Contessa first Japanese car to taste victory overseas

0 0 April 08, 2026 Edit this post

by Bill Buys

MISSION Bell rings a few memories, especially in the US, where it could refer to two quite different things.

It was a song by Donnie Brooks that made the US charts back in 1960, and Mission Bell 100 was also a motor race that put a neat but totally unknown little Japanese coupe in the limelight.

It was a Hino Contessa, the first Japanese car to win a race outside its home country.

The Contessa was the only car built by Hino Motors, a company that started life in 1910 as Tokyo Gas and Electric -- a supplier of natural gas that moved into vehicle production in 1917 with its TGE trucks.

After WWII, during which the company built half-tracks and armoured personnel carriers for the Japanese Army, it pivoted to heavy-duty commercial vehicles and made a foray into passenger cars, building Renaults under licence.

The Contessa was produced in two distinct series in the 1960s,

First came the Contessa 900, sold alongside the Hino Briska, a small ute, in 1961.

Three years later, the Contessa was revamped, making a striking appearance in a body designed by Giovanni Michellotti, who also designed many classics, including a variety of Alfa Romeos, Lancias, Ferraris, Maseratis, the Triumph Spitfire and the Alpine A110,

Much prettier than the rather angular little 900, the second configuration of the Contessa was also more muscular.

The 26kW 893cc inline-four of the 900 was gone, replaced by a twin-carb 1300cc inline-four that made as much as 48kW in the coupe.

Then the Contessa had a moment of international fame thanks to famed American designer and race car driver Pete Brock.

After racing a Hino Contessa 900 in various SCCA events across California, Brock tested a 1300 at Fuji Speedway.

Brock Racing Enterprises was born when Hino agreed to run a two-car effort in the United States.

The breakout moment for the program — and for Brock — came at Riverside International Raceway in October, 1966.

Hagerty’s Thom Taylor wrote this in 2019:

"The 1966 Riverside Times Mirror Grand Prix offered lots of press — and a larger purse than winning a Formula 1 race.

"The event attracted all the big drivers and teams, like Stirling Moss and Phil Hill, and with trick cars, it was a big, big race.

"As its opening event before Sunday’s Grand Prix, Cal Club created the Mission Bell 100 for ‘run-what-you-brung’ hooligan sedans in the under 2.0-litre category.

"An 80,000-plus strong contingent of spectators was slack-jawed when Brock’s Contessas finished one and two.

"No one had heard of Hino, and suddenly they’re elevated to international status because of this race,” Brock said.

As the first Japanese nameplate to earn a win outside of its home country, the Contessa hinted at Japan’s potential to dominate global motorsports and Brock’s Contessas signalled that Japanese sports cars were on the rise.

Brock later turned his attention to Datsuns, and became synonymous with that nameplate’s success in US racing.

That winning car, driven by Pete Brock, recently came up for auction and was offered on Hagerty Marketplace as a right-hand drive example imported to the US from Japan in 2019.

The white-over-black coupe had a few aftermarket touches, including the gold wheels and an Ansa exhaust system.

The rear-mounted, 1251cc (GR100) inline-four with dual 40mm Mikuni side-draft carburetters drives the rear wheels through a four-speed manual transaxle.

Pete Brock signed the glovebox lid.

The seller described it as “light, rev-happy, and uniquely charismatic.”

It looked so good, and with its racing history and Pete Brock’s autograph as a bonus, it was almost certain to attract some serious buyers.

Alas, it seems that great 1-2 finish at Riverside in October, 1966, was long forgotten and the new breed of enthusiast had (again) never heard of a Hino.

So the auction ended with a disappointing top bid of $12,500 – about AU$18,000.

The owner wisely decided his lovely little coupe was worth a lot more.

So, with no sound from the Mission Bell, he drove it home again.