Japan Built a Corvette and Came Up With This!

When people talk about legendary Japanese cars from the ’90s and early 2000s, you always hear the usual suspects — Supra, RX-7, NSX, GT-R. All heavy hitters, no doubt. But what if I told you there was another Japanese car from that era that was even crazier than all of them? One that could’ve given the Corvette Z06 nightmares… if only it ever made it to production.

That car was the Tommykaira ZZ II — and yeah, I know, most people have never even heard of it. But that just makes the story better.

This wasn’t some mass-market machine from Toyota or Nissan. The ZZ II came from Tommykaira, a small tuning shop in Japan known more for tricked-out Skylines than for full-blown car manufacturing. But for a brief moment, they went full mad scientist and tried to build a real-deal, mid-engined supercar. And not just any supercar — one that could rival Porsches, Ferraris, and America’s pride: the Corvette.

So what made it so special? For starters, it had the RB26DETT engine — the same twin-turbo inline-six from the R34 GT-R — but in the ZZ II, it was turned up to around 540 horsepower. And all that power? Sent directly to the rear wheels. No all-wheel drive. No electronic safety nets. No traction control. Just pure, raw chaos.

And here’s the kicker: the car weighed less than 2,400 pounds thanks to an aluminum space frame and carbon fiber body panels. That’s Miata weight with supercar power. Do the math, and the power-to-weight ratio was nuts! We’re talking sub-three-second 0–60 times if you could actually launch it without spinning into another dimension.

On paper, this thing was incredible. It had supercar specs, supercar looks, and the kind of raw personality you just don’t get anymore. But that was also part of its downfall…

Tommykaira only ever built a few prototypes, and the car never made it to production. Why? A few reasons. First, they didn’t have the money to meet global crash and emissions standards — and certifying a low-volume car like this is ridiculously expensive. But more than that, the ZZ II was just too much of a car. It was fast, brutal, and unforgiving. There were no driver aids to catch you. If you made a mistake, the car let you know — without mercy.

Some people who drove it called it exhilarating. Others called it terrifying. One even said it was “the car that wants to kill you — but it’ll smile while doing it.” That pretty much sums it up.

In the end, the ZZ II faded into obscurity. A few prototypes still exist, tucked away in private collections or shown off at car events. But it never got its moment in the spotlight — which is kind of heartbreaking, because it really could’ve been the Japanese Corvette rival.

Instead, it’s one of the greatest “what ifs” in JDM history. A reminder that sometimes, a car can be too ambitious, too dangerous, and just too pure for the world to handle.

And maybe… that’s why it’s still so unforgettable.