Many manufacturers have made production based track cars, some of which even come straight off the assembly line. But what would happen is an OEM engineering department was given a clean sheet of paper? Honda basically did this when they were looking for a car for their racing school at Suzuka and the result is the Side-By-Side.

I absolutely love this car as it is everything a Honda track car should be. The side-by-side layout displays the expected Honda innovation and minimalism that is stifled by consumer demands in even the Type-R models, but is more apparent in Honda’s motorcycle division. Apparently fit and finish is amazing and the car is easy to drive and maintain. This car means more to me than Honda’s IRL involvement or the Element-D because it isn’t just an engineering excercise, it’s a clear statement about Honda’s identity.

KTM has produced what is arguably a very similar car, the X-Bow I favor the Suzuki Hayabusa. No, not that Hayabusa, the Hayabusa Prototype. Suzuki made a Star Mazda-eque series called Formula Hayabusa and according to their website, “everybody started saying ‘Wouldn’t be great if we can drive this kind of car on the road?’” I love this car because it too is a clean sheet design, but with the added stipulation that it could be driven on the street. Perhaps more manufacturers should do projects like this instead of putting resources into competing in restrictive race classes or creating uninspired one-make series.