Before Mugen became synonymous with F1 Racing (Ligier&Panis; Jordan)




and kids ricing out their cars with Mugen stickers
:

they worked on dirt bikes


1976 Mugen 125





1980 Mugen ME125 W1
First Mugen bike sold in the US.






1980 Works Mugen ME125 Elsinore


Hall of Famer Johnny O'Mara - Mugen factory rider


1979 Mugen ME360








1981 Mugen ME460


1984 Mugen White Bull CBX750


1985 Mugen White Bull II CBX 750


2005 Mugen CBR1000RR


2006Mugen CBR600RR


2007 Mugen CB1300


History of Mugen
1973 - founded by Hirotoshi Honda; FJ1300 Formula engine from Civic 1.3L CVCC
1974 - MF318 engines derived from FJ1300 wins debut race
1975 - raceparts for Honda Civic race cars
1976 - ME125 and ME250 motorcycles entered in Motocross series (Japanese Grand Prix 76-92)
1978 - ME360; international competitions
1979 - Mugen opens in California; Johnny O'Mara factory rider
1980 - O'Mara wins US Grand Prix of World GP Motocross; 2L V6 engine developed for F2.
1982 - developed 100cc ROTARY Kart engine
1983 - Mugen-Honda City Turbo developed

1984 - Mugen White Bull CBX750; Mugen parts available through US Honda dealers
1985 - F1 engine development; Mugen CRX wins SCCA GT4 class
1987 - MF308 engine - F3000 (with MF204 engine) championship; Mugen partners with King Motorsports; King Motorsports/Mugen Integra wins IMSA
1988 - Mugen CRX wins SCCA GT3 class
1989 - Japanese and European F3000 and F3 championship (Jean Alesi); MH251 motor for hovercraft
1990 - F3 drivers: Mika Hakkinen; Rubens Barichello
1991 - F1 involvement with Footwork (F1 driver Aguri Suzuki); Discontinues Motorcycle development&production
1994 - MF351H V10 supplier for Lotus F1 (Lotus 109; F1 driver Alex Zanardi)
1996 - MF301H V10 supplier to Ligier F1 - win @ Monaco GP (F1 driver Olivier Panis)
1997 - MF301H V10 supplier to Prost F1
1998 - MF301H V10 supplier to Jordan - 1-2 finish @ Belgium (Spa) GP (Damon Hill & Ralf Schumacher); Mugen/Dome NSX in JGTC500 series
1999 - 3rd place Constructors Championship with Jordan

2000 - Honda announces F1 involvement, Mugen bows out, Honda supplies BAR and Jordan.
2001 - NSX: JGTC500 1-2-3 finish (Mugen; Mugen/Dome; ARTA/Mugen); MF408S 4L V8 development for ALMS & 24Hr LeMans
2002 - MF408 engine supplied to Panoz for ALMS
2003 - Hirotoshi Honda/Mugen involved in tax evasion scandal, found innocent but steps down as president; restructured as M-TEC.
2004 - Drop out of JGTC500; Competing in JGTC300
Also a bunch of Mugen-equipped cars developed along the way (S2000, Beat, Civic, Accord, NSX, CRX, CRV, Integra, RSX, Acura RL (Legend), Fit,
go-kart


etc..etc..etc...)

http://scumotor.twbbs.org:8080/gemmore/Cor...eed&F101JJTT&16
http://mugen125.tripod.com/mugenhistory.htm
http://rivals.net/default.asp?sid=856&p=2&StId=143610
http://www.kingmotorsports.com/t-about.aspx

 

2001-2002 Panoz LMP07
Images copyright Greg Cooper and Michael J. Fuller
Text copyright Michael J. Fuller
For the 2002 season the Multimatic Team bravely took the LMP07s off of Panoz's hands. They switched out the much maligned (and rightfully so the pundits say) Panoz 4.0 liter V8 in favor of the new Mugen 4.0 liter V8.
The Mugen's airbox is lower than the Panoz engined LMP07's. The airbox is forward of the engine rather than on top of it.





piloted by Milka Duno (the one on the right )

 

