Is this the most beautiful drift car ever?

After long weeks of sleep deprivation to finish it in time, Aardvark was finally ready to be shown to the public at last weekend’s classics show. The shape is inspired by the Datsun 240Z-260Z IMSA-GTU race cars of old.

The body is all custom fiberglass, made by OMG Visuals in Hungary. Every single panel, the doors, the roof, everything. You name it, we moulded, hand-laid, sanded and painted it. The rear windshield and the side windows are Lexan, with a very subtle tint to emphasize the shape.

Look Ma’, no B-pillars! As the body is strengthened and there is a full roll-cage inside, we decided to do away with the stock B-pillar, to really bring out the gorgeous svelteness of the silhouette.

The front bumper is attached by duct tape – if it’s strong enough to hold together LMP-1 race cars at Le Mans, it must be OK as a temporary fixture until we build a proper mount.

The quarter panels / wings were hand formed to exactly match the width of the S13 rear suspension underneath with the Rota RBX wheels. Total width is 186 cm or 73.2“, up 24 cm or 10“ from stock.

If you are a termite, say goodbye to your beloved queen, for Aardvark is after your ass.

You can just about see the factory B-pillars on the orange original car in the foreground. We cut them off, and welded the window surround.

The side view wants to evoke the Japanese flag. The purity of the lines is preserved by the lack of fancy colours and decals. The black vents are there to cool the engine bay and the brakes, inspired by the magnificent Alfa Stradale of the sixties.

I can barely wait to weigh the car, I’m very curious how much weight have we shed.

Proper ladies for a proper old school GT. Knowing how petite Japanese girls are, you can guess how slammed Aardvark really is. In fact it’s 1175mm or 46“ tall, a full 4“ drop, done properly with redesigned geometry and Driftworks arms and coilovers all around.

The crowd reaction was just unbelievable. There is no JDM crazyness in Hungary, basically nobody knows what an S30 is. Most people have never heard of the Datsun 260Z at all. Yet people just loved Aardvark to bits. I actually had to sign a scale model kit for a boy who decided to build an exact replica. What an honour! Send us a big fat Like if you like what you see, the girl and the boys who built and painted it in three short weeks deserve all the recognition.

Previous build posts:  I. Introduction – II. Rear suspension and wheels – III. front suspension – IV. redesigned suspension and steering

Written by Nino Karotta Posted on April 20, 2011. Filed under Drift Car Feature. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry