Founded by Kei Miura, Rocket Bunny® and Pandem® are the individually distinct brands developed under the TRA Kyoto company, each with its own design heritage and visual language...

Rocket Bunny, Pandem & TRA Kyoto: Understanding the Brands Behind the Name

There is a question we are increasingly being asked in Australia:

What exactly is the relationship between Rocket Bunny, Pandem, TRA Kyoto and Kei Miura?

It is a reasonable question.

Over the years, the names have become so prominent in automotive culture that it is easy to encounter Rocket Bunny in one place, Pandem in another, TRA Kyoto somewhere else, and assume they are completely separate entities.

They aren't.

There is a much more interesting story behind them.

One designer. One company. Multiple brands.

At the centre of the entire story is Kei Miura.

Miura-san is the founder, designer and driving force behind T•R•A• Kyoto - the Japanese fabrication company from which the Rocket Bunny and Pandem brands originate, dating back to the 1990's.

As we explain in our full history of Kei Miura, he is the creative force behind Rocket Bunny, Pandem and 6666 Four Six, all of which sit under the T•R•A• Kyoto banner. These are distinct brands, but they share the same founder, the same workshop, the same engineering philosophy and the same DNA.

So, if you've ever wondered:

"Is Pandem made by Rocket Bunny?"

The better answer is:

Rocket Bunny and Pandem are separate brands under the same parent company, T•R•A• Kyoto, founded and led by Kei Miura.

That distinction matters.

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It starts with Kei Miura

Long before the Rocket Bunny name became globally recognised, Kei Miura was simply a young Japanese car enthusiast with an obsession for making cars different.

In 1988, at just 18 years old, Miura-san encountered a Kyoto car dealer who introduced him to a Nissan 510 and, ultimately, to motorsport and fabrication. That experience became one of the early foundations of the attitude that would define his career: if you want something, work for it - and then make it better.

His path wasn't conventional.

Miura-san later worked as a contractor at Tokyo Disneyland, where his work in design, construction and fabrication helped develop the skills that would eventually transfer into automotive design. His experience with CAD and fabrication became particularly important as he began developing his own automotive parts.

By his early twenties, his fabrication abilities had already earned attention within Japan's underground car scene, including work on a Ferrari Dino race car.

His automotive education wasn't taking place in a conventional design studio.

It was happening in the streets, on the track and in the workshop.

[Megaphone Muffler - Rocket Bunny Pandem - Archive]

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The car that changed everything

In 2010, Kei Miura created a Nissan S13 that would become one of the defining moments in his career.

What started as a daily driver evolved into something completely different - box-style fenders, a short ducktail spoiler, aggressive proportions and strong influences from old-school American racing.

Japan wasn't immediately ready for the aesthetic.

The United States was.

The S13 attracted enormous attention in the American market and helped establish the visual language that would eventually become synonymous with Rocket Bunny.

The important thing to understand is that this wasn't simply a styling exercise.

Miura-san's philosophy was never about attaching random parts to a car.

The objective was to make the new components work with the original vehicle - following its lines, changing its proportions and creating something that looked as though it belonged there.

That philosophy remains fundamental to the products produced by T•R•A• Kyoto today.

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Where does Rocket Bunny fit in?

Rocket Bunny was the original bodykit brand associated with Kei Miura and T•R•A• Kyoto.

The name itself has roots in Miura-san's earlier work with Japanese Kei Cars and Kei Vans. The Rocket Bunny name was revived because it was simply too iconic to leave behind.

The early Rocket Bunny aesthetic became known for things such as:

• Wide over-fenders

• Exposed hardware

• Aggressive aero

• Dramatic wings

• Broad, muscular proportions

• Strong street and drifting influences

Rocket Bunny became particularly influential as Miura-san's designs moved beyond traditional Japanese street cars and into increasingly diverse platforms.

The S13 was followed by designs for cars such as the Scion FR-S, Subaru BRZ and Toyota GT86.

Those cars helped push Rocket Bunny onto the global stage.

The result was enormous.

Widebody conversions stopped being something reserved primarily for race cars and became a legitimate part of mainstream enthusiast car culture.

[RocketBunny R02T]

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So where did Pandem come from?

This is where the history becomes particularly important.

As Kei Miura's designs began exploding internationally, particularly in the United States, the Rocket Bunny name encountered a problem.

When T•R•A• Kyoto looked to expand further into the US market around 2014, the Rocket Bunny naming structure could not be used there because of existing US trading-name rights held by a gaming company.

Rather than abandoning the design philosophy or restricting the brand's international expansion, a new name was developed:

PANDEM

Pandem became the name used for the next chapter of Miura-san's work in the USA market.

And this is where a common misconception begins.

Pandem wasn't created by a different designer.

It wasn't an unrelated American bodykit company.

It wasn't a competitor to Rocket Bunny.

And it wasn't a copy of Rocket Bunny.

Pandem came from the same creative house - T•R•A• Kyoto - under Kei Miura.

The US distributor subsequently launched Pandem USA alongside this new naming structure, helping establish Pandem as its own recognisable identity in an internationally recognised USA market.

Over time, Pandem developed an increasingly distinct visual character.

[© Graeme Murray]

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Rocket Bunny vs Pandem

This is probably the simplest way to understand the difference.

Think of Rocket Bunny and Pandem as sister brands.

