180 tune-up report
Twelve months after I bought it, my ‘mint’ 180 still hadn’t managed to light my fire. Oh, it had been reliable and comfortable, taking me around the country and over the Channel with the relaxing demeanour of the pocket Grand Tourer it is. However the steering, even with steel column bush, had never inspired confidence, [...]
First Meeting
I had originally imagined that it might take about a month to get a car from Japan and put it on the road. However in reality, it took that long just to hook up with a supplier and wait for the right car to appear at auction. Then I waited some more for my car [...]
Dreams Come True
True to life, in the influential Initial D manga series, races always start at 10pm on Saturday nights. Since April, snow had been replaced by fresh tyre marks scored through hairpin bends, and as 9:30pm approached my Silvia and I set out. Our destination; the summit of the nearby touge (mountain pass). My aim; to [...]
Mail-Order 180
After being tempted by various possibilities, I had finally resolved to seek a Grade 4 180SX from the Japanese auctions, in order to benefit from a description and sales process that is at generally considered the closest the used car trade gets to honesty. After looking around, I chose to Japanese Used Cars (JUC) as [...]
Snow-motion drift
I arrived in Japan in August, and after my old wagon’s shaken (MOT) ran out in October, I finally got behind the wheel of my Silvia in early November. Autumn in Japan does not mean the interminable mist and murk that we are familiar with here; rather, it is a time of blue skies, golden [...]
The quest begins…
Back in the UK, I missed just about everything about my life in Japan. However, the single thing which I missed the most was my Silvia. It wasn’t just the speed, or the on-the-limit handling. Using the tight lock to park up neatly in a single motion; walking away from the car and looking back [...]
Quick Intro
Joe kindly invited me to the site, so I should probably introduce myself. I’m Tom, and my current wheels are a 1994 180SX Type X, which has just come back from the garage with a few tweaks completed. However, I will be splitting my posts between the 180 as it progresses, and my first S-chassis. [...]
