Our good friend Iby at speedwells refinishers is at it again, this is one guy that never seems to rest, even with a busy work schedule he still seems to find the time to put together a high quality build, you only have to look at this beautiful wide body Supra’s to see the guy has a serious problem when it comes to chilling out and relaxing, all we can say is he must have one very understanding wife. The Speedwell Supra builds need no introduction, the Red Bomb changed every year without fail, Ibrar was always honing and perfecting the little details, and sometimes those little details were hard to spot, not for us as we are all about the details, then he hit the scene with the the Black Bomb 11, to then shock everyone by selling them both, but as Iby said it was time to move on to new pastures new, we have already mentioned his up and coming Porsche 997R Bi-turbo build that will be taking place over the next few weeks in another blog post and we will cover that build in minute detail, but for now its this build that has grabbed our attention.
Speedwells Datsun 280ZX 2 Seater V8 Turbo under construction
We knew last year when we spotted a Datsun 280ZX 2+2 turn up outside the Speedwell HQ that he was planning another project, but those plans changed slightly when he acquired what he had been on the lookout for a while, the more desirable 2 seater version of the classic 280ZX, which just happened to be an unfinished project, the Datsun 280ZX is rare beast on UK shores, so the 2 seater is a peach of a find, nothing quite like an unfinished project especially when they can be had for the right money, and this shell was a perfect canvas for what is about to happen.
It wasn't long before the 280ZX was hit with the usual speedwell modification haul, with the inside being fitted with a half roll cage, boot floor mounted stainless fuel cell, rear bumper deleted and smoothed, arches cut back and welded ready for the fat rubber that will be housed under the new extended bolt on fender extension, that have been modified extensively for the new styled body.
The bonnet has also come in for some modification with a beautifully detailed vent that has been relocated and reshaped, the attention to detail is a credit to Iby’s skill set, he knows exactly what he wants and how to execute that process in to an award winning build, which we are sure this will be.
The engine choice is possibly not the choice most people will expect but we love it, we know the 2JZ and the RB26 has been mentioned, someone even suggested the 3.8 VR38DETT V6 from the R35 GTR, but its none of those as he had a spare 3UZ V8 Turbo, that he had sitting around, which will be matted to a BMW M3 6 speed gearbox, so a trip to Dynotorque for the necessary engine and gearbox mounts to be fabricated by the legendary skills of Craig Taylor.
DATSUN 280ZX 2 SEATER V8 TURBO
The next step the shell will hit the paint booth, with the colour yet to be decided, after that it’s time for the suspension components to be added from Techno toy tuning, with the beautiful constructed GTX2 adjustable control arms, coilover suspension and 5 stud billet hubs, that will be fitted to the refinished and upgraded 300ZX rear axle, the ingredients to this build are mind blowing.
We will be following the build as it happens, with wheel decision yet to be made, size, width, finish, along with the most important …the design, what we do know is it will be 3 piece forged, with huge outer lips. Bookmark this build as its going to be one serious 280ZX, yet again a contender for Europe’s finest.
