Scissor-doors, 200 PS, and made by an auto parts shop! The ASL Garaiya

If you’re a big fan of JDMs, you probably heard of Autobacs, that legendary one-stop Japanese auto parts shop. They even have a couple of stores here, in Klang and Johor Bahru.

But this isn’t a history lesson on the formation of Autobacs, but rather one of the most obscure sports cars ever made. But before we dive into it, let’s bring out Tommy.

Tommykaira to be precise. The Japanese tuner was founded by Yoshikazu Tomita and Kikuo Kaira in 1968 but it wasn’t until 1987 when the tuner company launched their first completed tuning project, the M19 which was based on the Mercedes-Benz 190E.

Later on, the company focused on tuning Japanese cars like the Subaru Impreza, Nissan Silvia, and Nissan Skyline. These variations were introduced to the living room thanks to Gran Turismo.

But their sights weren’t just set on tuning and modifying existing cars. Tommykaira wanted to design and build their own car from scratch and in 1996 the Tommykaira ZZ was born. The ZZ was a kit car similar to a Caterham or a Westfield and was built in Norfolk, UK.

Besides sharing the same hometown and being launched around the same time as the Lotus Elise, the ZZ also focused on lightness. It was powered by Nissan’s 2.0-litre SR20DE which produced only 186 PS and 193 Nm. In a car that weighed 730 kg.

It goes to 100 km/h from rest in 4.8 seconds and has a top speed of 225 km/h. This old Best MOTORing video below shows how the ZZ handles against a Porsche Boxster and a Honda DC2 Integra Type R, among others round a circuit.

Sadly, Japan couldn’t escape the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997 and with the ZZ mainly sold for Japanese customers but built in the UK, it wasn’t viable. Only 200 Tommykaira ZZ were made. Tommykaira couldn’t much stay afloat and sold its tooling and inventory to a local builder.

Then in 2001, Autobacs bought Tommykaira and renamed it to Autobacs Sports Car Laboratory (ASL). Now, Autobacs isn’t a tuner company obviously but they do have quite a presence in Japan’s car scene and motorsports scene.

So, it seemed pretty interesting for an automotive parts store to suddenly decide on making a complete car. Not just aftermarket parts, but a complete car from scratch. Following the deal between Tommykaira and Autobacs, the team set on work of an exotic sports car that anyone can drive.

At the 2002 Tokyo Auto Salon, the ASL Garaiya made its world debut, sporting scissor-doors in a very Japanese compact body – length was measured at 3,744 mm, slightly smaller than Malaysia’s supercar.

Underneath, it was essentially a Tommykaira ZZ but with a roof. The Garaiya was even assembled in Norfolk just like the ZZ and was powered by a Nissan SR20VE engine that produced 200 PS. Adding the doors and roof also added some weight, albeit the car still weighed at a relatively light 800 kg.

However, the driving experience is typical of a car built in a British shed, even with the Japanese compactness. The refinement was shoddy according to a reviewer which reminded him of a TVR, a British sports car manufacturer that was also assembled in a shed.

Oh, did I mention that the taillights were taken from an Alfa Romeo 147? It’s probably the only thing that will require lots of replacements.

Nevertheless, ASL announced that the Garaiya will be limited to 500 units and 60 orders were already placed on it even if it was a bit more expensive than the Lotus Elise. Sadly, it is said that only 12 were made. Because so few of them made it out to buyers, it remained a forgotten rarity.

But the Garaiya’s story didn’t quite end there. Remember I mention that Autobacs also dabbles in motorsports? Well, the company not only sponsors the Japanese Super GT but even competes with a team called Autobacs Racing Team Aguri (ARTA).

For a decade between 2003 and 2012, ARTA raced the ASL Garaiya in the lower GT300 category getting as high as 2nd overall in 2004, 2008, and 2010. Even that wasn’t completely smooth sailing with ARTA pulling out of the GT300 in 2006 for not winning the championship – the team finished 3rd in 2005, but returned in 2007 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the team.

Even though this story doesn’t quite end on a happy note for the car, it’s still an interesting project. It started with a troubled but ambitious tuning house that wanted to build their own car and was given a second chance with the help of an auto parts store.