1979 Mugen 250 Works


A nice SCC article on the Mugen CRX and the Mugen Performance Centers with Honda back in the mid-80's

http://sportcompactcar.automotive.com/4671...x-dx/index.html




The man himself, Mr. Mugen (Hirotoshi Honda)



pic of Hirotoshi Honda at the trial where he was found not guilty of tax evasion of ~$28millionUSD. Mugen (company) was found guilty though, hence the purchase by M-TEC (owned by a relative of Soichiro Honda).


guy reminiscing about his meeting with Hiro in 1981: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt...640&sz=59&hl=en &start=8&tbnid=4_INRguOva9ZlM:&tbnh=103&tbnw=13 7&p rev=/images%3Fq%3Dhirotoshi%2Bhonda%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den

article by steve parker

"Mugen" is one of those words that, if you're speaking with someone about cars and use it in a sentence, and they recognize the name, then both people know that the other might really know what they're talking about. The Japanese word "mugen" translates into English as "without limit" or "unlimited power", so it's appropriate that what started out in 1973 as a Honda "tuning" shop, founded by Hirotoshi Honda, son of Honda founder Soichiro Honda, should now be known worldwide, in many different forms of racing.
Many people assume that Mugen is owned wholly or in part by "dad's company", but it has always been a company totally separate from Honda Motor Corporation, but naturally has very close ties with Honda. Since his father's death in 1991, Hirotoshi Honda has been the major shareholder in Honda Motors, adding to the confusion about "Who owns Mugen?"; Honda generally disdains taking on partners of any kind, so Mugen remains independent of the car- and engine-making business.
Now, if someone says "Mugen", you won't say "Gesundheit!" to them, because now, you're "in the know".
Quick story about Soichiro Honda: When he came to the US to see the then-new and still palatial American Honda headquarters campus in Torrance, CA, when Mr. Honda walked into the lobby for the first time, he went to the reception desk and asked the woman working there for a visitor's pass. A bunch of American Honda execs tried to steer him away as he was filling out the company's Visitor's Log and getting his pass and asked him why he was doing that. "This is American Honda," he said, "and here, I am a visitor". Talk about humility!

Mugen also tunes and races Honda vehicles in the Super GT championship, and sells aftermarket parts to we "amateur enthusiasts" around the world, by catalog and of course through the Web. Mugen parts can also be found at some auto parts stores in the US which specialize in the small, quick "tuner cars" which come from the US, Asia and Europe. There are many online discussion groups dedicated to Mugen parts and their care and feeding ... and price. Mugen was also a part of partnerships that won the Formula 3000 championship in 1990 and 1991, and that led to Mugen's involvement in F1 from 1992 to 1999, and up to 2005 Mugen the exclusive engine supplier to Formula Nippon, a Japan-based "spec" road racing series.





http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt...rt=17&tbnid=PAB u1prRFWncbM:&tbnh=63&tbnw=96&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dhirotoshi%2Bhonda%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den


BBC Sport Online: Motorsport

Tuesday, 7 November, 2000, 11:29 GMT
Mugen calls time on F1


Engine supplier Mugen Honda has announced that it is pulling out of Formula One.

The Japanese company, which has close links with Honda, will therefore end a nine-year spell in F1.
It supplied Jordan this year, but the Anglo-Irish team is switching to a supply of works Honda engines for 2001.
Honda has decided it does not want to split its effort between two different engine programmes, so it has called a halt to Mugen's involvement.



That decision is believed to have come against the wishes of Mugen Honda boss Hirotoshi Honda, a scion of the Honda family, who wanted to carry on in F1.
"Regrettably, we have decided to stop our F1 activity at the end of the season," Honda said.
Mugen's departure leaves the struggling Minardi team, which has yet to secure an engine deal for 2001, with one less option.
The Italian outfit, though, is expected to be rescued by a supply of the same Renault customer engines that were used in 2000 by Benetton and Arrows. The Renault engine, although comparatively outdated in F1 terms, would still be a major step forward compared to the customer Ford V10s that Minardi has used for the last two years.




The Mugen MR5 was, and still is, the rim to die for. It was the rim that had the streets talking, and if you

 

Nice Info!

 

very nice info

 

Awesome thread!!

 

that's a lot of history, thanx

 

wow thats awesoem!

 

cool mugen! they have a new 600rr and 1000rr mugen bikes. wish we can get them here.

 

this is awesome!!! thanks man!