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
might have to paint my Datsun like that – Jay where are you?
wait hold on… no b pillars… that means when you open the door then you’ll have excess “window” coming out along with the door right?
i doubt that …. because the window wont go down then… i mean i see no reason why they would build it with permanent windows… even racers need some fresh air.. i think the window is 2 piece the back half of the window stay put when you open the door just like a regular car but this just doesnt have the b pillar
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that’s what the roof scoop is for, except this car does not have one. weird
answer to question, me thinks no sorry!
Definitely not the most beautiful, but it’s not ugly.
stunning!!! but the nicest ever? id say not
The pillarless window does open together with the door. As for ventilation, we’ll have a sliding insert, it’s just not implemented yet.
Hi Nino,
Is there a number I could reach you at?
I would like to contact you regarding this car.
Thanx hope to talk to you soon.
Emrys
my m3 is the best
Paint job looks awesome! But IMO the wheels and stance is killing it. The wheels are rota 🙁 and hugee, makes the car look a bit pimp my ride style. Plus it sits too high from the floor, needs a lower more aggressive stance to pull off the styling on the car. Also this is a drift car? Surely when you take the rear end out on a wall your be gutted?
It certainly has potential and the paint job is stunning. So much work has gone into it but theres something not quite right… people mentioned the stance before, and i agree the wheels are just not for the car, and the front looks a bit too high. Whatever it is its only minor and the car still looks amazing. But i’d be gutted if you were to clip a wall or something!
Thanks for your insights. The front really is too high, as we didn’t have time to fabricate and install the splitter under the air dam yet. This is on the to-do list. The wheels must be this big (17) to fit the brakes. The car will do time attack events as well, so we need decent brakes.
Remember, the whole exterior is fibreglass, so a clipped rear quarter is pretty easy to replace.
As for stance, I’m not really into this kind of stuff. I care about proper geometry and handling first and foremost. We have 4 inches of drop already. Still, if the gap between the bottom of the car and the ground seems too tall, I can always try to fill it with smoke. That may help a bit.
Can’t wait to sit next to you for a proper run 🙂
I think it sits fine and is low enough, just the front body work looks Like it would be hard to make lower, without making the front of the car look too tall, if you know what I mean. It’ll be interesting to see what you do with that.
Awesome ride, looking forward to seeing a video of it smoking
devil Z 🙂
Awesome! Very nice build, and incredible you guys got it in this state in such a short time period…
Personally, I love it! I’m pretty sure its the best looking drift car I’ve ever seen anyway.
no it is not imo. i dont like it
nice stuff indeed
This is gorgeous, I’d love to have one, although I would put my own touch on things. Sweet ride can’t wait to see it running!
Are the body panels available for purchase? ! If so can you send me the link?
Please and thank you
Raise the rear SLIGHTLY, take out some negative camber on the rear and get your splitter on. I don’t follow drift cars, but this beauty has to be one of the best looking machines period.