The Story of the Real Devil Z, a Cursed Pantera, and the Missing NASCAR Engineer

I thought this was going to be a short video, but as I began to dig deeper into the inspiration behind the fictional Devil Z in Wangan Midnight, I found all kinds of connections to other equally incredible and mysterious stories I couldn't leave out. This journey begins in Japan with Wangan Midnight, ABR Hosoki S130z and Speedshop Shinohara, before taking us to Hawaii to introduce Gary Mitsunaga, then to Argentina and Italy to learn about Alejandro DeTomaso and his Pantera, back to Japan for Kunimitsu Takahashi, then across the seas again to the United States and the Bahamas to investigate the disappearance of Mario Rossi. It's a bit of a wild ride, but I hope you enjoy it!
A MASSIVE thank you to Auto Team Retro ( autoteamretro), nascarman ( / nascarmanhistory ) and The Sneak Podcast - (podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-sneak/id148774657) for their research on the topic.
Another HUGE thank you to HOME, Chris Doerkson, and Patricia Taxxon for allowing use of their incredible music.
HOME - We're Finally Landing
Chris Doerkson - Next in Line
HOME - Chicken Soup
HOME - Head First
HOME - I Will Forget
Patricia Taxxon - Wavetable

[@7orqu3]

the last few videos from this channel have been absolutely astounding. I have always knew of these stories but I can only imagine the stories in Japan that dont make it across the pond

[@HuntersMoon]

Thanks for the kind words! It's surprising to me how few stories are shared over here, hopefully we can uncover some more before they disappear!

[@matteightytwo]

My thoughts exactly, I've followed these myths and legends for years and hadn't heard this, thanks for bringing it up

[@XLA-zg1nn]

Same here I was reading about it all in High School. Me and some mates would all chip in together to make a "car" we put a STI Subaru engine into a Subaru Brumby(not sure if they made it to the US, think a mini Ute/tray truck) also a 1973 rx4 coupe with a 13b wanted a tripple rotor, but we were so poor, we were in Australia. Keep Up the Excellent work 🤘

[@nomoreheretics]

@@XLA-zg1nn the Brumby was sold as the Subaru BRAT in the US.

[@OversteerAllDay]

@@XLA-zg1nn hell yeah dude, only an Australian would do something as crazy as we would here in BaldEagleville!

[@nathanaelpaskal7293]

Finally, the Mitsunaga Pantera story was brought back to life! It was a story rarely told by even the Japanese but lately, I saw mitsunaga Pantera's story started being told by one of the Japanese KZbinrs too, I used to research the story through the blog and most of them are very old. And Also a bit of a fun fact, the journalist was a famous Japanese car writer called reiichiro fukuno, he was the one who wrote the article about Mitsunaga Pantera highway run story, second fun fact, it was an early de Tomaso Pantera chassis 0009. The record was written at js tipo magazine issue 1992, andI think it was rarely told because it could make Japanese tuning world in danger, especially during the tomei street racing that's why the article is 10 years apart from the crash

[@sigmakage4705]

Journalist > the skyline girl from wangan midnight

[@JB-sv5pr]

It trips me out cuz I know a couple mitsunagas in Hawaii I need to dig deep and find Gary’s family ! I love this story so much culture

[@caylumhenderson9396]

Some of those nascar story’s are pretty crazy from what I’ve heard most of it being in the 70s and 80s but hey i guess it did start from prohibition.. still even more wild it barley ties into the wangan and those speedtrials goin on at at the time THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THESE VIDEOS!!!

[@arinb.756]

a lot of Japanese racing got its start from Americans. I think that back in the postwar years, there were many people in Japan, e.g. Americans stationed overseas, who had bought over their cars and raced. Hell, Carol Shelby had a 2000GT that he raced, if i remember right. JDM culture has been greatly influenced by the old muscle car culture.

[@pierce324]

Nascar is wild, I’ve worked in nascar this last summer, it doesn’t get the credit it deserves because there’s so much cheating no one ever knows about. The lengths these teams go to to get a minuscule head up on each other is crazy.

