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Hiromu Naruse (成瀬弘, Naruse Hiromu) (1942 – 23 June 2010 [1]) was the Japanese [2] chief test driver and chief test engineer of Toyota Motor Corporation and chief of the Gazoo Racing team. [3] Naruse had been a test driver for the Toyota team for 47 years (1963–2010). He was also noted as the chief test driver of the Lexus LFA supercar.
- Test driver
- 23 June 2010 (aged 67–68), Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
- 1942, Japan
Aug 5, 2017 · It was midmorning on June 23, 2010, and Toyota’s most senior test driver had just completed another lap of the Nürburgring in a Lexus LFA. In his 47 years at the company, Hiromu Naruse had ...
Jun 25, 2010 · At around 10am on June 23, Toyota's chief test driver Hiromu Naruse was killed in a traffic accident while evaluating an LFA on public roads near the Nurburgring. We send our sincerest condolences ...
Jul 13, 2023 · Hiromu Naruse always dreamed of beating the Europeans, and his obsessive work on the Lexus LFA made it a reality. A little over 13 years ago, Toyota’s chief test driver, Hiromu Naruse had just wrapped up yet another test session at the famed Nurburgring behind the wheel of a Lexus LFA Nurburgring Edition.
- 9 Raised in A Farming Community
- 8 A Certified Mechanic
- 7 Helped Create Japan’s First Supercar
- 6 Participated in Building Toyota’s 1st Custom-Built Racer
- 5 Japanese Driver with The Most Nürburgring Miles
- 4 Immensely Versatile
- 3 Critical to The Development of Lexus LFA
- 2 Never Stopped Driving
- 1 Died at 66
- GeneratedCaptionsTabForHeroSec
The youngest of four children, Hiromu Naruse was born on July 18, 1942. Subsequently, he was raised in Ikeda town, a sparingly populated farming community located in Gifu Prefecture, around a mountain range in the central part of Honshu, Japan. Naruse lost his father in World War II, prompting his mother to relocate the family to Ikeda. Naruse woul...
Best known for his test-driving exploits with Toyota, Hiromu Naruse was however employed into the automotive company as a certified auto mechanic in 1963. Upon his arrival at Toyota, Naruse was temporarily drafted to the company’s Vehicle Evaluation and Engineering Division. Also, being a math guru with a level-2 abacus certificate to show for it, ...
Produced from 1967 to 1970, the amazing Toyota 2000GT is widely considered Japan’s first-ever supercar. Designed by Toyota in partnership with Yamaha, the 2000GT is a limited-production front mid-engine grand tourer that changed the world’s poor perception of JDM, which was hitherto seen as having an imitative approach to production. Among other ac...
Having excelled in his role as a Toyota mechanic, Naruse was then promoted to the role of chief mechanic. There, he also helped developed the Toyota 7. Notably, the Toyota 7 was quite a significant project for the company, as it was the first of the company’s custom-built racing car projects. Built in partnership with Yamaha Motor Corporation, the ...
Considered as one of the most iconic circuits in the world, the Nürburgring is a 150,000 capacity motorsports complex situated in Nürburg town, Germany. Notably, Naruse also left his mark on the track as he logged more miles on the iconic German racetrack than any other Japanese driver, even to date. The Nürburgring track has the very long Nordschl...
Naruse was quite versatile with cars. He was a specialist in almost all areas of a car’s development. During his time at Toyota, he worked on so many cars, he became highly revered for his automotive engineering prowess and mechanical acumen. Naruse could efficiently handle several parts of a car that include the powertrain, suspension, wheels, and...
The Lexus LFA was a legacy project that Naruse channeled all his expertise, intending to make it the best Toyota production car of that era. Toyota also gave Naruse free reigns in developing the car,making it the first time such duty was assigned to a Master Test Driver in the company. With the project finally completed, Naruse however felt more pe...
Naruse never stopped driving. Even at 66, he continued his tradition of driving through the mountains in his home area with his wife riding shotgun, all in a bid to sharpen his driving skills during his off days. Away from his home, Naruse would most times be found conducting road tests on the autobahn. He was revered by all in the industry. Even F...
The LFA Nürburgring Package is the circuit-tuned variant of the LFA, and it references the same setup adopted in the LFA race cars at the 24 Hours Nürburgring. Working extensively on producing the car, Naruse drove the prototype severally on-road tests at the Nürburgring. However, on the afternoon of 23 June 2010, Naruse crashed his prototype durin...
Learn about the life and achievements of Hiromu Naruse, a legendary Toyota test driver who helped develop some of the most iconic Toyota cars ever made, such as the 2000GT, the Toyota 7, and the Lexus LFA. Discover how he became a certified mechanic, a racing driver, and a master of automotive engineering.
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Hiromu Naruse was the Japanese chief test driver and chief test engineer of Toyota Motor Corporation and chief of the Gazoo Racing team. Naruse had been a test driver for the Toyota team for 47 years (1963–2010). He was also noted as the chief test driver of the Lexus LFA supercar. During his time at Toyota, Naruse became known by the nickname "Meister", and colleagues at Ferrari called him ...
Jun 24, 2010 · The automotive world was rocked June 23, 2010, as news spread about the death of Hiromu Naruse, Toyota’s 67-year-old designer and master test driver. Naruse was in Germany testing a prototype of ...
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