When I gave Aki a lift to Nissan Prince Tokyo Motorsports Factory in Sakura-Shinmachi to pick up Project 33 the other day, I wandered around a bit. It’s something I always tend to do – especially in places like this. And I’m glad I did, otherwise I wouldn’t have found this beauty sitting at the far end of the garage.
For a model that I once thought had aged prematurely, the Z32 Fairlady Z/300ZX is now something I can’t help but give more than a passing glance to. It’s an attraction I’ve held for a couple of years now, and the thoughts that ran through my head when seeing this deep-blue example were very naughty. I think I’d have no problem taking a clean base car like this and turning it into something very special. Add decent wheels, overhaul the chassis and suspension components with performance gear, and fit some latest-tech turbos and engine management to the tightly packaged VG30DETT under the hood, and you’d be able to create one fast and very capable car.
If parking and space in general wasn’t such a luxury in Tokyo, I’d have quite the string of project cars. For now however, it’s just one more of those ‘what if?’ thoughts that we car guys have plenty of during any given day. Which leads me to the question: If you had the opportunity to build up a Z32, what would you do to it?
Dino Dalle Carbonare
Instagram: speedhunters_dino
dino@speedhunters.com