Shinichi Yamazaki

A Toyota product-planning engineer responsible for chassis and suspension in Project 280A, the 2000GT programme.

Project 280A began on 1 November 1964 after Toyota's defeat at the second Japanese Grand Prix, according to GAZOO. Toyota Automobile Museum describes the 2000GT effort as a small team rather than a conventional collective programme, naming Jiro Kono as project leader, Satoru Nozaki for design, Hidetaka Takagi for engine work and Yamazaki for chassis.

From mid-January 1965, GAZOO reports, Nozaki, Yamazaki and Takagi worked Tuesday through Friday in Yamaha's design office; the drawings were finished by the end of April. Yamaha identifies Yamazaki as responsible for chassis and suspension and says he was one of four Toyota product-planning men temporarily stationed there. The first prototype was completed in August and a second was shown at the October Tokyo Motor Show.

Yamaha's history describes the frame as an X-shaped steel backbone and the selected suspension as four-wheel independent with disc brakes. Toyota Automobile Museum specifies double wishbones front and rear and rack-and-pinion steering, linking the wishbones to manoeuvrability and ride comfort. A Nostalgic Hero account of the Yatabe trial says that, after a clutch failure during preparation, Yamazaki had a different clutch disc ready at Toyota's Sotoyama plant.