Life is an adventure right?
So metaphorically, carry an wide-eyed outlook on life similar to this S13 240SX Silvia: Go purple, go low, go wide, go big, and come through smiling. C’mon – it’d be naive (if not downright foolish) to think you could micromanage the whole damn journey of life before you even take the 1st step. We move, explore, and conquer our obstacles by using the best tools in our backpacks – faith, confidence, curiosity, passion, adaptability, strength, and wisdom.
Well – same goes for car culture.
We’re not dismantling bombs here; we’re just cutting on shit-box project cars lol. We have wiggle room. And with my own garage projects, I’ve found that the most FUN I’ve had… is when I go off script. When I make that first cut… and I don’t know exactly where I’m going with it. There’s a surge of excitement & freedom in that moment, when you throw caution to the wind.
And I’ve learned – that you can’t think 20 steps ahead of yourself. You just… can’t. It’s disorienting & overwhelming, and often leaves you paralyzed with hesitation.
In other words – don’t watch for snakes that are a mile down the road… watch in front of your feet, and maybe a little ahead of that. Trust me lol – I’m an ‘automotive journalist’.
The thing to remember is: You only SUFFER defeat when you ACCEPT defeat.
Fact! Yeah yeah yeah – there are gonna setbacks sometimes… most times honestly. And they can be real doozies in the moment. But try and look at the situation from a bird’s-eye view. Because in truth, all setbacks are opportunities. Opportunities to pull a damn rabbit out of your hat! What’s that saying, necessity breeds innovation??
The most inspiring cars I’ve seen, and the people behind them with the most gritty character & confidence. They didn’t ‘plan’ their builds 100%. But they did dive in 100%.
Alec James bought this car sight unseen.
He bought it out of Miami, and had it shipped up to his home in Georgia. Alec then took it to over to a local drift/JDM hero shop called Koruworks… along with these absurdly radical wheels… where Koruworks promptly said, “Yo you’re drunk; go home.”
To which James replied, “C’mooooooon!!!”
And Koru said, “Well alright.”
The guys at Koru then recommended the wheels be paired with an Origin Attack bodykit. Again, totally sight unseen, Alec James was like, “Is it aggressive?? …I’ll take it!”
When the kit came in from Japan, it ended up being very likely the manufacturer’s 1st demo unit, where they had molded-in the canards for display/capability purposes. Pretty neat score. Note: The car also has a Car Modify Wonder hood and front/rear fenders.
The engine is pure… a built SR, with a Garrett 3071R turbo. And the car is 5-lug converted with Brembo 300ZX brakes for additional stoping power. Good thing too, because you gotta slow them monster wheels lol: Weds Kranze Rapiers: 18×10.5 -30 in front, and 198×12 -38 in the rear. WITH a 6.5” lip up front, and an 8” lip in back! They call ’em Rapiers because they’ll probably rape your brakes.
Alec’s sitting on BC Racing coilovers, He chose 20K spring rates front & rear. So basically the only ‘spring’ you’re getting outta that… is tire sidewall flex lol. It’s a go cart. The lower control arms have been chopped & extended to allow more camber. So have the outer tie rods, and Truhart tension rods. Cut ‘em in half, sleeve ‘em with 1/4” steel from the hardware store, and weld the hell out of it.
I mean… it’s safe to say this mega purple S13 240sx Silvia is off the scale on the wild/ridiculous end of the spectrum. But it works. And it only works because of Alec’s personality & demeanor. All-in… and roll with the punches. There is no half-commitment on a build like this. You can’t go this far if you’re gonna worry about the what-ifs. Those what-ifs will eat you alive.
Photos by Sam Igel II // Text by Wooley