[@oneidawolf776]

Yup nascar and bootlegging. A very cool topic to check out!

[@chrisg.3902]

Amazing content. Please never change your style. Tasteful knowledge and rich history. You’re doing gods work with presenting and keeping these stories alive. This is one of the best car enthusiast channels I’ve hit created by an independent uploader. This is the stuff that reminds me why I’m in love with the automotive world. Thank you for your content. Cheers 🍻

[@HuntersMoon]

Thanks Chris, that means a lot! Cheers 🍻

[@chrisg.3902]

@@HuntersMoon absolutely brotha!

[@chrisg.3902]

@@HuntersMoon absolutely brotha!

[@flaviobbq]

Amen! So glad to know that other out there with deep live to automotive

[@TheMostSmokeCrew]

Thanks for the cool story

[@NO-ge6ci]

Imagine having highly modified De tomaso Pantera in Japan back in the day when even nowadays classic muscle is not that common there

[@lector-dogmatixsicarii1537]

Everyone would have been NOPEing out the second it turned over if it sounded anything like the 3rd generation Cup cars. I can imagine that sound on the street is nothing they are used to in Japan. That's like 600-700hp probably, all go, no turbo lag, no electronic cockblock metering, run for days at speed in the early 80's where the Porsches were actually still true rear-engine and deadly with 300 something tuned HP, lmao.

[@amr1t_]

@@lector-dogmatixsicarii1537 I think that's a car you build/buy knowing you're probably gonna die in that thing

[@lector-dogmatixsicarii1537]

@@amr1t_ You build it to live, because the goal is to die contented.

[@mayuravirus6134]

And more expensive too just to keep it on the road they do have gas guzzler law but idk how big of an engine displacement that you to pay a premium tax

[@darkj3di336]

I remember seeing this Pantera in Japan in the late 80’s at a meet.

[@SunnySideGarage]

KEEP UP THE INCREDIBLE VIDS!!! We absolutely love playing this in our garage, the Import roots, American tie ins, and etc it's all Great story telling! Can't wait to see what else is in store - Much love from abuncha import racing guys from West Texas.

[@sebyakka5260]

@@Robloxislaggy_official_account🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑

[@speedhunter7156]

Honestly I didn't think of Mario Rossi and Nascar having a connection to the devil Z then again muscle was famous at Yatanabe so I guess there may have been more to the American motorsports helping Japanese go fast

[@Racecarlock]

Criminal activity, fortune, fast cars, man, these stories have it all! Keep em' coming!

[@KineticRhyme]

man, I'd be surprised too if I was a man running from law and finding out that one random engine I made for a japanese customer ended up being one of the fastest legends on the street

[@kmydet]

the 3.1l stroker kit wasn't done by hosoki, but rather a speed shop from the 80s called ekibasha. they also were the ones responsible for the 4 vents in the hood.

[@Kevinthemoplik]

The legend is back!

[@HuntersMoon]

That was fast! I took your advice and upgraded from the old headset mic - I still have a lot to learn about audio though haha

[@fastlanegaming]

Enjoying your fresh content, the road to 100K will be easy if you keep on pushing 👍🏾🔥

[@mr.cangieter8758]

This is the type of content that the KZbin automotive history community needs. Keep this up and you'll be surpassing Donut Media in no time.

[@djtroopers]

I appreciate these videos covering interesting stories of Japan's Car Culture, the amount of effort and research done is incredible. These videos along with binging Wangan Midnight, Video Option and Shuto Kousoku reignited my interest in old school Japan's Car Culture.

[@Superbayfactory]

As all the other comments have already stated, you are doing an amazing service for all us automotive enthusiasts with these carefully crafted videos. I am thrilled at the growth and recognition your channel is getting. Very well deserved friend! Keep em coming :D

[@Grumpini]

One of the best channels on youtube rn

[@61936]

Man people really keep forgetting how awesome 80s japan car scene was

[@ducedevlstear2471]

Forgetting ? 😀 Dude, this is forbidden knowledge for the westerners.

