I’ve loved cars since before I could talk. Like many boys, I played with hot wheels endlessly. I organized bracket races to see which car was fastest down the track, knowing exactly which ones would come out on top because I had done it 50 times before. Even now as I type this, I have at least 30 hot wheels hanging on the wall beside my desk!

Fast forward to high school and I was obsessed with cars, dreaming about the day I could have my own. I remember the first day I drove my family Ford Explorer to school, grinning ear to ear. I quickly moved on to a Ram truck, which I wasted no time customizing. Even today, I am incapable of leaving well enough alone.

I’ve been through 10+ cars since turning 16, but I still have my second one. It is a 1976 Datsun 280z that somehow I convinced my mom to help me buy for my senior project. I had no idea how challenging it would be, working on and slowly restoring a 40+ year old car. I also had no idea how much money it would cost. Eleven years, three engines, at least three transmissions later, and not a single bolt or part left untouched, I finally have it to a state that I am happy with it.

This car taught me to weld, when I converted it to CV axles and needed adapters. It taught me to paint, when my dad and I painstakingly stripped it down to bare metal, repaired the rust, and resprayed it in the garage. It taught me to figure out stuff on my own, because I was a high schooler / college student / recent graduate and I couldn’t afford to pay anyone to fix things or help me.

It also taught me how to fail. I have been towed home countless times in this car. From a faulty charging system burning the wiring to a distributor pickup failing 20 miles into a 250 mile drive from Spokane to Seattle, this car has probably made me more angry than anything else in my life.

The fact that it is done, in my garage, ready to be enjoyed at a moment’s notice, is testament to my ability to bounce back. I certainly took breaks from it; major failures left it covered and ignored for weeks at a time. I never gave up on it though, and I have a beautiful car to prove it now. It’s worth it every time an older man walks up to me at the gas station and tells me how 40 years ago this was the car that scared him for the first time. Or stories of people borrowing it from their parents to take to prom back in the 80’s. This car is a link to the past, to so many people’s pasts, and I love that it makes their day to see it on the road.

Enough sappiness, here are the details!

• Engine

  • L28ET

  • HX35 turbo

  • Custom intercooler and piping, and 3 inch exhaust

  • Megasquirt3 ECU

  • Supra 440cc injectors

  • Z32T transmission swap

• Suspension

  • Ground Control coilovers and camber plates

  • Koni MR2 struts

  • Apex Engineered front control arms, rear control arms, and quick steering kit

• Brakes

  • Rear disc brake conversion

  • Front Toyota caliper upgrade

  • Wilwood 1” master cylinder

  • Stainless braided lines

  • Stoptech drilled and slotted rotors

• Exterior

  • Seibon carbon hood

  • Carbon bumpers

  • TruckLite LED headlights

  • JDM fender mirrors

  • Rota RKR 15x9 wheels

• Interior

  • NB Mazdaspeed Miata seats

  • Momo steering wheel with custom horn

  • Radio delete with gauge pods

  • New carpet