Dan Dunlap 1990 Nissan Silvia Q
Dunlap introduced me to the cool side of the car scene with his 1990 Nissan Silvia Q. This VIN was living in Japan for 26 years until 2016 when it was shipped over to the U.S. Dunlap had a fascination with cars from a young age, growing up in an American Classics family. It was 2015 when Dunlap was in early high school and talking to his friends about cars, when the infamous Nissan 240SX came up in conversation. Dunlap went home and looked up what the car looked like and stumbled upon the Nissan Silvia S13. Dunlap stated in his written documentation of his car history, “I immediately fell in love with the body style, the look, and the customization that followed these cars.” Soon after, Dunlap got his hands on a video game, Forza Horizon 2. It’s here where he started to learn about drifting the S13 in the game. The S13 was his first pick in any game he played. This rabbit hole led Dunlap to research videos from the 1990s about Japanese street drifting and get involved with the JDM styles of cars. Dunlap fought for a while to build his motivation to get his hands on a Silvia. Eventually, through saving up over time at work and searching for “the one,” Dunlap was scouring the used market online when he saw a listing for this car in Atlanta, Georgia. It came with an SR20DET, a 5-speed manual, and was rust-free and unmodified. He shared the listing with his uncle and had the confirmation he needed to go through with the purchase. Dunlap flew to GA, bought the car, and flew back home to OH where he had the car shipped to him. That’s how he ended up with this JDM icon titled under his name.
This car came out of the factory with a CA18DE motor and an automatic transmission. Eventually, during its lifetime, it was swapped with a Red-Top SR20DET and a 5-speed manual transmission. It's currently equipped with a Garrett T28 turbo, Tomei headers, ISR downpipe, and HKS exhaust. It’s sitting at around 10 lbs of boost and 270 HP. The stick shift sends power to the rear wheels.
The sleek looks of this car feature great quality black paint, 35% window tint, and upgraded wheels. It’s riding on Square G33 17x9 +15mm wheels on all four corners. The interior of this classy ride boasts a genuine Tsurikawa, an authentic Nardi steering wheel with a limited-run white stitch, and beautifully crafted fitment checker floor mats. It’s got small accessories like an Import Bible melody box and blue bulbs in the gauge cluster.
Dunlap has some valiant plans for this tuner ride. “The whole goal in a nutshell is to have a '90s build.” Eventually, Dunlap plans to finish his paint with a wet sand and buff job. He’s playing with the idea of having an OEM 2-tone silver and gray paint. There are plans to swap to a smaller wheel setup, being 16” or even 15” to complete the '90s retro look. Driver comfort mods like a smoother suspension and upgraded handling are also on the list. Eventually, the sound system will be upgraded with an old Pioneer head unit for CDs and some nice bass assisted by a subwoofer setup. The engine bay will be getting some needed upgrades with a new Link or Haltech ECU and a new wiring harness to ensure the SR20 runs flawlessly.