[@matthew_natividad]

@@ducedevlstear2471 all the more enticing

[@flaviobbq]

Japan’s scene is still hot. Just watch Best Motoring

[@goosebee]

80s in general was really an awesome decade for cars, don't forget, crazy group b rally monsters and f1 cars over 1200hp!

[@ducedevlstear2471]

@@goosebee... Group C & the best Motorcycling Grand Prix era ever.

[@hvnd9740]

Hey man,love your vids!I was just wondering,maybe someday in the future you can make a video about SCOOT sports?Those guys creatd one of the best RX7 kits and made a 4-rotor rotary out of two 12As,yet almost nobody knows about them haha

[@HuntersMoon]

Thanks! I've never heard of that but I'll be sure to look into it, sounds really interesting!

[@61936]

@@HuntersMoon look up wangan run with Chiba kun there’s a red 700hp rx7 with a t51r that’s built by scoot sports at 10:43 - 17:10

[@Skooby59]

I really appreciate the deep dives into mythical cars and car folk lore you do. It’s almost like the manga and animes are real. Looking forward to whatever you do next

[@Yo-ic2go]

Your channel continues to grow :) and omg I love wangan midnight

[@Twenty5thHour]

Crazy enough I saw 2 Datsun Z’s in the week before I saw this video

[@VetteComp]

If these last few videos are the inception of the summoning salt of Car history, then I am incredibly, unequivocally, excitedly, ok with this.

[@LukemDakuwa]

Mario Rossi is portrayed as an italian man racing in microsoft's Forza motorsport series, he's rather famous among the community and known for being hotheaded.

[@CobnutVTS]

this channel is absolutely mind blowing, thank you so much for putting your time and effort into creating this masterpiece!

[@markreyes4627]

Love the deep dive. Topics that I've been so into for such a long time with facts that are so interesting and the turn of events...just wow! Keep up the great work!!!

[@Danno_87]

I truly enjoy and appreciate these history videos. Keep them coming!

[@Runningnthe90s]

I am 100% confident this channel will end up providing you with a good life and fulfilling your automotive passion. So under rated

[@enes38com53]

This channel has become one of my favorites with these kind of videos. Finally somebody that is telling these stories in such a entertaining way. Now i have to watch the videos of your projects. Keep up the work!!!

[@stiffygoats5337]

I haven’t even watched this video but the last few I have and I just want to say you keep up what you’re making and I promise you will get big I love stories like these I’ve gotten a closer connection to car history over the last year or so learning about all these mysterious and barely known cars and historic tales from channels like this and I never get tired of them keep up the good work!!

[@mazdarodi]

Hey, whatever you do, don't stop making these great videos.... you seem to have a real knack for getting deep into these real life stories and mysteries that most of us did not know existed. Keep up the good detective work! It's awesome!

[@schlamm8951]

You’ve become one of my favourite channels , thanks for the videos keep um coming!

[@SlowlysModels]

Another brilliant video, thanks for all the effort you've been putting in to share these stories!

[@25thAnnv]

I love your stories. I have extreme depression and have two modified cars that my father and I built together that do not run right now. Your stories help me feel some love and nostalgia again for the car world and how others persevere.

[@markfitzurka9995]

Another great video I had no idea I I was going to enjoy as much as I did. Just shows your amazing ability to tell a great story.

[@johnxina2140]

Always wanted automotive versions of these storytelling style videos, you're fantastically good at it too! I hope you keep the inspiration to keep going! Also robbo is a legend lol

[@OGDemonburn]

The amount of info in this is astounding, well done. Good research and well edited.

[@josefgordon7712]

One of my favorite game series ever is Tokyo Xtreme Racer. Growing up I had no idea it had actual real life inspiration but just loved the setting, cars, and entertaining gang bios.

[@secretsquirrel726]

Everyone who has ever owned a seventies z car experiences the possession of it by a demon at one time or another.

