Keepin’ It Simple: Thai Nguyen’s Twin Turbo 300ZX

The 300ZX sits in a rather peculiar place in Nissan’s historic sports car heritage.  The model’s younger brothers, the 350Z and 370Z, have a massive following in the stance and performance communities, serving as both the poster boys for classic Japanese RWD antics, and at the same time showcasing some of the most impossibly low static setups we’ve seen.  The ZX’s ancestors also are enjoying a revival in today’s retro JDM crave, with pristine 240Z and 260Z prices beginning to rise to well-deserved levels, edging near their American and European counterparts.  Depending on who is asked and the model considered, the 300ZX (both the Z31 and Z32 models) however, were either sluggish coupes masquerading as sports cars, or capable machines with overly-complex turbo set-ups.  There is no denying, however, that Thai Nguyen’s pristine 1991 Twin Turbo unit represents the beginnings of a golden age of Japanese performance in the 1990′s that included venerable models like the Supra, RX-7, NSX, and the JDM Skyline GT-R’s.  Thai’s approach to his Z has been one of preservation rather than transformation, creating a perfect balanced example of one of Japan’s finest, yet under appreciated, performance models.

Thai’s most obvious contribution to this Z’s aesthetic are the polished CCW LM20s.  Perfectly framed by the arches of the big coupe, the monochromatic scheme allows for the coupe to speak for itself, aided only with the addition of a Stillen front lip and JDM tailights from the 1999 model that further evolved after the death of the USDM line in 1996.

Thai’s plan for this car was not to create a simple showpiece of Nissan’s performance heritage.  Thai asserts, “My goal for this build is to have a well balanced project, between looks and performance.  The main purpose is to push the car to its potential and drive it the way it’s meant to be driven.” In other words, this ain’t meant to be a hard-parker like so many of the castrated performance cars in today’s stance scene.  The Z sports a full host of modifications to the intake, exhaust, transmission, and ECU insuring that Thai extracts every bit of that classic 90′s turbo excitement.

Thai would like to shout out to his Xclusiv: Alliance family.  He says, “Having this project is fun, but meeting the people along this journey has meant the most to me.”  He also thanks Canibeat and the crew, including Brendan Lester, for reaching out for the feature.