Solved: Wendax 2704 - Rikuo Type 98

[Wendax]

Quite a short wheelbase.

For one point, please respond and identify this car.

[Wendax]

up

[Fёdor]

Kurogane

[Wendax]

No

[Mogul]

chineese?

[Wendax]

No

[Mogul]

Then it must be Japaneese....

[Wendax]

Yes

[Mogul]

Kurogane Type 95

[Wendax]

Still not a Kurogane, despite the similar looks.

[Mogul]

Pre Kurogane, the Nippon Internal Combustion Machine version?

[kwgibbs]

Datsun?

[Wendax]

Twice no

[kwgibbs]

was it a little-known brand made in limited number,s?

[Wendax]

was it a little-known brand made in limited number,s?

Yes, I think it was their only car.

Pre Kurogane, the Nippon Internal Combustion Machine version?

Having had a closer look, I see that the main part of the company name is right (except for the Nippon) and there is a connection to Kurogane.
Locked for Mogul to have a go at the company name I have.

[Mogul]

This is what I have as a translation from Japanees: "Kurogane four rise is the official name ninety-five type small passenger car. It was founded in 1959 by Mr. Tetsuji Makita, a founder and engineer of the automaker Nippon Internal Combustion Machine in Tokyo"

[Mogul]

I also have this company: Shiroko of Toyokawa. Understanding Japaneese with Google translator in not evident....

[Wendax]

Not the name I am looking for. Locked for one more try.

[Mogul]

 "Japan internal combustion engine (now ·Nissan Machinery) "

[Wendax]

No, unlocked and open for all experts again

[Mogul]

I don't know what your source is, I found the picture (bonnet with louvres) on a Japaneese website, this is the translation of the text related to the picture:

A small four-wheel drive car "Japan's first four-wheel drive car" developed at the beginning of the Showa era in the world was found miraculously almost in its original shape at a car repair shop in Kyoto city, and Shizuoka obtained the vehicle Prefectural Gotemba city NPO corporation began activities such as exhibition and donation aiming for restoration. The NPO corporation says, "Japan's valuable technical heritage, I definitely want to restore and run again."

Kurogane four rise is the official name "ninety-five type small passenger car". It was founded in 1959 by Mr. Tetsuji Makita, a founder and engineer of the automaker "Nippon Internal Combustion Machine" in Tokyo. Approximately 4,500 units were produced in about 10 years until the end of the Second World War, and used as a military car in the former army and navy army.

"Four-rise" is four-wheel drive, said that it required extremely advanced technology at the time. Mass production of compact cars was the first in the world in the world, and was born approximately 6 years earlier than "Bantam BRC" made in the United States, which is the original form of the famous small four-wheel drive car "Jeep".

There are only three vehicles that have been confirmed to exist in the world so far, only one late model of the track type remaining in the Japanese automobile museum in Ishikawa Prefecture in Japan. The fourth car found this time is extremely valuable in the early type of passenger car type.

[gte4289]

From what I can gather, this is the "Type 98 Small Passenger Car" or "Rikuo Kei-4-Ki." It was an experimental vehicle (smaller than the Type 95 Kurogane) and only five examples were produced.

[gte4289]

I forgot to mention that, at the time, the manufacturer's name would have been "Nihon Nainenki Seizō KK," which could be translated to either "Nippon Internal Combustion Engine Company Ltd." or "Japan Internal Combustion Engine Company Ltd."

[Wendax]

It is in fact the Rikuo Type 98, not the Kurogane Type 95. So the point goes to gte4289. I had the company name as Rikuo Internal Combustion Company 陸王 (Rikuō Nainenki Kabushiki kaisha).

[gte4289]

I had the company name as Rikuo Internal Combustion Company 陸王 (Rikuō Nainenki Kabushiki kaisha).

The problem is that all of these companies were subsidiaries of other companies and, not only were mergers and name changes frequent, but the manufacturer of a product was often switched from one company (or subsidiary) to another.

Rikuo Nainenki (a subsidiary of larger companies) was a licensed manufacturer of Harley-Davidson motorcycles branded as "Rikuo." Nihon Nainenki (later renamed Tokyu Kogyo Kurogane) was the manufacturer of the type 95 Kurogane and other military vehicles. Nihon Nainenki took over production of Rikuo motorcycles during the war, so the Type 95 Kurogane and the Rikuo motorcycle were both being manufactured by Nihon Nainenki at that time. And the Type 98 Rikuo is obviously a smaller version of the Type 95 Kurogane. Even so, I cannot say for certain which company actually produced the five Type 98 Rikuo military vehicles.