We're gonna let you in on a little secret: The car spread out before you almost didn't make it as a feature vehicle in Import Tuner. Let's face it-mildly modified 240SXs are a dime a dozen these days; to most, an inexpensive beater car that can be built and driven for cheap, and all but thrown away when drifting practice goes wrong. They are the RWD Civic, with resale values so low you could total one by wearing out its clutch. That's why we love them, but feature cars have to be priceless in the positive sense. When Montreal-based photographer Matthieu Lambert originally sent us this lead-in shot of his friend's car in hopes that it would make the cut for "Longshots", we liked the photo, but the car looked like any other modified 240. Until a few key words in its spec sheet jumped out at us: ARC, Toda, Tomei, Blitz, Greddy, OS Giken, Origin Lab, RHD, Silvia, authentic, daily driven, built for drifting.
OK, now we were impressed. Mildly. We called Matt for further details, and it wasn't until 15 minutes into our conversation that we had our deal-sealer. "The owner paid close to $15k just buying the car and importing it," he began. "He worked three jobs to pay for only the best parts, and put in eight-hour days building the whole thing himself for almost a year, just so he could drive it daily and drift it on the weekends."
"Why?" we asked. It's common to spend that much time and money on a dedicated show or race car, but a daily? Why not start with a domestic 240SX, throw some cheap parts on it and have fun driving it into the ground?
"Because the Silvia is his favorite car of all time," Matt replied, "and he believes there's something special-almost magical-about Silvias that 240SXs just don't have. He believes there's only one way to build them: the right way. And even if no one realizes all the work you put into it, he believes no one can truly enjoy a car unless it's perfect in their eyes."
Homeboy just earned his ink.
Think of all the wayward stragglers you've known to live out of their 240s and build them solely to drift on the weekends. Sure, they're usually some of the coolest people alive, but are also laid-back fringers who typically don't stress over details like hygiene, bill paying, or going to work on time (if at all). Especially those who regard the Silvia/240SX as the best car ever made. Ask their motivation in building a car, and chances are your answer will come uncertainly, broken by odd pauses and countless "likes" and "ums". Meeting Alen Andjelic, the owner/builder of this Silvia, came as a big shock to our preconceptions. He's 29, works tech support for a hip downtown Montreal-based upstart, confesses to being a workaholic, and although English is his second language, speaks it better than most home-bred Americans. Hearing him tell the story of how he came to own this Silvia-with the fluid, seamless pace with which he told it, complete with varied inflection, tone, and dialects for situations presented therein-was like listening to Cliff Notes on tape . . . but actually being interested in what was said.