Tommykaira Revived the ZZ EV?
This is a look into what might have been, a facelifted Tommykaira ZZ EV. Back in 2021, the Japanese boutique automaker discontinued the electric sports car, leaving it wide-eyed and without a plan for the future.
First debuting in 2014, the EV version of the ZZ made a bit of noise, especially since the prospect of the Tesla Roadster was still kinda up in the air. This Japanese roadster would eventually live until 2021 and hasn’t seen a new update since.
Tommykaira’s former engineer and designer came together to create a one-off project: a facelifted ZZ EV that’s road-legal, registered, and built on the same platform the brand left behind about five years ago. Perhaps if Tommykaira had decided to continue the ZZ EV, this is what it would’ve ended up as.
However…
Unfortunately, this is a one-off project, intended as a show of technical expertise rather than a production-ready model. Yuji Fujitsuka, the man behind the second-generation ZZ, is a former engineer at Tommykaira, and he now runs Number Nine Works. Fujitsuka tapped Ryuhei Ishimaru, an engineer who runs the design firm Fortmarei, for this project.
The goal was to modernize the look of the ZZ EV, and it’s safe to say that they hit the nail on the head, which also includes Japan’s motor-vehicle inspection criteria. The one-off ZZ EV was built on top of the last ZZ EV’s platform. The chassis and engine all remain the same, with 305 horsepower under the hood.
It was just this year that the two men came together, and in that time, they were able to refresh the exterior look of the ZZ EV, and also achieve a factory-quality finish, complete with a revised bumper, headlight array, and the original livery. It also appears that a set of SSR GTV-02s was installed on this one-off, a good choice if I do say so myself.
The Design That’ll Never See Production
Fujitsuka and Ishimaru used ultra-slim headlights to give the ZZ EV a totally new look. It’s a radical departure from the discontinued model, and you could also say it’s similar to what Hyundai did with the Ioniq 6, foregoing a traditional pair of headlights for a slim, futuristic sneer.
What’s great about this project is that it’s registered in Japan, so it can drive without any problems. So why won’t it enter production? It’s called the Number Nine Works Sweep 9, and it’s not meant for production. Instead, it’s a demonstration piece that showcases the abilities of the two parties involved.
Ishimaru told Carscoops: “Number Nine Works Sweep 9 is a 2026 street-legal technology demonstrator built on the Tommykaira ZZ EV platform, balancing strict safety compliance with its original design language. It is a very personal “moment of truth” for me, as it’s a collaboration with the original engineer after 10 years.”
