You may not recognize his name, but you will surely know many of the projects he supervised while working at Pininfarina, such as the Ferrari 599, Mitsubishi Colt CZC, Maserati Birdcage 75th, Ferrari P4/5 and the Enzo Ferrari. His name is Ken Okuyama and since 2006, he runs a design firm bearing his name.
At the Tokyo Motor Show, Ken Okuyama Design presented a new lightweight sports coupe named the Kode9. Think of it as Japan’s “speed racer” flavored answer to the Lotus Elise.
Okuyama says that the Kode9 is part race car, part sports car that employs “stunning but simple proportions and a driving experience to rival some of today’s greatest sports cars”
“This is my message to today’s car industry which seems stuck in a rut of overly complicated lines and styling based on the lowest-common-denominator,” says Okuyama.
The 4,140mm long street-legal sports coupe incorporates the central section of a hydro-aluminum chassis with unique front and rear sections developed in house, and tips the scales at just 890kg (1,962 pounds).
Power is provided from a 2.0-liter engine sourced from an unspecified Japanese carmaker, upgraded with an HKS Supercharger to produce 316hp (320PS). No word on pricing or availability yet.
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