It is easy to dismiss Sung Kang’s 1973 Datsun 240Z. It’s a Datsun with a Rocket Bunny body kit. It’s an import. It’s Sung Kang’s car…you know, Han from the “Fast and Furious” movies. It would be easy to shrug off the car and move along, but from someone who saw it in person…that would be the worst possible move you could make. I’ll admit that I’m not that big a fan of the tacked-on body kits, but when the company goes out of their way to help make the kit to fit your car, that’s something special, and in this case the Z looks less like a cartoon character and more like an old IMSA racer. There’s an inline-six under the hood as Mr. K. himself intended, but it’s not the original six…this is the RB26 out of a 1994 Nissan Skyline GT-R, but with the turbochargers removed. With plenty of work done inside, you have a modern engine that sings like the original L24 inline six did when the car was new, and with the five-speed manual from similar vintage Skyline, the car runs just as well. The list of people and companies that helped out with the build of the car (dubbed “FuguZ” after the infamous pufferfish dish that if prepared incorrectly can kill) is large and the detail work is incredible. There is a reason we hovered around this car during SEMA, there’s a reason it is going to be in the next Gran Turismo video game as a playable car, and there is a reason why Jay Leno has this Datsun parked in his garage.
If NISMO had existed when the 240Z was around this is the car they would have built!
Whilst taking the turbos off might appear lame,this is a car that’s meant to be driven and enjoyed and those old 240zs were never built to handle that much power.
And the best thing? – not an LS in sight!