Jiotto Caspita: Японский суперкар "F1 на дороге"

The Jiotto Caspita is a prototype mid engine sports car designed and manufactured by Dome in 1989. The car was billed as the "F1 on the Road." The original design of the car was done by Kunihisa Ito, who was the vice president and chief designer of Jiotto Design Incorporated. Its name is derived from the Italian exclamation "caspita".

The Caspita was the brainchild of Wacoal president Yoshikata Tsukamoto and Dome president Minoru Hayashi. A joint venture between the two companies was formed in July 1988 by the name of Jiotto Inc. (60% held by Wacoal and 40% held by DOME) to design and build the car. The engineering was entrusted to Dome, while the newly incorporated Jiotto Design studio was tasked with designing the car. The Mk. I Caspita is currently on display at the Motorcar Museum of Japan in Komatsu, whilst the Mk. II remains in possession of Dome and sits in their museum below the wind tunnel at their headquarters.

The car had a sleek and aerodynamic body design inspired by Group C race cars. it could accelerate the car to 100 km/h from a standstill in 4.7 seconds. After the failure of Subaru's F1 effort, the 1235 was abandoned, leaving Jiotto without an engine supplier. The Mk. II used a Judd GV V10 engine, with which it was capable of at 10,500 rpm and of torque at 10,500 rpm. This, combined with a curb weight of between and , gave the Caspita a claimed 0 100 km/h acceleration time of 3.4 seconds. Both engines were longitudinally mounted and coupled to a 6 speed gearbox built by Weismann.

The Caspita had a bonded aluminium and carbon fibre monocoque chassis made by Mitsubishi Rayon Co., Ltd. The construction technique involved sandwiching aluminium between layers of carbon fibre and curing them in an autoclave to create a rigid structure. The process was repeated 15 times over a span of more than 2 months. This technique resulted in a kerb weight of for the Mk. I Caspita. Accessed via two gull wing doors, the Caspita's red and black interior was driver focused and spartan in nature, with no air conditioning, cruise control, or other such driver amenities. Like its Tokyo Motor Show contemporaries the Mitsubishi HSR II and Isuzu 4200R, the Caspita employed advanced technology for the time, such as an electronically retractable rear wing and an electronically controlled adjustable suspension system which could raise the car by .

0 4.7 secondsTop speedPower to weight ratio per metric ton

Suspension typeIndependent coil sprung double wishbone with anti roll bars (front and rear)Brake typeVentilated discSteering typeRack and pinionTransmission type6 speed manualTop gear ratio1.00Final drive ratio3.75

0 3.4 seconds (claimed)Top speedPower to weight ratio per metric ton

Suspension typeIndependent coil sprung double wishbone with anti roll bars (front and rear)Brake typeVentilated discSteering typeRack and pinionTransmission type6 speed manualTop gear ratio1.00Final drive ratio3.75