Seikatsu Motion Dynamics

### Products

Automobiles, Commercial Vehicles, Motorcycles, Scooters and Mopeds, Commercial Aircraft, Locomotives, Sports Apparel, Electric Wheelchairs

### Divisions

Seikatsu, Regius, PRIDE, PWR, rEVOLVE, Project Valentine, Project Excelsior

**Seikatsu Motion Dynamics** is a Japanese multinational conglomerate based in Tokyo, Japan, mostly known for manufacturing automobiles, commercial vehicles, and motorcycles.

## History

Makoto Murata was born in 1867. His father was a machinist and blacksmith who owned a bicycle manufacturing and repair shop, which sparked Makoto's interest in machinery. It wasn't until he experimented with adapting a small single-cylinder internal combustion engine to a bicycle frame that his passion for motorized vehicles materialized.

In 1899, Makoto founded his own company, "2M Steel Works," named after his initials. He built off his father's old business but soon expanded to develop his own line of motorized bicycles and scooters. In 1911, during a business trip to New York City, he had the opportunity to ride in a 1906 Silver-York Series 1 11-Horsepower, which ultimately prompted him into expanding his business having experienced among the first automobiles firsthand. He established an imported car dealership in 1919, mostly featuring American automobiles of numerous makes.

Furthering his business prospects once again, Makoto partnered with some of his close friends that he became acquainted with when studying mechanical engineering, and started designing and developing his own automobile based on what he had learned producing motorcycles and selling his imported American automobiles. In 1927, the "2M Type P" was finalized and sold in very limited numbers; no more than 50 units were ever produced.

Makoto had mainly focused on motorcycle production, and automobile development often took a backseat. It wasn't until the 1932 "2M Type M" that Makoto realized the true potential of the automobile, as it sold over 800 units in its first production run. An improved version called the "Type M1" was developed, and variants in other bodystyles were produced as well. With the release of the company's first dedicated truck, the "Type 1" in 1934, Makoto renamed his company to "Seikatsu Steel Works." The word "Seikatsu" is a reference to livelihood in the study of social sciences, and through this new name, Makoto hoped that customers would accept his automobile and motorcycle products as a part of their everyday life.

Seikatsu Steel Works slowly continued to expand their factory and ramp up production of their Type M1 and Type 1 automobiles throughout the 1930s. As the second World War loomed around the corner, Seikatsu expanded their main factory in order to meet production output demands laid out by the Imperial Japanese government. They also helped produce various components for wheeled armored fighting vehicles.

During the later stages of the Pacific Theatre, Seikatsu's main factory was severely damaged after successive firebombing runs from the United States. To make matters worse, Makoto Murata had fallen very ill after exposure to radiation; he had just arrived in Nagasaki for a business trip right when the bomb fell. On his deathbed, he passed ownership of Seikatsu Steel Works to his son, Masaru Murata, in September of 1945. The factory remained in shambles for some years until Masaru could get help from local contractors and the United States Army to rebuild it, citing reasons for Tokyo's recovery.

With much of Japan in shambles, there was an increasing demand in the agricultural sector for a cheap multipurpose off-roader. In response to this, Seikatsu restarted production of one of their scout car models, the Type 41, reusing its two-cylinder powerplant, powertrain, and chassis but adding features such as a canvas roof and an extra pair of doors. They changed the suspension to leaf-sprung live axles in the front and rear, since the original model's double wishbone suspension was too complex to machine given the current state of the factory and would be too complex to repair. Masaru renamed it the "StarCruiser" due to his fascination with space exploration.

The StarCruiser proved popular in the agricultural sector and saw some sales to other customers, but would prove too heavy duty for many prospective buyers. In response to this, Seikatsu developed two brand-new cars to release in 1955, the "Esper" compact car and the "Prince" midsize, the latter of which being used primarily as a taxi.

## Company

Seikatsu's main regions of operation are in Asia (including the Middle East and Indian subcontinent), North and South America, and Europe. Seikatsu is also present in South Africa and Oceania, but only through a dealership and servicing network; all models are imported as knock-down kits and assembled by local manufacturers.

PRIDE (Performance and Racing Instinct, Deus Ex) is Seikatsu's oldest motorsport division, founded in the early 60s to compete in domestic (and later international) endurance races. They would later participate in other classes such as Group C and GT1, and starting in the 70s, the Baja 1000 and the Paris-Dakar rally.