What makes a great RPs13? The 180sx has been around for over a quarter of a century, a car that is loved by so many it is essentially a mascot of the drifting world and we still just cant get enough of these things.
Events in Ireland really do bring out the gems, it gives people an excuse to get their pride and joy out for the day. With all the heat being on the IDC event we took a cruise through the paddock to see what was about.
To polish a turd or “The act of trying to make something hopelessly weak and unattractive appear strong and appealing. An impossible process that usually results in a larger, uglier turd’. From the outside looking in, sometimes our way of spending money and spending time may look like a lost cause to the outside world.
Define trust. Trust usually resides amongst family members and long term friends, best friends even. It can also be found maybe in professional practice say a doctor, dentist or child minder. It comes from knowing something is good or receiving an excellent recommendation from someone. We went to Rudskogen Raceway in Norway for Gatebil 2015 where I witnessed trust of a totally different kind.
It’s very seldom that I consider taking a day off from work during the week to attend a drift day at Mondello. Most of the big events there happen on the weekend which is very convenient and other drift days, well they have been a little unchanged in the last while. Now don’t get me wrong, all these practice days are extremely appreciated as it gives budding drivers a chance to hone their skills and get as much time in their car as possible.
This country is incredible at surprising us. I remember the first time I seen this Laurel, probably the first time I had ever seen a Laurel… it was dark down at the infamous port road,ill never forget the angry of this screaming monster sliding sideways up the road. There was just something so enjoyable about such a huge machine going sideways four deep. It just looks badass, the presence was insane.
Im often overwhelmed by the whole idea of importing cars from Japan. Over the last few years on the website, I’ve rambled enough about just how interesting I find the whole process. This little gold Skyline is a classic case of that. Lets just take a step back for a moment, anyone of you out there that has ever built a car, put all that work into it, with friends, family, the people you have met, the people you shared those experiences with, the jobs you worked to save the money to buy those parts, the late late nights of frustration and anger, accompanied by the days of utter joy you shared behind the wheel….
Edmonton has a pretty big Drag racing and muscle car scene also, as it naturally would being an oil driven city, We made it out to the race track a few times. The toys that came out to these events were amazing.
So here I was, completely out of my comfort zone making my way across Canada, looking out the window of this chrome train at possibly one of the most epic and somewhat alien landscapes for this little Irish mind. Heading “up north” as its put, not really knowing what to expect. It was incredibly exciting but at the same time pretty scary, I’m sure many of you have that feeling once or twice in your life. This was one of those completely unforgettable life moments, so far removed from everything I had called life back home. I sat there taking snaps out the window trying to process nature on steroids.
I never really had a chance to say goodbye to this car, a car that for some reason I had such a love for. Its strange when someone finds themselves becoming so attached to a purple piece of metal. On paper it shouldn’t have worked, its colour is ridiculous in real life, its life was sort of a mystery to many. With a little digging we found out that the car was an ex J-blood demo car, by the looks of it, it was the first car to rock those pretty infamous over fenders and wings that the entire world has used over and over.
Let’s face it some of the 90’s cars that rolled out of the Nissan factory have aged perfectly, others are still questionable. Take an R33 Gts-t for example, not many of you will be quick to say they looked or aged as well as similar chassis from that era. On top of that for some reason, Ireland, Australia and the UK just couldn’t get enough of the 33 GTS, we just loved them. We loved putting horrendous wheels and bad body kits and questionable parts in them, pretty much a large portion of R33 GTS’s which exist outside of Japan just don’t do it for people as much as an R32, s13 or an s15, or any of the GTR’s for that matter.
I got a chance to tag along with the Low Brain Drifters and Luke Fink as they headed to the Alps to take on the French 1500 metres above sea level inside the clouds. A pretty unique event.