The most complete story behind the groundbreaking old school sportscar that never got its chance.
Initially it was judged as a copycat of the Lotus Elise. Tomita made clear that the ZZ was conceived first. In fact, a ZZ test bed was already out testing in 1992, while Lotus was sold to ACBN Holdings (Artioli) on August 27, 1993 and production plans for the M111 were approved in the same period. The project director Tony Shute stated the Elise project began in 1994, while the design contest held by Benedini and won by Thompson was launched in early 1993. The magazines that drove it (especially british ones) were impressed: it was the first time after so long a Japanese car reached the cover of a foreign car magazine. In testing some reviewers felt the steering had less groove than the Elise, while it proved faster than the Lotus, more stuck on the ground, with a racecar feeling, but with a behaviour not very keen on forgiving brave corner-entries, in benefit of a very nimble front end. It beated the regular Elise, but being hand made with higher quality components meant that at 5 million yen it costed nearly as much as an Elise Sport 190, which was closer to a racecar than the ZZ was.
In a Best Motoring test drive at the Tsukuba Circuit, Keiichi Tsuchiya concluded a lap on a ZZ in one minute, seven seconds and 40 cents, equal to a 2015 Civic Type-R, a Skyline GT-R R32 V-Spec, a Lancer Evolution IV, a 993 4S... however, two seconds faster than an Elise S1 driven by himself. Not bad for a car created primarily to satisfy driving pleasure and not lap time itch.
The car was capable of getting to 100kph in a bit more than 4 seconds and to 240kph as its top speed.
The deliveries of the ZZ started in July 1997, but production was stopped as early as March 1999, after the Japanese Ministry of Transportation announced the update of safety standards in head on collisions from European (and therefore also British) criteria to American standards, which did not allowed exceptions for small builders. The ZZ exploited this very one legislative loophole in order to avoid having to take expensive tests within the reach of only the major car manufacturers, which could afford to invest much bigger capitals upstream.
The sudden halt of the homologations prevented Tomita from selling the exemplars which were finished but not yet registered at that time. The production was stopped at 185 units, and the lack of income led to the collapse of the English company linked to the factory, which found itself with a hundred units left collecting dust waiting for a future.
The economical damage was between a quarter and a half billion yen.
Tomita has in mind to solve this problem with a radical evolution of the ZZ: the ZZ-III, more comfortable and slightly heavier, available with 1.6 and 2.0 electronically controlled engines and also a CVT gearbox upon request for those who would have driven it in city commuting. A sketch study was commissioned to 童夢's (Dome) chief designer Kunihisa Itō, which saw the light only as car featured in Gran Turismo 2.
The Tommy Kaira Owner’s Club, a group of fellow owners who were close with the company itself (new models were revealed during the meets), started a fundraiser to support the losses of the Tomita Yume Koujou.
The Ministry retraced their steps a few months later. In December 1999 an agreement was reached between Tommy Kaira and AUTOBACS, so that in 2000 Tomita Yume Koujou was sold to AUTOBACS itself, along with Kameoka research and development site.
The British government needed someone to take over Tomita Auto UK. Engineer Mike Rawlings was offered to do that, so he in turn asked Mark Easton to join and set up Breckland Technology (later they will build the Mosler MT900 and the Breckland Beira). This allowed the restart of ZZ production, moving manufacturing to East Dereham, about thirty kilometers from Norwich. Then they bought Tomita Auto UK’s toolings and a complete ZZ (the yellow Mk1 used by the press) at an auction and were ready to start production. Later on, an agreement with Tomita and Kaira was reached, so that Tommy kaira would take 5 ZZs per month from them.
On 26 September 2000 it was announced that the ZZ would be back on sale in an updated version with slight modifications (noticeable in some articles in the previous images): 195mm front tires instead of 205, reinforced toe links, front radiator, new colours, 5PS more power, 5Nm more torque and a weight about 30kg higher. The car was therefore produced by Breckland Technology and also sold by both Tommy Kaira and AUTOBACS in their stores, by the latter with a customized trim called ZZ'A. The style was updated by the new acquirement of the Dream Factory: Design Apple’s Noriyuki Nishida.
It is said that between 15 and 25 units of the revised ZZ were produced, including those in the upgraded spec, the ZZ’A.
A ZZ EVO was initially planned as a ZZ replacement, based on the same chassis, with a fixed roof coupé body style. The development got up to a clay model, but the acquisition by AUTOBACS meant that other projects had higher priority. Anyway, its design didn’t get wasted...
The synergy between the two brands gave birth to the ASL (AUTOBACS Sportscar Laboratory Co Ltd) on April 2nd 2001. The ASL logo is a hummingbird that, with its ability to keep its elevation by flapping its wings 18 times per second, is a source of inspiration for the light and agile sportscars of AUTOBACS.
The production of the Tommy kaira ZZ ended in December 2001, so that ASL could manufacture the Garaiya, showed exactly on December 4th 2001.