The most complete story behind the groundbreaking old school sportscar that never got its chance.
With the divestment of Tomita Auto UK to AUTOBACS in 2000 and the subsequent creation of the AUTOBACS Sportscar Laboratory, the development of the ZZ-II was handed to the ASL, which had purchased the Kameoka facility; the car was rebranded ASL RS-01 in an attempt to guarantee it a competitive future, which would be realized with the participation in 2003 to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, after first deliveries planned for September 2002.
Carrying on the GT300 adventure started with the Apex MR-S managed by Super Autobacs, using the newborn Garaiya, was preferred to the Le Mans programme. The statement on the cancellation of the RS-01 arrived on May 20th 2003, while the ASL would have been dissolved in 2005, but appearing until 2008 on ARTA Super GT coveralls.
For seven years the RS-01 was kept at the AUTOBACS research and development site in Kameoka. In 2009 it was brought back to Tomita, who has been keeping it in excellent condition for ten years, bringing it occasionally to events (the last one was the Carzy Sportscar Heritage Gathering in the Kitano Tenmangu temple, in Kyoto on May 19th 2019).
In spring 2022 works began to build a permanent display for the ZZII in Kyoto city.
Within a few years, maintenance and processing workshops for Tommy Kaira were born: the most important were Threeek and KED (acronym for Kam Engine Development at the time)
On May 1st 2002 Tomita creates the Tomita Dream Sales (Tomita yume Hanbai) based in Minami-ku to manage the sale of Tommy Kairas independently. Althought Tomita retired in 2003, the Dream Sales is still registered today.
The debts accumulated by the Dream Factory had become too serious, so on February 14th 2003 the Civil Rehabilitation Act was requested, a form of bankruptcy introduced in the midst of the economic crisis to encourage administrators in declaring bankruptcy when the debts were still repayable, which didn't require to reorganize the directors. The concerned amount summed to one billion JPY, equivalent to 8.3 million USD today (5/2019).
In 2007 the Dream Sales changes its name to M-Direction (Minority Direction).
In 2009 the Tommy Kaira brand was borrowed by Rowen (ER Corporation), who took over the role of M-Direction. It was renamed Tommykaira Japan, veering its production towards very flashy bodykits and exhaust systems and expanding to other manufacturers. The main office was moved to Toyota City, while the old Dream Factory building was dismantled, and the other offices were converted.
Tommy Kaira recently returned to car tuning after the brand came back to Tomita in 2016 and was lent to GTS Co. Ltd. (Genuine Tommykaira Studio), a company in which some of Tomita Yume Kojo's employees are present. The R Concept is being developed (shown at the Tokyo Auto Show 2018) while the Tommy kaira M14 was recently unveiled, based on the Suzuki Swift Sport ZC33S.
In the meantime, Tomita has resumed his activity of collecting and selling exotic cars, reopening in 2012 the Tomita Auto Co. always in Kyoto.
In July 2018 he announced the intention to create a new company, Tommykaira Co., with which to develop a high-performance petrol version sportscar based on the Tommykaira ZZ EV.
The place where the Yume Koujou rose near the Temple of the Golden Pavilion.
Top left photo from a 1995 magazine.
Picture below left by Koichi Noguchi picturing how the Dream Factory headquarters looked when he bought his Tommy Kaira Z (Z33) in 2003, just before the abandonment of Yume Koujou.
Photos on the right: Google Maps screens on the building that stands in place of the offices.
Some of the Tommy Kaira stores opened during twenty years. Some of them were exclusive Tommy Kaira stores, others were opened inside official dealerships (Nissan and Subaru), and many others were stands into AUTOBACS stores.
The old Tomita Auto Co. headquarters, and the building erected in its place.
Photos by Jun Nishikawa.