicle.
The RA270 is shown being tested on the Suzuka circuit, and the video is dated around 18 February of that year.
But the lovely part of this video is not the RA, nor the fact that the prototype is tested by Yoshio Nakamura, later to be the first manager of Honda’s Formula 1 racing, and soon after, executive of the company, while Soichiro Honda can be observed in a corner, watching the reaction of this machinery. No, the greatest thing is that this video represents a great moment in the history of the brand – this was the time when a line of legends was born. I mean, when the RA was born.
How was, in fact, the RA born? Well, Honda wasn’t actually planning to enter Formula 1 directly, as the RA270 prototype was originally a project intended for sale to the British Team Lotus. The engines, nothing more. But at one point, the deal fell through, and Soichiro decided to bring the RA270 to life and put his foot in the world of racing machines.
“Whether that horsepower could be achieved was not the question. He just told us we must produce this much power in order to win. For example, the code name for the engine, RA270, was assigned by Mr. Honda, who probably wanted to remind us that the engine had to produce 270 horsepower.”
When Soichiro Honda was asked by Yoshiro Nakamura whether he wanted to enter the F1 circuit, he reportedly replied, “I don’t know if we can do it or not, but I sure as hell want to try!”
But about the beautiful history of Honda’s racing pedigree in another article.
P.S. It seems the videotape was well hidden, so not even Honda Co. personnel knew about it. The footage was discovered almost a month ago and officially released by Honda.
