Garaiyas don’t appear vary often, but this one has been outfitted with an electric motor producing 168 hp
3 hours ago
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Japan’s Autobacs is celebrating their 50th anniversary by showing five customized electric vehicles at the Tokyo Auto Salon. That’s hardly surprising for a tuner-focused event, but one of the models is a Garaiya electromod.
For those unfamiliar, the ASL Garaiya was introduced at the 2002 Tokyo Auto Salon and was slated to go into production that fall. However, fate intervened and only a handful of prototypes were built before the project was axed in 2005.
Fast forward nearly two decades and this particular prototype has seen its Nissan-sourced 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine replaced by an electric powertrain. The listing for the car doesn’t go into many specifics, but says the coupe has an electric motor developing 168 hp (125 kW / 170 PS) and 206 lb-ft (280 Nm) of torque.
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That’s less than the original engine, which was reportedly rated at 201 hp (150 kW / 204 PS). Despite that, the model is no slouch as the dash from 0-62 mph (0-100 km/h) takes 5.2 seconds, while the top speed is 99 mph (160 km/h).
Autobacs didn’t say much about the car, but it has a white paint job with contrasting blue accents. They’re joined by 17-inch wheels, which are wrapped in Bridgestone Potenza tires. The model also has an adjustable suspension as well as scissor doors and a massive rear wing.
Interestingly, this isn’t the first Garaiya electromod as the Osaka Sangyo University Electric Vehicle Project resulted in a car being equipped with an electric motor producing 121 hp (90 kW / 122 PS) and 177 lb-ft (240 Nm) of torque. That enabled the car to hit a top speed of 112 mph (180 km/h) and travel more than 186 miles (300 km) on a single charge.
