Mr. Kida's past sounds like most any American performance enthusiast. His introduction to cars was helping out at his father's body shop as a young boy. Later he was head of a popular racing crew and gained valuable experience and what is more, got many friends and customers tweaking their motorcycles and cars. This tinkering lead to a job at a local Toyota dealership after Mr. Kida graduated from high school. 

After about a year the monotony of the daily routine was too much to bear and Mr. Kida set into motion the beginning of what would become Signal Auto. It was 1977 and Mr. Kida was 19 years old. He rented out the corner of a shop of his friend and started the business with his younger brother. This is the beggining of Signal Auto. Armed with some tools, a notebook and a trusty pickup truck, his skill and determination allowed him to build a customer base. He was done with typical repairs and wanted to build big-time performance cars. His rolling business car was a Fairlady Z (Nissan 300ZX). He became a little too overzealous in his product testing sessions and landed himself and his car in the impound yard. He realized then to focus more on the performance of his customer's cars. The business expanded to a bigger corner of a bigger body shop. He finally bought a place which is the present head office. He says that "Signal" was named because there was a signal in front of the shop. Mr. Kida hired employees, he hired his father and he had a strong customer base. 

Mr. Kida was a big fan of Punch and Jon of the TV show "ChiPs" and the show was his inspiration to come and see America. Didn't know anything about the U.S.A., but wanted to know, wanted to go, and wanted to drive on the freeway in the U.S.A.! Nobody can stop him when he wants to do something. After all, he spent for a year in L.A. Who could ever think that Signal Auto would appear here in L.A. Later, Mr. Kida was joined by his brother a paint and body specialist and Signal Auto took over the body shop they had formerly been renting corner space from. Mr. Kida's vision was a business that could meet the needs of every customer who came calling. 

For the next 12 years Signal Auto was expanded and Mr. Kida decided to explore other avenues. One logical stop was racing. What better way to showcase one's tuning talents than on the tracks? Signal Auto built a Toyota Startlet KP61 for the "Freshman Series." Mr. Kida was highly successful winning a number of races in succession. He then moved up to the RS Formula series. Unfortunately, a serious crash at the famed Suzuka circuit dampened Mr. Kida's spirits but like the mishap with his Z-car served to refocus his attention. Shortly after his recovery he opened two tuning shops in Takarazuka and Takatsuki, both are cities near Osaka. He again involved Signal Auto in racing, however this time as Japanese Touring Car Championship (JTCC) Series sponsor. Quite different from the circuit he had raced before, he was impressed with it's speed and showy atmosphere. This strong impression made him have his dreams and enthusiasm in his performance car business. This experience lead him to open G-Signal Osaka in the early '90s, Signal Auto's used GT-R car division was born with the opening of two lots, one in Osaka and the other in Kyoto to express everything he has got so far. He wanted to find a dream at Signal not only by himself but also with the young people driving performance cars on the street. 

By 1997 Signal was making plans to do more than check out the scene---it wanted in on the action. The R33 Skyline was built and tuned and spent about six months in America running races from coast to coast. Fast forward to 1999 and the chop-top Civic was having equal or better success in America. It's 10.07 makes it the fastest Japan-built Honda to appear on American Shores. Quite good for a company that is viewed as a Skyline specialist. Mr. Kida is quick to point out that his Honda was built to race in the Quick VIII and not just run exhibition class. He also passed along that Signal Auto is the first tuner in Japan to run a Motec engine management system. Mr. Kida prefers the camaraderie and competition of racing and believes that if Japanese built Hondas continue to run in exhibition class and not race they will be seen as putting themselves on a pedestal, being too good to race with America's elite. 

1999 June 13, he finally got the prize of 9.97 with Chop Top Civic in the circuit of NHRA. And in the year of 2000, he opened his new branch Signal Auto U.S.A. in Torrance. He went over to the U.S.A. again at last. Different from 14 years ago when he went to the U.S.A. all alone by himself, he got many business partners and friends this time. But his enthusiasm in the performance car business is never be different from the first time he visited the U.S.A. Signal Auto Inc. will go ahead in the field of performance, body, paint, car dealer with everyone who loves performance cars. Until he can reach to the checker flag. 

Signal Auto Profile

We are based in Osaka, which is the second largest city in Japan and running 10 branches, as a special workshop which deals with automobile-related goods and services. We meet wide-ranging needs from customers with systematic service in our all branches such as performance shops, body factories, used GT car shops and a racing factory.

SIGNAL AUTO INC
Established : April 1979
President : Kousuke Kida
Employees : 40
Head Office : 2-6-8, Aoshinke, Minoh city, Osaka Japan 562-0024
TEL +81-727-27-7123 FAX +81-727-27-2678
Branches : 10
Performance shops : Minoh, Senri, Takarazuka, Takatsuki
Body Pro : Minoh, Ibaraki, Kyoto
Used car shops :Osaka, Kobe

SIGNAL AUTO U.S.A. INC.
PERFORMANCE, TURBOTUNE, AERODYNAMICS, BODYPAINTING, ENGINE POWER UP,
FOOTWORK PARTS, REPAIR ...etc.
1719 ABALONE AVENUE, #401, TORRANCE,CA 90501
TEL 310-787-0505 FAX 310-787-0506

SIGNAL KOREA
234 POEI-DONG KANGNAM-KU SEOUL KOREA
TEL +82-02-576-1842 / FAX +82-02-576-1832

SIGNAL Thailand
Rarmkumhaeng Soi - 12 R 2000 BANGKOK, Thailand
TEL +66-2-718-7038 FAX +66-2-718-7039