[@Dream25_]

I don't really understand how you did it, or why I've just found this channel within the last few days but this is literally the greatest content on KZbin, I genuinely don't know what could be better than your videos imo.

[@huntrr1816]

Your narrative skills are amazing, it's kinda like your reading us a bedtime story😅😂

[@Escapeyo]

Underrated chanel, love the tone, storytelling & rythm, keep going !

[@choppyswag]

Great videos as usual, killing it!

[@shadowzkrillex140]

mom wake up hunter’s moon just uploaded

[@racer6583]

Well you finally got me to subscribe after watching this vid. I went and watched the time attack and two things got me you had two of my favorite tuners in Japan ABR and Jun. Your research, content, and presentation are outstanding!!!!!!!!!

[@aplong1911]

Absolutely love the content on this channel, great work!!!!!!

[@ducedevlstear2471]

Hey, could you do a video on Kobayashi san of MCR ? Amazing content 🎩👌🏻

[@romanolahom7692]

You really struck a chord with us car enthusiasts with your videos hope to see more of your awesome videos about car culture keep it up man !!!!!

[@generacionmarttin]

Really good video and lots of inside info that's not really out there for the public, I guess you have your sources. Some more info here. I lived in Japan for some time and personally worked for, let's call him, Mister O. Mr. O was at the top of the street racing and Yatabe trials back in the day, one of the very first to tune and turbo an S130Z. He's "gang" were all big guns like Hosoki, Amemiya san, Daijiro Inada, and some others, including Gary Mistunaga. Funny story, they were the mentors and senpais of the then new founded Mid Night. Gary and Mr O were very close friends and they would usually ran the C1 and stop at the Shibuya parking, back when there were no PA's as we know them today. Never knew Gary's Pantera engine came already tuned from overseas, but I knew Hosoki did a lot of prep and work on the car (I have even hold on my hands the Hosoki Engineering Pantera sticker, probably the only spare in the world that's left). Mr O told me about the crash, apparently they would ran racing slick tires on the road, and you know what happens when it rains. Guesses are Gary tried to drive on the rain with the slick and crashed into a pole, killing him. Since that day the group decided to never ran slick tires on the road, and after that some other very basic and common sense civil norms to drive safe on the roads. Another important note that I have never seen anyone talk about, Mid Night S130Z was never the first ABR kitted Z. This goes back to actually, again, Mr O. He was then tuning his S130Z and realized the car needed heavy aero moddifications to hit high speed. He and Hosoki started the works on the kit and based it on the Fuji GC cars (Grand Championship), they were race cars similar to Grand Am, built to hit 300 km/h on the main straight of Fuji. You can actually see similarities on the ABR kit and those cars. Another shop included in the mix was Moon Craft, they were a racing team and lent the cars to Hosoki so he would analize them. Long story short, Hosoki built a prototype, an actual matte black S130Z, NA engine, they used it for wind testing (on the roads of course). Second ever build, with the final kit, was Mr. O car. Mr O S130Z was white with a pink lower half, and a special ABR wing that I have never seen mounted on another car. Originally built for the Yatabe drag races, it was then turbo'd and switched to the new popular top speed challenge. I think he never made it to 300/h, need to check my notes, but the car was fast and stable. After some years of trials Mr. O swtiched to a Porsche and started his own bussiness, wich still stands today and is one of the few back bones of Japanese tuning. I'm gratefull I worked there and met legends along the way. About the Wangan Midnight manga, I think Michiharu based the "Devil Z" on different real life cars and stories. One think I confirmed is Michiharu actually based most of the cars and characters on real life counterparts, even to minor characters and secondary stories. He was a street racer too and would meet a lot of people and heard lots of stories, and that's what made him draw the manga. Anoher possibility is, the Devil Z is a carry over from his previus work, Shakotan Boogie, where there's a highly modified S30Z G-nose with a twin turbo L engine making around 600 HP. They then swap that engine into a secondary character named Jun, who races a Hakosuka. Again, high probably based on real life stories.

