Let me tell you a story about a company. A company that shined as bright as the sun… Taiyou. Taiyou made cars for the international market, much like the other Japanese car brands you know. Taiyou is romaji for “sun,” which is reflected in their slogan, “Taiyou no shita, subete ga kita!” In English, that means “Everything under the sun has come!” Taiyou wished to expand its market share, presence, and reach. It wanted to produce cars that were versatile and could handle anything. Unfortunately for them, the end of Japan’s bubble economy meant investment money dried up quickly. As they were pouring money into R&D for a new car model, they had little money to spend on keeping the base model Cinco relevant. The company shuttered in early 1994, just two years after it had launched the Cinco DRK.
Taiyou Corporation was formed on the outskirts of Chiba, Japan, in 1988. The sole founder, Takahiro Nakamura, was a renowned car mechanic enthralled with the tuning culture there at the time. After receiving investment money from an anonymous angel investor, Takahiro promptly started on his first design, the Cinco. The car was to be an affordable five-door design with a modest engine and a modest price tag. Only 100 1989 model-year Cincos were ever produced. Each one was hand-built by Nakamura and his small team of technicians. They sold well for such a small company, which led to more investment and growth.
By 1991, the company had tripled in size, now employing well over 100 people and narrowing its focus on budget-friendly rally cars for up-and-coming amateur teams. They still kept producing base model Cinco cars, but they became less relevant in the market as time went on. This was primarily because Nakamura, now CEO of Taiyou, bet the company on R&D for rally-focused models instead of the budget-friendly base model. Every model of Cinco produced from the model years 1989 to 1993 is virtually identical. No climate control, no radio or cassette player, no power windows, and no option for an automatic transmission. The company essentially made the cars as cheaply as they could, which meant utilizing overstock and discarded parts from other manufacturers, forgoing any creature comforts from the era, and essentially focusing on providing affordable transportation. Many experts think the lack of focus on cheaper cars, especially to differentiate smaller companies from large competitors already providing better features on similarly-priced models, led Taiyou and many other smaller companies to file for bankruptcy in the early 90s.
In any case, the R&D team, led by Nakamura himself, set out in early 1991 to design a car for amateur rally teams with little money to spare. They intended to create a set of parts that could be affixed to a base-model Cinco by the end-users, which would effectively make the cheap city car into something usable for off-road terrain. In the end, though, they decided that it would be easier to market the car if it was assembled from the factory with the upgrades installed. They called it the Cinco DRK, or Dynamic Rally Kit. This “kit” of parts helped to increase the engine performance to 240 HP, added more robust suspension, and removed excess weight from the interior. They also had a Race Day Ready version, which included factory-installed roll cages, racing seats, additional air intakes, and RF equipment. It was also tuned to make slightly more horsepower, although the difference in power was offset by the added weight.
The DRK was made available to international customers in late-1992 for USD $14,999, although import and shipping costs increased the cost significantly. The cracks in Taiyou’s misaligned focus were beginning to show, as sales were slow and the company was sinking into debt. Investors pointed out their significant losses on the DRK, which led to its discontinuation only 10 months after its launch in August 1993.
The collapse of the company followed quickly. Out of money and unable to attract new investment, the company laid off its entire workforce in November 1993 and filed for bankruptcy in the early part of 1994. The company was eventually liquidated, and the remaining stock of 1993 Cincos was consequently sold off. Penniless and humiliated, Nakamura sadly passed away in his Funabashi apartment in September 1995. The cause of death was determined to be a heart attack, partly due to Nakamura’s drug and alcohol abuse and also likely due in part to issues with chronic stress.
In reality, none of this is true. There was no company named Taiyou; this was an attempt at writing some fiction to go along with this piece.
In all seriousness, though, this is another attempt by me to create something realistic using Stable Diffusion. It’s still one of my favorite pieces and was inspired by my previous effort with Love Taste. I thought these pieces went well with some light historical fiction, although my writing chops probably aren’t as good as I’ve convinced myself they are. It took several hours to make the base image for this one as well, although the graphic design was pretty easy to slap on. I was inspired by the cover art for Splendor, a Casiopea single. Like all my work, this one is licensed into the public domain via CC0. You can find it and my other work at the portfolio link above.
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