This is definitely not one for the purists, but it certainly deserves recognition. Remember the character “Han” from the Fast and Furious franchise? Well, it turns out the American actor that plays him, Sung Kang, is a pretty big car guy off the silver screen as well. For this year’s SEMA Show, he teamed up with GReddy, Tra-Kyoto and HiTech to create this masterpiece, the Fugu Z.
The project car chosen was a 1973 Datsun 240 Z, which Sung Kang purchased from a seller that had it garaged for 15 years, although it was still in good running condition and more importantly, rust-free. From there, the restomod kicked off with the Datsun being stripped of its brown paint along with everything else, right down to the frame, and sandblasted.
Sung Kang and his team had planned to build a car that can be used as a daily driver and a track car as well. As such, the car’s chassis received its share of upgrades including McKinney aftermarket frame rails and Techno Toy Tuning adjustable coilover suspension. The team even installed a six-point GReddy roll cage for safety purposes during track days.
For the exterior, Tra-Kyoto and its designer Kei Miura supplied a bespoke Rocket Bunny body kit that gives the 240 Z its widebody stance. The car is then painted with original 904 White Paint Code from Datsun and fitted with Volks Racing TE37 SL alloy wheels wrapped in Nitto Tires. Step inside and you’ll find a minimal, race-inspired interior complete with racing harnesses.
Under the hood is another masterpiece in the form of a Nissan 2.6
litre RB26DE naturally-aspirated inline six-cylinder engine. The
powerplant receives some modifications from GReddy although no power
figures were disclosed. In its stock form, the engine is rated at 217
hp/245 Nm. However, according to GReddy, the engine’s rev limit is
stated to be around the 12,000 rpm mark although it will be governed to
10,000 rpm for reliability reasons.
As impressive as the Fugu Z is, it is the build process which amazes
even more. With only 65 days till the SEMA Show, the team had to rush to
ensure it managed to meet the deadline. All the hard work finally paid
off as the car was named “Best Import” at SEMA, and even selected by
Kazunori Yamauchi as the “Best in Show” for the annual Gran Turismo
Awards (the car will feature in the upcoming Gran Turismo Sport video
game). If you’re curious why Sung Kang nicknamed the car the Fugu Z, the first part of the name “Fugu” refers to a poisonous blowfish. As a Japanese delicacy, the blowfish must be prepared very carefully to ensure that all traces of the fish’s poison is removed before consumption. This is also a warning that if one does not prepare a racecar carefully, it can kill you.
The Fugu Z’s build is documented in a four-part YouTube video series that you can watch below. What do you think of the Fugu Z? A wonderful interpretation of a restomod or something sacrilegious? Let us know in the comments below.
