Japan's Forgotten Supercar

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In early 1975, Minoru Hayashi established Kabushiki Gaisha Dōmu. Dōmu literally translates to “child’s dream.” And considering Hayashi’s end goal, it was an appropriate name. Race car construction might not have been in the cars, but perhaps he might have better luck with road vehicles. He and his team set out to develop, build, and sell their very own model: the Zero.
Dome started in a section of the Hayashi Racing headquarters. There was a blood bond between the two firms. Minoru’s cousin Shoichi established the company, which built its own race cars and even fielded a team at the time. It was probably known for its iconic wheels, though.
Minoru Hayashi had years of experience designing race machines, but creating a production car came with its own unique challenges. A Hemmings article has an excerpt from the series A Quiet Greatness: Japan’s Most Astonishing Automobiles for the Collector and Enthusiast. One passage details some of the roadblocks that the team encountered, which included creating the bodywork itself, crafting the massive front screen, and ironing out the bugs in the retractable headlights.
Hayashi and his team had wrapped development up by 1978, but the trials were far from over. Now they’d have to display the Zero in front of thousands of showgoers in Geneva. Dome’s fate was now in the hands of the public. So how did they take to it? Quite well, in fact. There weren’t too many other high-profile debuts at this show as far as I could tell, so the Zero had much of the spotlight to itself. The company also received 20 preorders on the spot. This would give the emerging automaker an early boost, provided that the certification process went well.
SOURCES
www.barchetta.co/dome-zero-sources
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 INTRO/KARASU
2:47 OTHER EARLY CARS
3:56 DOME ZERO DEVELOPMENT
6:01 DESIGN OVERVIEW
9:08 GENEVA MOTOR SHOW DEBUT
11:12 DOME ZERO P-II
13:31 ROAD AND TRACK FIRST IMPRESSIONS
15:48 DOME ZERO RL/OTHER RACE CARS

[@natecollins9331]

Thank you, Grand Turismo 4, for introducing this car .

[@reggielavoie5048]

The retro digital gauge panel is the coolest looking even today.

[@joshuavance1472]

ID4 has one available with various presets similar to things like the S2000, and whatnot. Not sure how customizable they are.

[@bicyclelife7088]

I had a die-cast pullback toy of this car in the 80's as a child. It was a really cool looking car.

[@laune6614]

Me too, I loved it.

[@tiagomonteiro2678]

It was one of my favorites as well.

[@este_marco]

there's an appearance of this as a toy car in the new anime "overtake"

[@Bucketroo]

The Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles has a Dome-0, a white one, and it's a beauty. I have a special love for Wedgemobiles. It's no wonder the Imperial Star Destroyer is my favorite Star Wars ship.

[@user-en9zo2ol4z]

I was going to say, 'Gandini', a beautiful car in my eyes. Each element works perfectly with the next. Rarely are graphics so effectively used.

[@user-en9zo2ol4z]

What a great story. People often don't think of the power to weight ratio, yet here we see an excellent example of what can be achieved. This principle can still apply to Lotus sports cars.

[@hellionus]

This car should return to Gran Turismo series.

[@peterl3165]

Fantastic video very informative thank you for all your hard work making it

[@Barchetta]

Thank you

[@17713bb]

I have a fond memory of sitting in the prototype at AutoExpo back when. Difficult to impossible as I am quite tall. Rather sure that I still have a brochure somewhere.

[@careymilicich]

I was recently given a vintage lime green 1:39 scale pull back diecast model of this Dome-0, it seems to be in the collection you showed. Thank you for providing the history of this model, very interesting.

[@user-en9zo2ol4z]

Kyoto seems an ideal location for a break, recalling how it was given a reprieve from being listed among the possible Atom Bomb sites to choose from, as a General had his honeymoon there. A strange world we have.

[@MrMadvillan]

“they needed to but a race car but their budget was only $27.“

[@Margarinetaylorgrease]

That 1 man in the UK being on time was a miracle

[@xiaoka]

thanks for including the shots driving in Kyoto before they tore out the street cars. 😢

[@TheEnderBand]

kind of reminds me of a hybrid of the Lancia Stratos and the Stratos HF Zero concept car but with a cool angular Japanese flair- Totally awesome looking

[@toddaulner5393]

Same name hmmm

[@TheEnderBand]

@@toddaulner5393 the stratos hf zero was a concept car that preceded the production stratos, so that's why the name scheme was the same

[@stevie-ray2020]

Thinking exactly the same thing! However, I'm certain that both Lancia Stratos cars predated Minoru Hayashi's prototype.

[@fluffy-puffy-puppy]

Wow what a gem of a channel. Your descriptive and long form documentaries are great to listen before bed 😁 Keep up the good work 🤩

[@christhompson2006]

14:36 An even cooler time machine.

[@AnnatarTheMaia]

I had a Dome Zero car toy. Mine was painted Pink for some reason.

[@MyILoveMinecraft]

Another beautiful piece. Tho i wonder when barchetta does a video on the fiat barchetta, had alot of interesting stuff going on in the background

[@apocalypticweasel9078]

88mph they were onto something there the exact speed for temporal displacement all they needed was a flux capacitor every time traveller knows 88 is the key speed for time travel

[@andrewh2u]

Thr Dome P-1 is the exemplar for design expression, whilst the following models are a compromise which do not work aesthetically. Amazing effort from a small team!

[@Jdmking-kp1mu]

Japan doesn't often make supercars but whenever they do, they seriously cook.

[@802Garage]

Looks way cooler than a Cybertruck.

[@DavidSmith-gx5mu]

Reminds of the Aston Martin bulldog

[@sigmaprojects]

I think the P2 rear bumper looks better than the original.

[@PimpinBassie2]

Looks a lot like the Lancia Stratos 0...

