There is just something alluring about ladies going topless and this 1993 Nissan Silvia is no exception. While the Nissan 240SX has exploded in popularity in recent years this Tampa, Fla., based beauty from Fever Racing stands out from the masses.
As with most show-worthy cars, this S13 Silvia came from humble beginnings. The 240 was originally a neglected second car of a customer of Doug Mitchell's Z-Fever/Fever Racing shop. Mitchell was working on the customer's primary car and being short on cash, the customer struck a deal with Mitchell to trade him the 240SX for some parts. (We've all been down that road. It's what I love about our industry-bartering at its finest!) Mitchell planned to just throw an engine in it, stick on a body kit and sell the puppy. However, a glimmer in the 240's headlight must have convinced him otherwise because as the car progressed, he saw the potential for this lovely lady.
Having been in the automotive business for 12 years, Mitchell has owned too many cars to name, and has earned his stripes at Fever Racing as a race- and street-car builder. Mitchell's current stable of beauties includes an Acura NSX, Datsun 240Z, and a Nissan 300ZX twin turbo. He wasn't interested in expanding his family to include the Silvia, but something about her changed his mind.
When asked why he ultimately built the car, he said, with true Mitchell humor, to "attract women [and] run drugs across the border." Hey, isn't that why we all build cars? I guess we'll never know what exactly possessed the guys at Z-Fever to take a modest 240 and convert it into a wild right-hand drive monster. But we do know they did an outstanding job and we're glad they undertook the project.
Most impressive is that it took only one month (yes, month, not year) to build. Now there's an advantage to owning your own shop. Mitchell says the car in such poor shape to begin with they stripped it completely bare. After it was stripped nekkid it was converted to right-hand drive by Taylor Mahony of Durden Prefabrication using components from a JDM Silvia front clip. This conversion involved a lot of hand fabrication and improvising.
After the fabrication and JDM-conversion was complete it was off to House of Kolor for new coat of candy tangerine over metallic red. With the shiny new paint job complete Mitchell says, "the entire rest of the project was done in one shot." I think we might have to start shipping our project cars out to Fever Racing in Tampa to gets these kind of results.
As if the gorgeous paint and RHD conversion isn't enough, this lady packs a Silvia SR20DET engine under the hood hanging off Nismo mounts. Fever Racing completed the basic swap and then added some performance products as well including a Fever Racing polished intake manifold, custom downpipe, cat bypass pipe, titanium exhaust, and polished oil pan.
A Garrett GT-25R turbo paired with a Wasabe Garage exhaust manifold and TurboSmart wastegate brings the power. A mammoth Blitz LM intercooler chills the air intake, aided by DEI CryO2 intercooler sprayer and custom coolant reservoir tank. A GReddy Type-R blow-off valve and catch can were thrown into the mix as well.
Engine management is handled through a combination of a ROM-tuned ECU and is backed up with a GReddy Profec B Spec-II, Turbo Timer and gauges. An A'PEXi S-AFC II and wideband O2 monitor also join the party.