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….
Happy AE86 day! What better way to celebrate this day than with a car like this. The Levin you are looking at is probably one of the most impressive builds I have ever witnessed with an AE86. These days people seem to have the mentality of adding a set of wheels to a car and stance and a couple of stickers and suddenly their car is something special or different. What I love about this car is the fact that pretty much every inch of the car has been changed, replaced or refurbished. This car wasn’t built to be put on a stand at a car show or to be king of the internet. Many people didn’t even know this 2 door even existed, for the people that did it was like an urban myth hearing what was being done and how much was being spent. The biggest thing I love about this Levin is how it was built to be driven and personally enjoyed, the fact Jerry wasn’t bothered if it was exposed to the world or not is pretty awesome.
I’ve always kept an eye on these two cars, two of the nicest AE86’s rolling around the streets of Waterford back when everyone was deep in the fast and furious Max Power world. These cars have been with the owners for years. I decided to feature both cars together fresh out of a restoration. Both owners went completely different directions so it a fascinating story. If you’re wondering why we’ve called this thunder vs. lightning, well because Trueno translates into thunder, and Levin loosely translates into lightning.