A history of Yamaha Spirit of Challenge
Introducing the 50-year history of Yamaha outboard motors (1960-2010)
Introducing the 50-year history of Yamaha outboard motors (1960-2010)
In 2010, fifty years have passed since the birth of the first Yamaha outboard motor. Now Yamaha Motor has established itself as the world's outboard motor brand and in March of 2010 the company's total outboard production reached the momentous 9 million mark. But, the history of this half century of Yamaha outboard motors has not always been a smooth sailing, there have been rough waters along the way. In this long history of trying to build outboards that will bring true joy and satisfaction to the world's users, there were many difficulties and obstacles to overcome. But, through it all, the Yamaha people involved in engineering, manufacturing, marketing and service, kept the "Spirit of Challenge" that is at the heart of Yamaha Motor's corporate culture and overcame every obstacle. They continued to open up new horizons by taking on new challenges.
Challenge: An outboard development project started from scratch
The development project for the first Yamaha outboard motor began back in 1958 with a project staff of just two engineers. At the time, everything was new to them as they started from scratch to build the company's first marine engine. Soon after the project's start the staff grew in number and preparations began to move into production. At the time, however, there were no set standards for testing and the development process involved simply running the prototypes 24 hours a day and investigating how to improve the parts that broke down. The project had started from zero and its final result after overcoming many obstacles and hardships was Yamaha's first outboard motor model, the "P-7" that was marketed in Japan in 1960. In fact, however, it was still far from being a perfect outboard motor. For example, as one of the engineers from that time recalls, it was particularly loud and had a high level of vibration. This led to jokes from fishermen such as, “You can tell it is an outboard built by a musical instrument maker - it puts out quite a sound"
The development project for the first Yamaha outboard motor began back in 1958 with a project staff of just two engineers. At the time, everything was new to them as they started from scratch to build the company's first marine engine. Soon after the project's start the staff grew in number and preparations began to move into production. At the time, however, there were no set standards for testing and the development process involved simply running the prototypes 24 hours a day and investigating how to improve the parts that broke down. The project had started from zero and its final result after overcoming many obstacles and hardships was Yamaha's first outboard motor model, the "P-7" that was marketed in Japan in 1960. In fact, however, it was still far from being a perfect outboard motor. For example, as one of the engineers from that time recalls, it was particularly loud and had a high level of vibration. This led to jokes from fishermen such as, “You can tell it is an outboard built by a musical instrument maker - it puts out quite a sound"
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