Efrain and Victor Tisoc are identical twin brothers.
Since they were kids, they’ve shared more than just their genes; both enjoy the same sports, the same cars, and even earned the same industrial engineering degree. Actually, both wanted to be automotive designers, but a program like this wasn’t offered in Peru, where the brothers live and grew up.
The pair started modifying cars after buying their first Nissan 300ZX together. For Efrain and Victor, the Z32 was their dream machine — only roughly 15 are believed to be in the country, just five of which are factory twin-turbo cars. They were never sold by Nissan in Peru, so besides the handful imported by their original owners in the ’90s, none are allowed into the country until they become 35 years old.
Unobtainium or not, the brothers agreed there was a lot of potential in the Z32 chassis to modernize and give it a more exotic look. But how to do so?
In 2003, Victor and Efrain decided to build their own bumper for the Z-car after finding themselves disappointed with what was on the market.
Efrain tells me they originally thought it would be easy, but was quick to admit the piece took six months to make between university and other activities. Finally, the work was complete, and was also quite good.
They posted on twinturbo.net, where they were already long-standing members under the username TwinZ. Once the photos were out there, the emails started pouring in asking if they could make the bumper for other owners.
Once enough requests had amassed, the brothers decided to give it a try and start offering the bumper on forums. “Again, we thought it would be easy, but the whole production process, then exporting the bumpers, flying to California to import the bumpers, and keeping them in storage to ship each unit [out] made everything so expensive that we ended up losing money,” Efrain told me.
“So we came back to Peru with no money, but with a great experience that taught us a lot.”
A nice side effect was that Victor and Efrain had made a lot of 300ZX friends around the world, but camaraderie doesn’t quite pay the bills. The brothers shelved the project, continued school, and eventually found work at different companies as engineers.
But all the while the TwinZ bodykit project lingered in the back of their heads, until 2010 when the Tisoc brothers decided to make a go of it again.
This time they had more experience, having built a handful of parts as a hobby. Also, no longer college students, they had some cash to burn and TwinZ Design was formed.
Their first step towards fixing their distribution plight was to contact Atlanta-based Z1 Motorsports, who were very excited by what was brewing at the brothers’ shop in South America.
It didn’t take long for a full kit to come to fruition, and both Z1 and TwinZ decided it was time to build a demo car for the US.
That’s the car you see here, with Efrain behind the wheel. Victor was in a meeting when we shot the car, but in all honesty I could just mirror this image of Efrain and it might as well be Victor.
The brothers now own four of the original five factory twin-turbo 300ZXs that were imported to Peru, as well as a twin-turbo MkIV Supra, FD3S RX-7, 3000GT VR4, and a 350Z. Efrain says they never dreamed they could have a collection like this, but they’re essential for the design process as TwinZ now offers parts for each of these cars, plus a couple of others.
As you can see, there’s also a proper wide-body available for the Z32.
However, the simple combo of bumper, skirt, and spoiler updates on Z1 Motorsports’ car alone have made a world of difference in how the Z32 has aged in comparison to its younger cousins in the lineage.
Asking Efrain about the design process when it came to the 300ZX, he told me their philosophy is “to improve the looks and performance of the car, while flowing with the original lines and trying to act like a factory motorsport division for the car [rather than your average] aftermarket supplier.”
Inspired both by exotics and race cars alike, TwinZ has managed to create kits for the Z32 which they describe as clean, refined, and classy.
I have to say I agree, and it’s really refreshing to see a company thinking outside the box a bit when it comes to aesthetic upgrades. The only downside to coming across this car and the kit is that I’ve wanted one ever since…
Trevor Yale Ryan
Instagram: tyrphoto
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