オートオタク日記：Vol.II_Nissan Silvia (S15)

I've always been jealous of Japan for having the cooler models that stateside can only dream of having. Well, if you pay thousands of dollars to import one, you're one to be envious of...except when you go through drive-thru's by yourself having to reach over an empty seat to grab your double-double and animal fries. I'm pretty sure you'll be living off fast food after paying for smog modifications and registration, but for a hardcore JDM fan that's no problem. 

One of my favorite Nissan's, one that is more attainable for the average salary, is the Silvia S15, a.k.a. Silvia "Strawberry". People have always asked, "why strawberry?", some say because the shape of the headlights or the sharp angles of the front end, but when have you seen strawberries shaped like that? 

Let me clear the air, if you don't already know.

Silvia S15, in Japanese they say "ese ichi go" which mean S15, but Japanese like making words shorter, like the case of the Toyota 86, they call it hachi-roku for 86. Hence the name for the silvia ichi-go for 15. I guess someone thought it was cute to call it strawberry because ichigo in Japanese also means STRAWBERRY!  

Enough talk about fruits, let's get back to this red beauty I spotted nesting in it's lonely parking spot. How could you miss this this strikingly bright red hue with contrasty white wheels against a monotone background to grab your eyeballs out of their sockets to get your attention? 

It seems like this car is not only the owner's track rat, but his daily driver as well. Somethings any car enthusiast can appreciate. It shows character of the car and the owner, even with limited "garage" space you can see that he stores is broken/back-up wheels on a pile of leaves, ECU wires, empty cigarette packs behind his car in broad daylight. 

From every aspect and angle of this car, you can tell every piece has it's function and that this car has been used for it's purpose of getting sideways as fast and as smooth as possible. 

One of my favorite features on this car, which usually gets my attention, is the vented fenders and carbon fiber canards. The carbon fiber not only accents the bright red paint, giving it that true blood racer look, but lightens up the car. Like the vents on the hood, air can pass through easier to give that turbo a better intake induction.

Always loved the way the S15's one piece headlights looked, black housing and HID projector headlights? Can't go wrong with that combo.

Don't see myself drifting or building a drift machine myself, but the drifter style has been one of my biggest influences for being involved with cars. The stance, the style, and definitely the sport itself are aspects I want to incorporate into one of my future builds...probably, in the far far far future. But one can dream and drool right?