What do you do when the thing you love the most just isn’t around in the place you live? You create it yourself, of course. This is how my Nissan Silvia PS13 build started.
I’m Sidney, a 22-year-old living in the Netherlands. My obsession for Japanese drift and car culture started back in 2015 when I discovered the Noriyaro YouTube channel. Years of scouring the internet for the coolest drift cars from Japan in the 1990s followed, with PS13 Silvias standing out to me the most.
Of all the nostalgic Silvia photos and videos I found, the cars wearing B-Wave aero became my favorites. B-Wave is a brand founded by a drift shop called Pro Shop Wave, which has been around since 1992.
Falling in love with the simple 1990s Japan drift style, I set my sights on one day building a PS13 that would’ve looked right at home sitting out the front of Pro Shop Wave back in the day.
At this point I was still too young to drive, so I bought myself a camera and started heading along to local Dutch car scene meets and events, only to realise the type of cars and style I was hoping to find just weren’t around. It gave me so much motivation to import a Silvia from Japan, and do the best I could to bring a slice of real Japanese car culture to my home country.
In 2020, after a long four-month wait, the Silvia PS13 I purchased in Japan finally arrived in the Netherlands. My goal with the car was simple: build a period-correct PS13 with only authentic JDM tuning parts.
In my opinion, the most important aspect of any build is the wheels, so I’m sad to see that around 90% of cars in the Dutch scene are using replica brands. My Silvia is running SSR Longchamp XR4s, which have had some work done to make them as perfect as can be. The wheels feature fresh CNC machined centers, polished lips and new hardware.
The super-rare D-Speed mirrors are a highlight for me as well. These are what Pro Shop Wave used on one of their very first demo cars in the ’90s.
Together with the TBO front bar, B-Wave rear wing and other select parts, I feel like the Silvia now really resembles the crucial piece of car culture the Netherlands has sorely been lacking.
Sidney Lahman
Instagram: fulljpn / goodvibesnicedrives
Photography by Collin Tiemens
Instagram: fuegocarculture
How To join the IATS program: We have always welcomed readers to contact us with examples of their work and believe that the best Speedhunter is always the person closest to the culture itself, right there on the street or local parking lot. If you think you have what it takes and would like to share your work with us then you should apply to become part of the IAMTHESPEEDHUNTER program. Read how to get involved here.
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Simply one of the best S-chassis if the Netherlands! Great photos aswel
Nice shoot dude!
Holy JDM Batman!
It´s so good to see, that there are people out there with the same mindset. Building a period correct car, which could be a 100 % in front of a shop or at a TAS booth back in the day ticks all of my boxes. Every part needs to be right, every body part, wheels, even the stickers and you absolutely nailed it.
"...and started heading along to local Dutch car scene meets and events, only to realise the type of cars and style I was hoping to find just weren’t around." - In all honesty, this is the reason, why I barely attend car meets in Germany and tend to fly out to other countries for car stuff.
Hope to see this car in person one day.
Cheers from Germany
Andy
Man this is such a clean build period correct too
One of the best S13 builds out there
Very nice quality build. Can't go wrong with white for JDM rides.
Wheel fitment is spot-on.
Not too sure about the big-ish rear spoiler though,,,,
Great Car, and proud to read its a dutch car as well. But the article leaves me longing for more info: whats under the hood? what chassis mods are there and what is done to the very clean interior?
I would love to see more cars like this at the meets, that would make me want to get out to more meets too. Now its just a sea of Japan racing wheels.
Excuse the dubble reply haha
I replied with some more info on that in one of these comments! For the interior i got luckey it was already in very clean shape so i just added stuff like G-corporation floormats, nardi wheel, cool radio unit, shift knob and other details. Also got this clean juran racing seat recently ready to go in
I replied with some more info about that on one of these comments! For the interior i got lucky it was still in good and original shape so all i did was add stuff like G-corporation floor mats, a good steering wheel, cool radio and dashmat for looks
Also got this very clean juran racing bucketseat to go in.
That is one sweet S13. Love the period correctness!
That's a car i woul be happy to have a ride in it (bar the gear handle, not my cup of tea and never it will).
Nothing mentioned suspesion wise and performance wise; hope that big windshield sticker is not for looks/aesthetics only.
As you can tell from the article style was really my first priority within the first years of ownership and those parts together with a hks air intake the car still is a blast to drive even for a DE
Don't get me wrong i can aperciate a car that dosen't have a crazy dyno numbers (a decade ago 300hp was somthing to talk about) but it must at least stands to its looks plus a healthy engine that you can enjoy daily is better than an engine that needs rebuilding frequently.
Hope to see a full feature when it's "done"; good luck in what it comes next.
Well for suspension its sitting on a set of hsd dualtech coilovers. Engine wise its still got the sr20de running on a apexi super air fuel converter. I went for a trust banner because of a pretty rare old school logo trust exhaust manifold and analog AFR meter. I know its not a full greddy turbo setup or something but i hope those parts justify it enough
Very sexy Silvia. Can't wait to see how this car develops!
This is too col! So nicely done!
That front camber is way out of spec. Fix it before a feature for christ sake!
Based on what? All feedback is welcome tho but i'm happy to let you know that i won't! It can't be everybodies cup of tea