The model engines manufactured by the Fuji Tokushu Kiki company of Tokyo, Japan and its successors have generally been viewed by the modelling fraternity as cheap second-rate units produced with mass sales rather than quality and performance as their design and production yardsticks. This is actually a quite unfair charcracterization of these engines, all of which were in fact produced to good standards and ran very well. Moreover, many of them were well out of the rut in design terms, displaying a considerable degree of originality. The recent marked increase in the selling prices of classic Fuji models on eBay is a reflection of the growing awareness of the true picture.

The series of engines produced by the various Fuji companies in the .099 cuin. category exemplifies the true state of affairs. Beginning in 1949, Fuji produced a long series of variants of this model, beginning with their original radially-ported design and progressing through a series of twin-stack models up to the post-classic era which saw the appearance of thoroughly up-to-date and extremely well-made loop scavenged and schnuerle-ported designs.  

The history of the Fuji enterprise and the .099 engines which it produced during the classic era has been covered in a series of in-depth articles which appear on Ron Chernich's "Model Engine News" (MEN) web-site. Click on the Fuji story link and settle in for a good long read about this extremely under-appreciated model engine range!