The live-action version of a very famous car from a famous manga !?

There have been many car-themed manga drawn. Among them, “Wangan Midnight” is a very famous manga set in the Tokyo metropolitan area. The main character’s Fairlady Z car was just as popular as the Porsche 911 Turbo (930). Here is its live-action version.

“Wangan Midnight” attracted car lovers

The Porsche 911 Turbo (930) introduced here is the machine used as the Blackbird in the live-action V-cinema version of “Wangan Midnight”. The name of the owner of this machine is Mr. Daisuke Kanno. He was one of the people who experienced the highest speed on the Bayshore at the Metropolitan Expressway on Saturday nights during the height of the 1990s.

Mr. Kanno, who loved vehicles and was crazy about tuned cars, used to go to the Metropolitan Expressway in search of tuned cars. There, he encountered a team of racing drivers who were considered legendary at the time. That was “Midnight.

The Porsche 911 Turbo (930) driven by the team’s representative radiated an incredible aura, and it was obvious at first glance that it had tremendous potential. Mr. Kanno was captivated by this overwhelming aura and fell in love with the Porsche 911 Turbo at first sight.

At the time, Mr. Kanno was still a student, and purchasing a Porsche was just a dream. So, while attending university for four years, he worked part-time jobs to gradually accumulate money, and finally, at the age of 22, he purchased his dream Porsche 911 Turbo as a brand new car. That was 34 years ago.

After purchasing the Porsche 911 Turbo, he spent some time enjoying driving it around on road trips, but Mr. Kanno is also a driver. The Porsche he admired was the favorite car of the representative of Team Midnight, so he gradually shifted his focus toward driving and escalated his tuning. He started tuning the car as the fastest Porsche on the Gulf Coast.

Tuned to the fastest specifications in the Gulf

As a fully tuned machine with Gulf Coast specifications, the tuning applied to run faster than anyone else was to increase the engine to 3.3 liters and install a big turbine + huge intercooler to extract 600 hp of power.

But now, the tuning has been taken even further, with the displacement souped up to 3.4L, port polishing, a high cam setup, a one-off exhaust manifold, and a BorgWarner S300SXE turbine installed. All controls are controlled by Motec for precision control, and the engine is set up for not only peak power but also response at the startup.

Also, along with the installation of the tuned engine, modifications were made to the suspension. Originally, the 911 Turbo’s suspension used a torsion bar suspension with an unusual structure. However, this limited the range of suspension settings, so the suspension was changed to a general coilover type for more flexibility. As a result, the suspension chosen was a set of Enerpetal shocks and Hyperco springs. The body was also reinforced, and spot reinforcements were applied to the entire body.

Chosen as the car for the movie play

As for the exterior, the TBK front bumper, commonly known as the “Wangan Spoiler,” is set. The rear bumper is also made by TBK, and the wing has a Berg installed. Also, although it is not obvious at a glance, the roof was designed with a carbon roof.

Mr. Kanno’s car, which he built to get closer to the Porsche 911 Turbo of Midnight’s representative, which he had been longing for. At the time, the “Wangan Midnight” manga was just becoming known to the world.

The machine that became the motif for the Brag Bird that appears in the manga was the Porsche 911 Turbo of the Midnight representative.

So why was Mr. Kanno’s car chosen as the live-action version of the Blackbird over that car?　There is a reason for this. The body color of the Midnight Representative 911 Turbo, which served as the motif for the Blackbird, was maroon. And Mr. Kanno’s car was all black.

In addition, a staff member of the film production company happened to see Mr. Kanno’s car driving on the Metropolitan Expressway and felt that this was the Blackbird, which led to his nomination.

The vehicle that was created to be the favorite car of the person he admired, who became the motif of the Blackbird, was adopted as the Blackbird in the film. It is a very strange story.

Mr. Kanno said, “My Porsche is just a coincidence, but I feel that it is a mysterious car that attracts various connections in many ways.”

Nowadays, it is called “Blackbird” among his Porsche friends.