Whenever I catch a glimpse of a Datsun in person it always makes me stop and take a long look at it. First off they are very rear. But secondly there is something about it that makes me want to build one. Is it the body lines? Or is it the uniqueness of it? I really don’t know. I do know that when I saw these pictures I just had to share. This is absolutely the sweetest Datsun that I have seen!

We all have our childhood dream cars.

For some it may be a Lamborghini Countach or a BMW 3.0 CSL, for Andres Lell it was always the Datsun 240Z.

He’s loved the S30 Fairlady design for as long as he can remember; the long nose and small cockpit blend into an iconic, sporty shape. In building this car, Andres‘ childhood dream would be realized.

Working hard has paid dividends for Andres, and he’s now in a position where he can afford more than one of his favorite poster cars. Within his collection are a few cars with rally pedigree, the reason being that when Andres was young he spent a lot of time in a garage with his father who built and prepared cars for special stage duty.

Due to its climate, Estonia is a country where the weather dictates a lot. Long winters necessitate vehicles a little more sensible than a 600hp rear-wheel drive Datsun, so an Evo or an STI is ideal when conditions allow.

But if you want to be really original you go for a Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution – only 2,500 were ever produced after all. The engine did give up in Andre’s example, but a replacement was found in Japan. […]

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Rotarolla: A Toyota That Braps

Toyota Corollas are known to be some of the most reliable cars on earth, so why the hell would someone put in rotary engine in one?

That’s an interesting question indeed. KE70 Corollas in particular have become super-popular performance build bases over the years, and for good reason. They’re straight forward, easy to modify, and most importantly rear-wheel drive, hence why petrol-heads do all kinds of weird and wonderful things to them.

The most common engine swap is without a doubt the 4A-GE, an engine known for its reliability and tuneable nature. Sticking with Toyota, there’s also the 1UZ-FE, which I’ve seen in all kinds of forms in these cars – normally aspirated, single turbo and even twin turbo. Another popular option is the 1JZ-GTE engine, or if you want to go all-out a 2JZ-GTE, both of which can make serious power. We can’t forget the 3S-GE Beams and the older 7M-GTE, either. […]

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You could tell Matt Field was tired — working 14 hours a day and seven days a week can do that to you. But he wasn’t sleepy, an important distinction.

In fact, for as drained as he might have been, the always-excitable Formula Drift Pro driver seemed more excited than ever. His eyes lit up as he showed us how his shop space has doubled since our last visit, and explained how his team would be fielding two cars for the new FD season, with Pat Goodin competing in Matt’s once-retired S14. Another Pro-spec car was in the shop as well, but I’m already getting ahead of myself.

Matt’s story behind the wheel really starts off with his dad, an off-road racer. With a bit of racer coursing through his veins, Matt was eight years old when he first drove a quarter midget. By the time his 15th birthday rolled around, Matt was comfortably having a blast thrashing around sideways in an off-road truck with over 600hp…

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Toyota’s fourth-generation Supra Turbo (chassis code A80), sold here from 1993 to 1998, has fronted movie franchises, shredded drag strips in as little as six seconds, and—if we recall correctly—conducted the London Philharmonic at the request of Queen Elizabeth II. The iron-strong 2JZ straight-six under its hood has worn turbochargers big enough to sleep in and swims like a shark in a nitrous-oxide ocean. And yet, Toyota has left us Supraless for 20 years, sitting idly by as the car accumulated a mountain of pop-culture street cred.

Now the Big T is finally leveraging that mighty reputation in the form of the new (A90) Supra, which will blast out of a Magna Steyr assembly plant in Graz, Austria, alongside its brother, the BMW Z4. Yes, under a skin based on the FT-1 concept car from 2014 beats a turbocharged 3.0-liter straight-six just as its fast and furious forefather had. Beyond that, well . . .

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It all started with a 1994 twin turbo Toyota Supra. I was the second owner. It came stock black, except for a huge aluminum wing. I wish it came with the classic Supra wing, but I guess the ugly aluminum hydro tower looking wing started the customization process! The modification came fast and furious. Yes, I had the car before the movie!

The best approach to a memorable show car is to complete a paint job first. The car landed in Technik’s paint booth and was coated with a beautiful lime green with gold flake paint job. The car looked outstanding and turned many heads. It received a C-West front end, a carbon fibre hood and an ABflug rear wing to top it off. This paint job was featured on the cover of Performance Auto & Sound magazine, sitting behind the famous Tila Tequila. This cover would go down in history, as PAS Mag has recognized it in anniversary specials. This wasn’t the only paint job this Supra received. A couple of years later the green grew old and the famous Rick G massaged a House of Kolor candy blue on the Toyota. What a work of art! The shine, the curves, the tones! It still sits that way today.

A paint job is not the only thing that makes a show car. A sponsorship deal with Lightning Audio provided me with three 10” subs, four amps and multiple TV screens. All molded nicely together by KHF (Kennedy Hi-Fi) audio. The rear seat was removed to fit the subs. And the truck was loaded with amps and screens. I even molded a rear view camera into the bumper – yes there was a time when this wasn’t a standard feature. To this day I still have a Playstation 2 molded into the glove box location. I sure hope I kept those spare parts to get my glove box back!

This show car was complete, right! Wrong! That is because it wasn’t just show. It had some go! Who wouldn’t want to unleash the 2JZ motor.  Hoisted up in Magnus Motorsport’s garage the twin turbo setup was swapped out for a gigantic Greddy turbo. With all the accessories to go – intercooler, fuel, intake, exhaust computer etc…. Everything needed to make this a reliable beast on the roads. The setup produced just under 600 HP to the rear wheels. This by no means is a huge number for the MKIV Supra, but I was happy. It was fast enough! I didn’t want to increase the boost to gain horsepower only to risk break down and huge speeding tickets. Again to this day it is a reliable street car.

This Toyota Supra sparked a lot of passion. It was driven too many shows across Canada and the US. Which includes the NOPI Nationals in Atlanta. HIN (Hot Import Nights) in Chicago, Boston, Washington, Atlantic City. International car shows in Detroit and Toronto. Drag events in Pennsylvania, Cayuga, London and Grand Bend. It even reached the east coast, touring Moncton, P.E.I. and Halifax. It had quite the show tour. With all this travelling I was still able to maintain it in mint condition and reasonable mileage. I even remember the struggle of taping up the front bumper on these now trips to prevent rock chips and pesky bugs!

Along with all of this, this Supra was featured in a lot in print. The first was a big one! It was the cover and feature car of Performance Auto and Sound in 2005. Along with that cover, it reached the cover of Sport Compact and pages of Modified and Banzai magazines. For one of my best sponsors Meguiar’s, it was featured on a full page advertisements on back covers of various automotive magazines. It was also displayed on-screen. In a Mitsubishi Lancer commercial it was featured doing a burn out in a street racing scene. And reached scenes in the show War of the Wheels. I really wished I kept a better collection of all these media appearances!

Now I have the means to share and store my many photos and videos on OneRide. I hope to make a solid and interesting collection of my toys and rides to share with everyone. And I look forward to seeing everyone’s passion displaying in their ride! Please read OneRide – The Beginning to see how this Supra started it all!.