Nagata-san
Smoookkeeeyyyyy, one of a few names in the auto industry that I like to hear about, but a guy that I would think twice before getting in a car with him.
Top Secret was started by Kazuhiko “Smokey” Nagata in……..yes its really hard to find this answer, but I came up with a solution. Smokey seems to be a very soft spoken man and gets right to the point when talking about the work he does. His love for cars started while working at a family farm, then continued on when he began working for Greddy/Trust. Bear with me I’m getting to the point; he began spending time during after hours in the Greddy shop building up his car as well as parts for it. This almost ended when top executives found this out, but to his surprise they admired his work and what he had been doing for the company and ultimately deciding to keep this between the two parties. A few years later he opens his shop named Top Secret, due to the fact he gained his knowledge on building cars by the executives of Greddy keeping a secret between themselves. So to the point; Greddy was established around 1977, so most likely Nagata would have ended his work with Greddy around 1988-1992 (I believe he was born in 1963), so when he was 25-28!
I’m not going to keep giving out my opinions as if I know everything about they guy, but what I do know is that I love his style. Like his companys name it seems to me that’s exactly what kind of man he is, very secretive, not quick to answer, and very calm. Top Secret is a company that knows what they build is outstanding, but they don’t talk about why it is they let you see, feel, and hear this statement. Even the very few replicas out there cannot keep up with the brands standard, this being the reason why there are barely any replications of Top Secret products. I find them highly respectable in the products they offer and its disappointing that there isn’t that much information out there on the history of such a wonderful company. Maybe this is the way they want it, to only show their work to people who find the time to visit the workshop or hunt down Smokey as he travels testing out his insane car builds.
The cars they build are high power machines that can be used on the street, as you have probably seen the insane videos of Smokey with his 1000HP machines. He was also inspired by Amemiya-San so check them out, I like them.