Elusive TommyKaira ZZ crops up on sale, stops near $20k

The TommyKaira ZZ is an exceedingly rare sports car in the US, but this unfortunate example didn’t meet its reserve earlier this week with the best offer at a low $20,250.

In case you didn’t know, the ZZ is a Japanese roadster that manages to combine exotic looks with a Spartan interior devoid of any creature comforts. It rides on a bespoke aluminum platform with stainless-steel subframes and double-wishbone suspension at both ends. It has something like a promise of luxury in its design – almost Lotus-like – but it’s really an inexpensive and lightweight track toy.

The example seen here appears to have multiple major modifications. These include Toyota Celica headlights, a new engine deck lid and – most importantly – a swapped Nissan SR20DET under the hood. The carburetor engine normally has 2.0 liters of displacement, but the listing says this one has 2.2, so it’s likely heavily tuned. Too bad there aren’t any specifics.

Another similar ZZ (see video) fetched slightly over $40,000 at an auction a few years ago. This isn’t surprising, because some say there are fewer than a dozen of them in all of North America. We suppose this one could win a similar price if it wasn’t for all the mods and the lack of mileage info.