They share the same parent company, founder, engineering philosophy and heritage - but they developed different visual identities.

Historically, Rocket Bunny became associated more strongly with the traditional street-oriented Miura aesthetic.

Think:

Classic widebody.
Street culture.
Exposed hardware.
Traditional over-fenders.
Aggressive but recognisably Japanese street styling.

Pandem, meanwhile, developed a more performance-oriented and motorsport-influenced identity.

Think:

Sharper lines.
More aggressive proportions.
Performance influence.
Track-inspired styling.
Distinctive modern fender architecture.

That distinction became particularly visible as the Pandem brand developed its own characteristic wheel-arch and fender designs.

But there is an important caveat:

The lines are no longer black and white.

As T•R•A• Kyoto's design language has evolved, the two brands have increasingly influenced the same broader aesthetic.

A newer Rocket Bunny kit may look more aggressive.

A newer Pandem kit may look perfectly at home on a street-driven car.

The naming today is increasingly influenced by the overall visual language of the finished design, rather than simply whether a car is intended for the street or the track.

That is why comparing Rocket Bunny and Pandem purely as "street versus race" isn't always accurate.

They are different brands.

They come from the same place.

And their design languages continue to evolve.

[Rocket Bunny | Celsior - Rocket Bunny Pandem - Archive]

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The important part: they're not separate companies

This is perhaps the biggest misconception.

There isn't a separate Rocket Bunny factory somewhere and a separate Pandem factory somewhere else.

There isn't one designer responsible for Rocket Bunny and another responsible for Pandem.

T•R•A• Kyoto is the home from which these brands originate.

When the T•R•A• Kyoto workshop was visited in July 2024 by two budding Australians, the reality was strikingly simple: there wasn't a separate Pandem building or a separate Rocket Bunny building.

They are brands under the T•R•A• Kyoto workshop.

That workshop is where Kei Miura's ideas, fabrication knowledge and engineering philosophy come together.

The official T•R•A• Kyoto headquarters is a working fabrication environment, rather than simply a corporate licensing office. Vehicle development, scanning, CAD, machining, fabrication and refinement form part of the development process behind its products.

That is an important distinction when you're buying a genuine product.

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The technology behind the style

One reason Kei Miura's designs became so influential is that the styling isn't separated from the engineering process.

T•R•A• Kyoto pioneered the extensive use of 3D laser scanning and CAD-based development in its bodykit development.

Each new vehicle can be digitally scanned so that the original factory body geometry is captured with a high degree of precision.

That data then feeds into the CAD development process.

Large-scale CNC machining is used to refine the physical master forms before moulds are produced for manufacturing.

It is one of the reasons Miura-san's work became known not merely for being radical, but for being remarkably precise.

The technology enables the design philosophy:

Don't simply make the car wider. Make the new shape work with the original car.

That is a super different approach from simply producing a generic over-fender and adapting it to multiple vehicles.

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The global explosion

The S13 helped open the door.

The Scion FR-S, Subaru BRZ and Toyota GT86 pushed it wide open.

As Miura-san's designs entered the American market, Rocket Bunny became one of the names most closely associated with the global widebody movement.

And from there, the influence spread far beyond Japan and the United States.

Today, T•R•A• Kyoto designs can be found across an extraordinary range of vehicles - from Nissan GT-Rs and Toyota GR Yaris builds to much more unusual platforms such as the Lotus Elise [designed from the monocoque shell up].

Taking a look back at the early days, the Toyota Echo / Yaris, Celsius, Honda Oddesy, Suzuki Wagon R, Daihatsu Move, the similarities remain...

The philosophy has remained remarkably consistent:

Take something that already exists.
Respect what makes it interesting.
Then make it something nobody can ignore.

[V1.0 Rocket Bunny S13 - Rocket Bunny Pandem - Archive]

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So, what is the relationship?

If you've made it this far, here's the simple version:

KEI MIURA

Founder, designer and creative force

↓

T•R•A• KYOTO

The Japanese company / fabrication workshop

↓

ROCKET BUNNY®

The original bodykit brand

PANDEM®

A separate sister brand developed under T•R•A• Kyoto

Both brands share:

• The same founder

• The same Japanese heritage

• The same parent company

• The same engineering philosophy

• The same design DNA

• The same commitment to radically reinterpreting vehicles

But they remain distinct brands with their own identities.

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Why this matters

The next time you see a Pandem widebody, don't think of it as something unrelated to Rocket Bunny.

And when you see a Rocket Bunny build, don't think of Pandem as a completely different company.

Look a little closer.

The fender shapes may be different.

The proportions may be different.

The styling philosophy may be different.

But underneath it all is the same creative lineage...

Kei Miura.

T•R•A• Kyoto.

Rocket Bunny.

Pandem.

Different names.

Different aesthetics.

One unmistakable Japanese automotive DNA.

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The TRA Kyoto Family

KEI MIURA
Founder • Designer • Fabricator

T•R•A• KYOTO
Japanese automotive fabrication company and home of the brands

ROCKET BUNNY®
The original bodykit brand

PANDEM®
The sister bodykit brand

6666 FOUR SIX®
Kei Miura's wheel brand, originally released as a bodykit brand for the S-Chassis

All part of the wider T•R•A• Kyoto family.

And if you didn't know that before reading this, now you do.

Welcome to the Miura world.