[@onetireonfire2777]

Wow what a great story!

[@ninjamoto21]

This cat was available on auto modellista and the jiotto caspita

[@synodontisman]

How'd you get the DOME font?

[@danielescobar7618]

Its very cute. Not a door-stop. Its a door-go.

[@milescarter7803]

They can sue the garden tractor companies for stealing their wheel design for their weighted wheels 😂

[@jamesengland7461]

Quite the impressive car built on a shoestring! They should've moved construction to the UK, which has rules quite favorable to small constructors.

[@ivanhustuft9687]

as example Tommy Kaira did with the zz & Tom`s do with the Angel TT-1 😊

[@princesssolace4337]

The test track looks very familiar to me

[@Rom3_29]

2nd model looks cool, event with 2x4 plank like bumpers. Better then Lambo Countch with “safety” bumpers.

[@rjung_ch]

11:10 when regulations stifle innovation and on occasion destroy new companies with great ideas. On the other hand, the Tesla Cybertruck will never be sold in Europe because it lacks any kind of pedestrian safety whatsoever. In the late 70's that wasn't (yet) the case. Fun fact, there still isn't any law in the US that wants to keep pedestrians safe, it still doesn't exist. The US bumper regulations sure made it look ugly, like it did with most European cars of the time. Racing is so hard, they had more than bad luck as well. Thanks for this nice one! 👍💪✌

[@las10plagas]

nooo, this can't be! two weeks ago I got this car in Gran Turismo 5, but I never used it, since it wasn't better than my other cars in that class. yesterday, I used it in B-Spec mode (which I never play) for the fiirst time and today this video get's recommended to me 😨they are watching me 😋

[@philstpier3495]

No mention of Hotrod from Transformers G1?

[@rastaturistoo]

italdesign shigera vibes

[@toddaulner5393]

Would have looked like the Vector if it did not have that rear side window.

[@AwardWVP]

One of my favorite channels 🎉

[@Barchetta]

Thanks for watching

[@brentedwards8949]

I have one of these in my garage right now...... In Gran turismo... 😂😂😂😮😮😮😊😊😊

[@mikabreto]

It’s fucking rad

[@MrMightyZ]

Great video. I wish all content creators had such good annunciation and pronunciation, flowing, strong and clear. Excellent work all around👍

[@TheCharlesAtoz]

Great channel.

[@Barchetta]

Much appreciated

[@mikabreto]

The toy company’s name? Modelo

[@Andoniscars]

dome

[@Barchetta]

dome

[@TheEnderBand]

gettin' dome in the rental

[@KingstonTV334]

S2000 anyone?

[@Barchetta]

Definitely in the future!

[@0PsychosisMedia0]

Had one, great car but it was not perfect. Honestly my old 92 Mr2 NA T-top was always back in my mind. I really miss that car.

[@princesssolace4337]

Nah ..... the modern day safety requirement gonna fcuk u up

[@gregnm369]

Had 2x of them. Loved them!!

[@Baran_Doban]

It says FORGOTTEN, not every third jdm post

[@akademiacybersowa]

Capitan Daimos?

[@napalmholocaust9093]

"Adding lightness" is the opposite of removing weight.

[@noscwoh1]

With the same result. A distinction without a difference.

[@carwashadamcooper1538]

No, they are exactly the same thing. Logic is not easy for you, eh?

[@Shit_Shooter]

@@carwashadamcooper1538 yikes shots fired! It's not unreasonable to say that you're both wrong. But are you both not correct?

[@Shit_Shooter]

@@carwashadamcooper1538 they're definitely not exactly the same thing you goofball. "Adding lightness" simply is an extremely clumsy and robotic way to say removing weight.

[@virgilvansoest2151]

Looks like the alfa

[@ronnyspanneveld8110]

Yeah very original :P Its not like it looks like an "Lancia Stratos Zero" from 1970 :P even the name LOL. Or the iconic "Lancia Stratos"

[@Mexmex1975]

Michael Jackson's car.

[@user-ib5mx8ro4k]

This guy’s lisp is thick…

[@SanitoraOtaku]

Lol. Where did you do you reseach? This is why the internet sucks. All your info is wrong. Minaru is great, but don't confuse him with the other "hayasi's"

[@lucasrem]

Why should DATSUN parties sell a supercar ? only sell some ? they can only do cheap cars, small margins ! Marketing !

[@jamesgeorge4874]

Pretty sure the GTR isn't a small margin car.

[@SanitoraOtaku]

The more i watch this video, the more bullshit i hear....

[@Shit_Shooter]

i'm about halfway through watching it right now. When it's over i'm going to see if I can find where the transcript for this video was taken from...because it really feels like a lazy copy and paste by someone who doesn't know very much about cars.

[@Shit_Shooter]

"the front bumper doesn't carry the angular momentum of the bodywork"

[@KingstonTV334]

First

[@azynkron]

Come on, it's not a super car because it looks like one. Super cars are all about performance. Usually they look spectacular as well, but that's not what it is about.

[@philipwilliams3427]

This is where the NSX and S660 got their styling from😎

[@DavidB-rx3km]

It wasn't popular because it looked shite, and is only known because it was in Gran Turismo. I do like it, but if this was designed in France, Italy or England, people would have laughed at it and called it a disaster and tacky, it just looks like a boy designed his own Countach. Look at the tiny space called a door, come on now.

[@jeremymtc]

Garbage clickbait "documentary".

[@toddaulner5393]

Not sure why you think that.

[@Sauceyjames]

Is this AI generated channel? Never hear the creator mess up with his voice...

[@xraider927]

Garbage? Know your damn place, pal!

[@Pandamasque]

@@Sauceyjames It's called audio editing.