“The name: It’s plural of mine. I thought ‘Mine’s’ would be better than answering, ‘Niikura’. I designed the logo myself. I like simple and cool designs. I like simple cool designs, that’s why my cars aren’t always decked out. ”
You may or may not know the name Niikura Michizo, but you definitely know the name Mine’s. Born in 1952 in Hayama, Japan, Michizo is the man responsible for the Japanese tuning house that has developed some of the fastest GT-Rs in the world. Niikura-san’s long love of the GT-R began in his teens when his father gave him a hand-me-down Skylinenice dad, huh? His first new car was a Celica GT-S.
While in high school he maintained a huge interest in motorbikes as well as cars. It was at Isho College that he’d further develop into a forward-thinking engineer and tuner. Almost right after college Michizo joined Bridgestone and there he remained for 12 years, moonlighting the last few years to start up Mine’s. Rather than blowing the money on sake and women, he wisely invested his earnings at Bridgestone to buy the necessary equipment to make sure that his shop...