[@alexwilk99]

Thanks for sharing this!

[@arinb.756]

awesome info! I've been trying to collect information on the Yatabe era of racing in Japan and it's really cool to see stuff like this come to light.

[@gravygraves5112]

Dude, if that's all legit then that is one badass set of stories to share with people! Man, the whole racing scene from the 60s to the 90s seems so wild and neat compared to today!

[@HuntersMoon]

Wow, thank you so much for sharing all of this! This fills in a lot of gaps - I had no idea Michiharu did some racing of his own either!

[@kmydet]

who's mister o?? i'd assume you're talking about okawa but it doesn't sound like him. a lot of things here don't make sense. (nvm, a few days later i have realized you are talking about the owner of the abr drag car through a friend of mine) that crash theory is definitely plausible but for sure not the entirety of the truth, since nobody knows what really happened. all the witnesses stories were contradicting eachother. another thing, i doubt that c1 part since racing on the loop wasn't very popular until way later. tomei route was the place to race back then. as you said, yamada's zx wasn't the first. there were multiple before such as the hks one that appeared at excite auto show 1985 (yamada's ekibasha spec s130 was also at the event) and like you said, the abr drag one (although, the car was a demo car for abr, not privately owned like you said). afaik, the car was never na. it had the hood vent for a reason, you can even see a bulge for the piping routing over the valvecover (the valvecover was also a turbo valvecover, meaning it was a turbo model). there's actually a picture with yamada and the drag car next to eachother, which i assume is the event that convinced yamada to kit his. there may've been others before, but there are the two i can remember off of the top of my head. that matte black z thing sounds like bs. the closest thing i can think of is a grey turbo z, which was just the abr demo car before it was painted white and pink. i don't see how hosoki took styling cues from fuji gc cars back then. the closest thing i saw was the fender which wasn't even that close to begin with. also, the wing on abrs 3 tone s130 (the white and pink drag car) looks like one from a north american 280ZXR. apologies for bad formatting, i am awful at this kinda stuff

[@eleum1400]

by far the most interesting content on youtube, great job as always.

[@agentminerchuan007]

Always love the indepth details and research from this channel

[@Myles_gs]

Yo for real, thank you for making these videos. I love learning about automotive history! keep it up!

[@shagirani5518]

As expected, you outdid yourself again. Perfection 👌👌

[@bradleybergstrom123]

These history videos have all been fantastic! This is easily my favorite KZbin channel rn!

[@HuntersMoon]

Thanks Bradley!

[@meizerone4135]

Amazing video as always!! Can't wait for the next one

[@DJRS9045]

the amount of information in your videos is insane, keep it up

[@PenguinSpies]

Hunter is out here making the greatest vids in the KZbin car scene

[@Macelroy]

Dude your channel is so underrated with amazing video quality, keep up the good work man!

[@josiahalexanderdeleon2524]

THANK YOU for creating this channel!!!

[@SMSinger91]

When I see you upload these days I get the uncontrollable urge to inject your videos straight into my veins. Keep up the great work, these videos are extremely enjoyable!

[@GoldenRetrevFam]

Wow, amazing video with even greater research to back it. Truly amazing 👏

[@VanWolf]

Reality overcomes fiction, this video just kept getting better and better further down the rabbit hole it went. Incredible work

[@maxshowstack]

Been loving the videos that u have been putting out, would love to see more, pls keep them coming

[@Silentwitness1978]

These stories are fascinating. Thanks for all the effort mate.

[@jasoncarter-solomon6186]

Love your videos!!! So informative and nostalgic!!! I’m here for all of it!

[@jackbower8671]

Absolutely love this channel! So much knowledge gained here

[@HuntersMoon]

Thanks Jack!

[@lachlancampbell3538]

Keep it coming mate! Can’t wait to hear more stories these are great 👍👍

[@donblub]

the channel is growing not because of us, but because you do such great work, that what gets people to watch, share, like and donate.

[@DirtyBeans]

Ok. So i just found your channel and i absolutely love it! Keep up the great work!

