Essentially a Japanese kitcar, the Garaiya became famous for its role in Gran Turismo 3. Similar to a Lotus Elise of the period, it used production components in a small, competitive package.
The Garaiya was powered by a Nissan Inline-4 out of the JDM Sentra SE-R. This was positioned a steel space frame with aluminum sheet reinforcements. The available 201 bhp was more than enough for the 794.5 kg (1750 lbs) chassis.
The car was tested in 2003 by John Phillips of Motor Trend who said “the Garaiya is plenty quick, dispatching the quarter-mile, the PR lady swears, in 14 seconds flat. On all other surfaces, it drives like a Caterham. Well, like a Caterham with truck springs. Plus, its bare aluminum floor rattles incessantly, and its TVR Cerbera-style instrument pod quivers as if in the opening gambit of a petit mal seizure.”
History
Autobacs was founded by Toshio Sumino in 1947 in Fukushima-ku, Osaka as Suehiro Shokai Co., Ltd., which was reorganized into Fuji Shokai Co., Ltd. a year later.
In 1960, Sumino opened the Fuji Drive Shop, Japan's first large-scale automotive goods store, and in 1969 he became involved in motorsport sponsorship by sponsoring a car in the Japanese Grand Prix.
In 1974, the first of the Autobacs stores, the "Autobacs Higashi Osaka Store", was opened in Daitō, Osaka. The following year, Autobacs would run its first franchisee store, the "Autobacs Hakodate Nakamichi Store" in Hakodate, Hokkaidō. In 1977, Autobacs would start to develop and sell its own motor oil and tires to be sold in its own stores. At the end of the decade, Autobacs opened its 100th store, and in 1984 opened its 200th store. The company's name was officially changed from Fuji Shokai to Autobacs in March of 1980.
On 11 July 2005, Autobacs entered a collaboration agreement with UK retailer Halfords. On 13 December 2005, Autobacs acquired 5% of the company (11,400,000 shares) at approximately ¥7.5 billion.
