Imagine this, a one-stop shopping location for all your automotive desires; from basic car products to the latest and greatest in aftermarket tuning products.

Imagine no more, this place does exist. Welcome to A PIT AUTOBACS Shinonome, in Tokyo, Japan, part of the AUTOBACS chain.

What is AUTOBACS, you ask? For those who have ever played Sony’s seminal PlayStation video game Gran Turismo, or ever watched a round of the All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship, then the name might be familiar, as the brand name has adorned multiple race cars over the years.

“In February 1947 the late Toshio Sumino founded Suehiro Shokai as a privately owned wholesaler of automobile parts in Osaka. In November 1974 the company opened AUTOBACS Higashi Osaka Store as its first directly managed one-stop speciality store for automotive goods and services, which was a first in Japan,” AUTOBACS public relations told the Jamaica Observer’s weekly Auto magazine.

The name is not random or any language. In fact, it’s an acronym meaning Appeal Unique Tires Oil Batteries Accessories Car audio and Service, pretty much summing up its products and services.

The Japanese are well known for their love of modifications, and the AUTOBACS stores thrived. Five years on from that initial store, AUTOBACS had increased by a factor of 100, expanding to 100 locations across Japan. That success multiplier has continued to this day.

As of September 30, 2024 the number of major AUTOBACS Group Stores is 1,143 stores, including in-shops and co-located stores — 1,012 stores are domestic. Overseas expansion began in May 1991 and currently stands at 131 stores, of which 104 are in Thailand, six in Taiwan, five in Malaysia, two in Singapore, six in the Philippines, and eight in France.

THE BIG LEAP

In 1997, what many would call the golden age of Japanese Domestic Manufacturer sports car output, AUTOBACS would revolutionise the automotive parts landscape with its first Super AUTOBACS store.

Pushing beyond just selling auto parts and services, it embraced the culture surrounding car ownership. Later that year, the second Super AUTOBACS store opened in Tokyo Bay, becoming the brand’s flagship store. In November 2018 Super AUTOBACS Tokyo Bay was transformed further into A PIT AUTOBACS Shinonome.

A PIT AUTOBACS is a new concept store and, of course, important. Beyond the traditional car accessory store, we will provide products and services that attract core users, including safe and secure pit services that leverage the strengths of real stores, as well as new products, services, and spaces that people who ride in the car, family, and friends can enjoy through experience and discovery.

EMBRACING THE TUNER LIFESTYLE

The A PIT designation is due to the layout of the store. There are three levels. The first works on the concept of motorsports, a pit box of sorts, where a vehicle can be left to have the various services carried out by AUTOBACS’s professional staff, from basic service to installation of the many products located upstairs.

The second and third levels are automotive nirvana, packed to the gills with auto-related goods. Basic necessities mingle freely alongside books and magazines courtesy of the Tsutaya bookstore located in the centre of the second floor. Further pushing the lifestyle mantra, racks of car-themed clothing, and merchandise from stickers to collector-grade model cars surround the integrated Starbucks café, where customers can sit, drink, and relax, or even read while watching the work being done in the pit via screens.

While the second floor vies for the attention of hard-core JDM fans, the third floor is basically heaven. So important is A PIT AUTOBACS Shinonome that it has a section dedicated to the godfathers of Japanese automotive tuning, HKS. It goes beyond just selling the brand’s innovative parts, but being an actual HKS technical partner known as HKS Gate, with their own unique parts for models like the Subaru Levorg and Suzuki Swift Sport.

Other famed JDM tuning names are represented, such as Blitz and TEIN. Browsing will turn up items from the NISMO catalogue, while aftermarket seating giants Bride and Recaro have displays where one can sit and confirm fit and feel.

Outside the store is a car dealership and an entire building dedicated to even more wheels and tyres. Scattered around are the many famous demonstration cars built by A PIT to promote HKS products and their skills as a HKS store.

The parking lot is often a sea of Japanese performance delights and, at the right time, it plays host to car-themed events of various types and sizes. The Daikoku Parking Area on the Shuto Expressway may be the king of car meeting areas in Japan, but on a good day the parking lot at A PIT AUTOBACS Shinonome can give it a run for its money.

At first, A PIT AUTOBACS Shinonome is overwhelming, but the ability to see, touch, and interact with items that are usually just pictures on a website or catalogue makes A PIT AUTOBACS Shinonome a destination that requires a good investment of personal time, especially for the overseas visitor.

More wheels than one can drool over. (Photo: Rory Daley)

Have a seat courtesy A PIT AUTOBACS Shinonome. (Photo: Rory Daley)

Suspension parts are also well represented. (Photo: Rory Daley)

The third floor is where the modification enthusiast will lose their mind, as the hard tuning performance parts are on clear display for 100 per cent physical interaction.(Photo: Rory Daley)

The real charm of A PIT AUTOBACS Shinonome is its many massive and unusual product displays that offer up not just a visual presence, but an interactive one as well. (Photo: Rory Daley)