There have been many outrageous concept cars over the years. While some have become the greatest Supercar History has forgotten many more as the world went on without them. The Yamaha OX99-11 is one such car.
While the automotive world probably knows Yamaha best for its fantastic motorcycles, the company made the decision in the early 1990s to dip its toes into the world of exotic supercars. Working with International Automotive Design (IAD), a UK engineering firm, what Yamaha created was bizarre and ephemeral, but incredibly fast.
The Japanese company has pulled out all the stops with the OX99-11. The commitment to madness must have only become apparent when the original design of a German company that Yamaha had signed up was dismissed as too boring, not extraordinary, and too similar to the cars on the market. The OX99-11 had to be on the other side; Yamaha insisted on nothing less. IAD was brought in to ensure the outcome was like nothing else on the street.
One look at the UFO-inspired design showed that it was going to be something completely unique, but the Japanese concept car was too radical to be successful.
The OX99-11 was a street car built around an F1 engine
Via: Wikimedia
The idea for the OX99-11 began to germinate in 1989 when Yamaha entered Formula 1. Although the vast majority of F1 teams have always been based in the UK, Japanese brands have tried their hand at the sport over the years. Some, like Toyota, have used teams, but the most successful example is Honda’s involvement as an engine maker for teams like McLaren. Yamaha followed in these footsteps and began designing and building engines for the German Zakspeed team.
Over the next few years, Yamaha supplied engines for Brabham, Jordan, Tyrrell and Arrows. Although no Yamaha powered car has ever won a race, the company’s engineers believed that the OX99 engine, a 3.5 liter V12, the 1991 OX99 of the Brabham BT60Y and the 1992 Jordan 192 ( see figure above) were promising.
The decision was made to use this engine as the centerpiece of a new production supercar that gave birth to the OX99-11 and gave it its name. The supercar would borrow from F1 technology even with the use of a state-of-the-art carbon fiber chassis. In the cockpit, a racing seat, racing steering wheel, bare carbon fiber, and a complete lack of comfort drove the F1-inspired design of the OX99-11 home.
All of this made the car easy too. Aluminum body panels also helped reduce weight. According to Motor1, the Yamaha had a curb weight of just 2,540 pounds, which is about 300 pounds lighter than the modern Ferrari F40 and roughly the weight of the McLaren F1, which came out a year after the OX99-11 project began.
While the Yamaha engine was set to around 400 hp instead of around 550 hp, the OX99-11 still delivered an impressive power-to-weight ratio of 315 hp / ton.
The Yamaha looked like it came from space
Via: Wikimedia
Styling is an important part of any supercar, and Yamaha knew the OX99-11 would need a look that matched its performance. IAD has created a design that is completely alien both inside and out. The car was radically bubbly, with almost no straight lines, and the cockpit was a small capsule in the middle, much like the McLaren F1. The passenger seat was placed directly behind it in an arrangement more like an F-18 fighter plane than a street car.
Access to the interior was via a canopy door. Almost never used on a production car, but occasionally gracing concept cars such as the Ferrari Modulo and the Maserati Birdcage designed by Pininfarina, this design lifts the roof of the car up and forward to allow entry.
The OX99-11 doomed itself for being too radical
While IAD created most of these design elements, most of the innovation appears to have come from Yamaha itself. The tandem seating arrangement, for example, was the idea of the Japanese company. Unfortunately, Yamaha’s demands for an increasingly fancy car quickly drove the price up. Due to differences of opinion about the vehicle budget, the project was taken out of the hands of IAD and transferred to that of Ypsilon Technology.
Ypsilon, who was responsible for Yamaha’s F1 efforts, was given an impossible deadline to complete the car. When that time passed without creating a finished product, the OX99-11 project was delayed. The new timeline was targeted for a debut in 1994, but that never happened.
As Motor Trend notes, the OX99-11 was conceived when the Japanese economy was booming and supercars like the Honda NSX, Mitsubishi 3000GT, and Subaru SVX poured out of the country. By 1994, however, the bubble had burst. Yamaha didn’t have the money to spend on supercar projects, and the chance that many people would buy supercars for $ 800,000 (nearly $ 2 million in 2021, adjusted for inflation) was slim.
The OX99-11 project was canceled. Only three models were built, one in green, one in black and one in red. The Yamaha supercar, which entered the history books, disappeared from the public eye. But while it never had a chance to shine, it still lives on as one of the most incredible, inconvenient, and amazing cars ever designed.
About the author
James Chadwell
(30 articles published)
James Chadwell is a writer from New Jersey. His love for cars dates back to when his father let him shift gears from the passenger seat of his M3. Now James’ daily driver is a 1974 TVR 2500M. A fan of the Chicago and British blues, he listens to and plays music when not writing about cars or driving cars.
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