CUSCO is a Japanese automotive parts company, specializing in car suspension parts. They are most famous for their coilover suspensions, and are a large presence in the Japanese automotive aftermarket in the domestic Japanese market and around the globe.

A notable product of CUSCO is the "E-CON", a coilover suspension set with electronically controlled dampers.

Cusco sponsored a high performance, RWD mid-engined two-door version of the Subaru WRX STI for professional racing.

Company Information

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CUSCO Japan is an automotive company that was started in December 1977. As stated above it is a company specializing in car parts specifically suspension and coilover kits. Its company name is actually Carrosser Co. Ltd with Cusco being one of four brands. The four brands are as follows: Cusco, Vacanza, Carrosser, and Safety21. The President of Operations is Tsutomu Nagase and they are a considerably small company, with only 45 active members as of 2011. They have a capital of 10 Million Yen (roughly 100,000 USD).[1]

Foreign Expansion and Auto History

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Cusco have had a history of providing parts for Rallycross races, and even having a Rallycross car represent them in a race.[1] An example would be when they sponsored Subaru. Carrosser is actually the only brand in Japan that has participated in all of the events at the All Japanese Championships.

Brands

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The company is divided into 4 separate brands each having a purpose to the company. These brands are Cusco, Vacanza, Carrosser, and Safety21. Each brand plays a part in manufacturing and selling parts for a type of car. Some parts are tested on the track in racing events, and all products are tested in the laboratory.

Cusco

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Cusco is the main brand, responsible for selling generic and racing gears.

Vacanza

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Vacanza manufactures coilover kits and parts for minivans, SUVs (Sports Utility Vehicles), and station wagons. Designed by Carrosser.[1]

Carrosser

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The design philosophy of both Cusco and Vacanza lie in the Carrosser brand. Given authority from the JAF (Japanese Automotive Federation) Carrosser is the competition brand of the company. They participate in all the races of the All Japan Championship, and have gotten sponsorship from Japanese automaker Subaru

Safety21

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This brand is specifically put into place to manufacture the safety equipment in performance cars. This includes roll cages, bars and guards. They are place through extensive tests both in the laboratory and on the track, to provide the best body and rigidity,[1]

Super GT/JGTC

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From 1997 until 2008, Cusco Racing participated in the GT300 class of JGTC (renamed Super GT in 2005) with a Subaru Impreza WRX STI. Cusco Racing made their JGTC debut at the 1997 season finale at Sugo.[2]

in the GT300 class, the team achieved four pole positions and three race wins, one of which in 2008 saw the Subaru Impreza become the first AWD vehicle to take victory in the championships history.[3]

Complete JGTC Results

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Car Tyres Class No. Drivers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Pos Pts
1997 Subaru Impreza Y GT300 77   Katsuo Kobayashi
  Naohiro Furuya
SUZ FUJ SEN FUJ MIN SUG
Ret
NC1 NC2 NC 0
1998 Subaru Impreza Y GT300 77   Katsuo Kobayashi
  Hideyuki Tamamoto
SUZ
8
FUJ
C
SEN
Ret
FUJ
17
MOT
1
MIN
Ret
SUG
12
NC1
Ret
10th 23
1999 Subaru Impreza Y GT300 77   Katsuo Kobayashi
  Tatsuya Tanigawa
SUZ
Ret
FUJ
NC
SUG
4
MIN
8
FUJ
18
OKA
3
MOT
6
NC1
1
8th 31
2000 Subaru Impreza Y GT300 77   Katsuo Kobayashi
  Tatsuya Tanigawa
MOT
DNA
FUJ
4
SUG
3
NC1
4
FUJ
5
OKA
Ret
MIN
6
SUZ
Ret
7th 36
2001 Subaru Impreza Y GT300 77   Katsuo Kobayashi
  Tatsuya Tanigawa
OKA
2
FUJ
Ret
SUG
3
NC1
2
FUJ
10
MOT
6
SUZ
Ret
MIN
Ret
8th 34
2002 Subaru Impreza Y GT300 77   Katsuo Kobayashi
  Tatsuya Tanigawa
OKA
7
FUJ
6
SUG
2
SEP
16
FUJ
5
MOT
2
MIN
7
SUZ
Ret
7th 53
2003 Subaru Impreza Y GT300 77   Katsuo Kobayashi
  Tatsuya Tanigawa
OKA
10
FUJ
Ret
SUG
6
FUJ
24
FUJ
19
MOT
Ret
AUT
9
SUZ
Ret
14th 10
2004 Subaru Impreza Y GT300 77   Katsuo Kobayashi
  Tatsuya Tanigawa
OKA
14
SUG
12
SEP
18
TOK
6
MOT
11
AUT
3
SUZ
11
NC1
3
NC2
Ret
9th 17

Note: Non-championship races (NC) do not count towards the championship

Complete Super GT results

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year[4] Car No. Tyres Class Drivers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Pos Points
2005 Subaru Impreza 77 Y GT300   Katsuo Kobayashi
  Tatsuya Tanigawa
OKA
12
FUJ
21
SEP
10
SUG
11
MOT
13
FUJ
9
AUT
Ret
SUZ
13
14th 3
2006 Subaru Impreza WRX STI 77 Y GT300   Katsuo Kobayashi
  Tatsuya Tanigawa
  Yasushi Kikuchi
SUZ OKA FUJ SEP SUG
Ret
SUZ MOT
7
AUT
9
FUJ
11
20th 6
2007 Subaru Impreza WRX STI 77 D GT300   Tetsuya Yamano
  Takayuki Aoki
SUZ
21
OKA
13
FUJ
Ret
SEP
5
SUG
Ret
SUZ
Ret
MOT
11
AUT
14
FUJ
11
18th 17
2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STI 77 D GT300   Tetsuya Yamano
  Kota Sasaki
  Carlo van Dam
SUZ
6
OKA
3
FUJ
18
SEP
1
SUG
14
SUZ
17
MOT
14
AUT
6
FUJ
3
6th 71

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "About Us". Cusco. Archived from the original on September 19, 2017. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
  2. ^ "Subaru in Super GT: The Story So Far | dailysportscar.com". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved August 20, 2022.
  3. ^ Hsu, Ben (December 28, 2017). "MOTORSPORT: A brief history of Cusco Racing". Japanese Nostalgic Car. Retrieved August 20, 2022.
  4. ^ "SUPERGT.net | Race Archive". supergt.net. Retrieved August 22, 2022.