Minneapolis Street Sighting: Nissan 240SX

To be honest, I never really liked the hatchback 240s; I always thought they somehow looked worse than their notchback cousins. It's like--I don't know, exactly. I equated the notches with the Mustang notchback in terms of proportions, and the hatchbacks resemble a very bad interpretation of.. I'm not sure what to be honest. I won't completely chastise the 240SX hatch though. I give it credit for starting the whole tuner revolution that took the country by storm (and has since almost all but died off) with its cheap price of entry, wide range of aftermarket goodies, and countless engine swaps. While I do respect most properly tuned cars, this matte-white (really, just a hand-painted white paint job) example really doesn't do the 240SX series any good. It's like choosing a rusty, faded brown Mustang II Ghia to serve as an example for all Mustangs.
I usually don't feature ricer cars on here, but this duo is simply too terrible to pass up. Will I be featured bodykitted, hood-pinned Civics, probably not; I don't see enough 240SX' as it is, and these two just happened to be the first two of this generation I've seen in quite a while. While the 240SX line was introduced in 1989, and carried itself through the 1998 model year with three successful styling themes, the first generation cars don't quite get me excited. The coupes do, the hatchbacks don't.
Normally, I don't get all excited when a ratty vehicle with both body damage and ricer mods shows up in my range of vision, but this thing was to wretched to simply ignore. And so, I decided to take the chance that the owner was in the store, and scrutinize this monstrosity more.








With all the useless and a faddish decals cluttered up the rear window, my favorite has to be the "Stay Classy" simply plastered onto the uncleaned window with the factory still attached. I mean, seriously. The point of decaling a car is to remove the factory pieces first, not simply slap some crap over them. I also like the 'Elements of Creativity' decal. I realize its for a tattoo parlor, but there is nothing on this car that even comes close to oozing any kind of creativity. Green wheels? Seen it before on tons of VWs. White paint? That's common too. Cracked bodykit with ill-fitting license plate mount? I see it all the time on various modified cars. Nothing new. And the "Fuck You" says a lot about the owner. Maybe he's proud his car looks like this.. for all I know it's a mad tyte drift beast on weekends, but I highly doubt it.
Aside from the generic ricer mods, this looks like it probably was a clean example. Despite the ass-backwards paintjob, it appears that this car never had any rust, but since the sideskirts were shittily installed, it will in the near future. Having exposed screws and zipties definitely can't be good for the car, much less the roads. I usually don't rag on cars unless they're either stupid, or potentially dangerous for other road users, but this is an accident waiting to happen. I would like to see the bodykit break off and go tumbling down the street, being hit by other cars. Maybe only then will the owner realize what a shitty mistake he made.

Minneapolis Street Sighting: Nissan 240SX

If there's any one car trend that possibly annoys me the most its the new trend of modifying import cars to "be cool". It started as the hellaflush trend, in which the tires are stretched, and the vehicle is sitting low enough that it needs to clear speed bumps and road imperfections at angles to avoid bottoming out. As the hellaflush trend has hit Minnesota, once decent-looking examples of sporty cars are being plastered with stickers, and finished in an odd mix of matte and bright colors. Not very pleasing to the eye, is it? Sadly, this Nissan 240SX is reminiscent of almost all the surviving specimen here in Minnesota. And this car deserves the term. "shitbox". While it probably is a "drift car" on the weekends, it has no excuse for looking like this.







This particular saddens me; I usually don't blog car I have a personal connection with, but this one is owned by a classmate. Every time I see him, I tease him relentlessly about his "sweet ride." I know he loves his little "driftmonster" as he calls it to death, but damn. The missing grille, cheap-ass aftermarket headlights (actually they're likely JDM Silvia units) , and iffy quality of matte paint are no excuse for modifications. The carbon hood was probably double what he paid for the car initially, and I hope the rest of the car gets the bodywork it desperately needs. Inside, the quality of his craftsmanship astounds me to say the least. No pictures of the interior, but.. stickerbombing everywhere, and the trim is all but gone. Oh, but there's a wood steering wheel. Gotta keep it classy somehow, right?
Usually, I don't openly frown on a friend's car, but honestly.. I know this car has seen better hands, and at this stage, it's probably only destiny is to be wheeled around an empty Home Depot parking lot at a 45* angle whilst churning up a mixture of tire smoke and broken exterior parts. From what I understand, the exhaust has been replaced twice in the last seven months, and the front clip has been replaced as well. Aside from my snide comments about the workmanship, the owner is a nice guy, and does accept that most Nissan fans detest his car. Not the car, really, but the modifications done to it. I can only hope he does actually spruce up the SR20 so it can outrun the massive ugliness. As it is, it's just another half-assed "stance" car on a budget that's just waiting to get eaten up by the rough, pothole-filled streets of Minneapolis. And that's how it should be when you stance something and don't do it right.