[@nymphohunter7783]

Loved your mid night and 911 videos but this was just f**king awesome man keep up the good work

[@juusto7171]

babe wake up, a new hunter's moon video is out

[@shadowgear8666]

been waiting for your next video, glad to finally see it. keep up the amazing essays dude i love it

[@leonm6969]

These past weeks all the videos are great!

[@calebirwin1808]

There's so many connections I never knew existed although not directly, like carol shelby, nascar, midnight club, and the devil z,

[@benjaminthompson5025]

This is your best one yet, so good. I hope you keep making these.

[@Bobbie_1999]

Great video, really enjoy these deep dives into car history

[@mattoattacko]

Randomly found your content and I gotta say, you're doing excellent work. Can't wait to see what comes up next. You might consider telling the story of Drift Session in Hawaii (first major drift events in the USA) or the origin of Texas 2K (when it was just a Supra meet). Other interesting topics could include the history of Option Video or Bosozoku culture.

[@fordtindleton6057]

you need more credit man these videos are incredible

[@jamesrountree3991]

Moooooore please!! You are a great storyteller, it's fresh but simple Great vidz

[@skythundersky1544]

Love your videos dude. Keep doing what you do

[@williamhopkins7224]

I only recently started watching these, but I would like to say that your videos are very interesting, exploring some interesting, lesser known corners of the automotive world. Keep it up!

[@idelevitch]

This channel deserves more subscribers! Thank you for content like this.

[@tomcruz3774]

Holy shit this is so fucking cool. Proof that real life is stranger than fiction.

[@beesnipes]

What a great video, honestly I appreciate and respect all of the effort that this took. You've earned a new subscriber, hope to see more like this!

[@MinionInc]

Your story telling is awesome brother! Love your videos man.

[@TVD1984]

I'm so happy to have found your channel. Love it, keep up the good work!

[@ron_rgr]

You're doing an incredible job sir, thank you for sharing this with us 🙏

[@jonathancastellino6707]

Again, phenomenal work. The Devil Z story has an electricity and ghost-like energy to it. Like you, I am not really superstitious -- but with the Devil Z, I am 'a little stitious' ; )

[@marantzfury3024]

Love the videos. Commentary is engaging and the footage and history lesson is amazing. Please make more like the time attack, The midnight Porsche. Maybe a full wangan or of Japanese tuners like TOP FUEL, SIGNAL AUTO, RE AMEMIYA. 🙏🏻

[@TayTheDay]

I'm so glad I found your channel. This is incredible content! 👏👏

[@HuntersMoon]

Thanks Tay!

[@karelpgbr]

I just stumbled across this channel. Wow! This is really good!

[@tmaddison7523]

Brilliant brilliant video, again! I've shared it with an Anime group I'm in. More of this kind of thing please, keep up the great work!

[@edwarktwelve6257]

Been waiting for this

[@questorio]

70 seconds in and I can tell that your content is amazing. Keep at it dude!

[@ahmeterenispir8362]

Damn, it's really high quality content right there. I'm glad I got suggested this video and subscribed instantly

[@zachariahdarpelli629]

absolutely loving the content...tysm :)

[@utkarshkaushik617]

Dude a big thanksssss for this video this was sooo good your presentation and research you do just soo good thanks again and it's soo mesmerizing to see how while writing the manga they took soo many cues from real life people they were really dedicated towards this manga

[@navneeth.r7683]

Man, I love your videos and how you narrate them! Keep them going buddy!

[@HuntersMoon]

Thanks Navneeth!

[@FCT8306onTwoWheels]

Wow, the connections between everyone is wild. I really liked this one, phew. Great stuff

[@whalehands4779]

I just found this channel and I've fell in love. As far as the video, I love the cross culture that was going on with the American cars in Japan. How a nascar engine made its way onto the streets of Japan.

[@mikemiguel1336]

Got me with the last two Videos....Keep going. thanks for the time i can spend on that (and u did of course) ^^