Hamamatsu

Hamamatsu is a Japanese company, known for their incredible commercial vehicles, bikes and engines, being one of the biggest suppliers in the world, as well for creating the kei class of car in Japan.

History

Hamamatsu Motors is part of the Hamamatsu keiretsu, a conglomerate of multiple companies from multiple industry sectors under the same name. Founded in 1946 in Hamamatsu, it uses the region’s namesake to establish its name. The founder Minato Yoshira, however, loved cars since he was little and worked as a mechanic before establishing the company. The first company Minato made was called Yoshira Sekai, an engine parts company, which lost contracts as their quality wasn’t as good, initially. Several years later, the small company was able to turn it around, securing many contracts, including with another Japanese giant, Koromo.

During the second World War, Yoshira Sekai had been seized by the Japanese government, leading Minato to get contacts with Koromo and several other companies, as the company continued to work on engines for war machines, including planes. Yoshira Sekai started to deal with making proper engines after this and Minato eventually created a new company called Hamamatsu, once the war was over, absorbing all the staff from Yoshira Sekai.

The first commercially successful engine and vehicle by the company was made in 1949, in a new class of car that would be incredibly popular in Japan, the kei car. Despite being newcomers, the company managed to sell over 1500 vehicles.

From there, the company took off like wildfire, creating more and more engines, and vehicles equipped with said engines. From kei trucks to full blown sedans, Hamamatsu expanded their lineup over the years with many successful vehicles, including the Reindeer, Habit, Torrent, Moral, and many others. In addition to vehicles, Hamamatsu continued to expand their portfolio over the years, making Motorcycles since 1955, being the largest company in Japan to do so to this day. Other areas include regular powertools, regular car engines for other companies, robots and even mountain bikes.

The company had lots of successes selling engines to all types of companies, but nothing was as successful as powering the incredible 1987 to 1991 Formula A seasons, where Hamamatsu-powered Formula A cars took the win in both Drivers and Constructors’ championships. This led to the creation of the FormulaR vehicle, in 1992.

After feeling the pressure from Fusehiro and other international markets, the company took steps to address them, released new cars and made changes to the existing line-up, making the company more profitable in the long term.

Hamamatsu is no stranger with partnerships, and during its years, it fostered an incredible amount of relationships with car makers and others, including Koromo, Itashi, Hyades, Embager and many more.

During late 2024 to early 2025, Itashi decided to sell part of the company to Hamamatsu. During the talks about integration, Hamamatsu wanted to outright buy Itashi but many company executives rejected the idea, and the BIF Group also disliked this notion. In early 2025, Hamamatsu ended their side of the deal unilaterally, citing that the ‘BIF Group was making it difficult for discussions to occur’.

KR

KR stands for Kogane Rikimaru, the surname of the two designers of the FormulaR, released in 1992, Jin Kogane and Mako Rikimaru. This was the first official proper established factory tuned label for the company and continues to be available in their cars to this day.

Featured Vehicles

Common

Habit GEN6 KR (1999)

The sixth-generation Habit was produced from 1995 to 2000. Introduced as a hatchback, it became a highly sought vehicle for its simple and powerful design. It became an instant classic and in 1999, Hamamatsu refreshed its visuals with new features, like a CD player and air conditioning. It was sold only in Japan. A highly popular car, it was factory tuned and released as the GEN6 KR, which includes a 1.6L inline-4 naturally aspirated engine with one of the highest power outputs per liter ever for a NA engine.

Powering this JDM monster is the aforementioned 1.6L inline-4 engine with a 5-speed manual transmission in a FF configuration.

Habit GEN11 KR (2023)

The eleventh-generation Habit launched in 2021, and in 2023, the company released an updated version of the vehicle, carrying the factory tuned KR nameplate. Despite demands from the public, Hamamatsu has kept a FF configuration and canceled the other styles, making it available only in a hatchback/liftback version.

Powering the new Habit KR is an engine from the prior last generation, a 2.0L turbocharged inline-4 with a 6-speed manual transmission in a FF configuration.

FormulaR GEN1 KR (1997)

The 1997 facelift of the FormulaR, released in 1992, which was coined by two designers named Jin Kogane and Mako Rikimaru. This facelift carries their surname initials as a proper established factory tuned option for the FormulaR, after a limited run during 1992 and 1995. The car was carefully designed to be a super sports car and had many testings done over a year, ensuring that the car’s balance and weight were just right for any sport car owner. Notably, it had the Brazilian Formula A Champion Raimundo Torre giving out pointers on how the car should handle and Hamamatsu listened to his feedback, making the car a particular standout between sport cars.

A new take on a classic, the FormulaR GEN1 KR carries a 3.1L V6 engine with a 5-speed manual transmission in a RMR configuration.

Reindeer GEN3 (1987)

From a glance, there’s nothing remarkable about the Reindeer GEN3, that is until you look closely. It is the first vehicle ever produced with a mechanical four-wheel steering, being a complete standout from other models, even from luxury car brands like Marcolini and Elina, beating their cars in a simple shalom test. This version is the pre-facelift one that came out in Japan.

Powering this vehicle is a completely serviceable 2.0L inline-4 with a 5-speed manual transmission and a FF layout.

Unique

CoffeeCup Habit GEN6 KR (2000)

The CoffeeCup team got their hands on a Habit GEN6 KR and tuned it so much that it became a monster on the road, managing to make the engine’s redline go up to 11000 RPM. Why go with 10 if you can go to 11 after all.

VAST Habit GEN 6 KR (2004)

VAST, a custom tuning company for Hamamatsu and also owned by them, got their hands on a Habit GEN6 KR and also did their work on it, making it the slickest hot hatch you can find out there.

Reindeer GEN3 VAST Mark II (1991)

VAST, a custom tuning company for Hamamatsu and also owned by them, got their hands on a Reindeer GEN3 facelifted. The company’s incredibly slick looking style was added to the Reindeer, making it even better than before. The VAST Mark II also comes tuned for better performance with its 2.0L engine.