Saw this car for the first time a few days ago.
A short history of chunky, Japan style.
Then.
Then.
Then.
Now.
I know what you’re thinking; that’s not a Skyline.
It’s a Silvia. By Kei Miura.
Miura does chunky bodykits.
But on this one he’s remodelled the entire front clip.
And in the process has completely changed the car.
Not a slave to its forebears, the shape takes on a life of its own.
The Silvia from back then. Pass.
The Skyline from back then. Yep. Flares and grille rings.
Headlights?
Cuda or Mero perhaps.
Three-quarters.
A9X or E24. Maybe both.
This is retro. It’s a slave to its forebear. Creativity starved of oxygen.
This is heritage. Done really, really well.
This is heritage. Done really, really well.
RX-7.
RX-3.
More than the sum of its parts.
Familiar.
Yep.
But Montecarlo.
Chunky, Italy style.
Daily driver is an E30 BMW.
Way cool office.
Hasn’t done as much to the rear of his cars.
But who knows.
hehehe
Childhood dream.
Kei Miura speaks to my soul.
…
Photos:
Dino Dalle Carbonare, Larry Chen, TokyoTuner, Aaron Mai, JC Pepino, pete_fas, Cymon Taylor
With appreciation to sensei-chunky Papa Squid
…
I like it. His sense of proportion is excellent. As are the color choices which completely alter the mood of each car. As an everyday driver, no, but as something to be appreciated from a design perspective, yes.
Thank you for this Don; it really made my day. I suddenly felt several decades younger, and it took me back to a time when stylistic experimentation at small tuning houses in Europe and such was still flourishing. Those days are long gone.
But thanks to the unique Japanese aesthetic sensibilities and Kei Miura, it’s still alive. I love what he’s doing. And I loved how you presented it. This was a breath of fresh air at CC.
It felt the same way writing this. Ageless.
+1. He fixes a mediocre front end and makes the car stellar.
+1 re the presentation and a breath of fresh air. My favourite article this year, thanks Don.
I saw a Rocket Bunny Silvia/240SX at the Japanese Classic Car Show. This kit looks great in person. The front end look totally changes the car. If I had a 240, i’d rock this look on mine.
He doesn’t change much of the look of the rear of the car because it is probably prohibitively expensive to do so. Front fenders bolt on, rear quarters are a much more costly thing to change.
The S14 certainly needs the help!
I think Don’s comment was referring to the lack of rear bumper.
Nice blue Brian. At the moment Miura hasn’t touched the rears probably for the exact reason you mention. This piece was a bit of a reverie, so I let my imagination run. In time, 3D printing will mean being able to replace every panel (probably except roof and glass). Rears are likely to stay the same length because of their structural/impact component. Rear lights and end-panels and cones may change though. And cones can be made longer.
I was not familiar with him or his work. Some fascinating stuff to look at here.
I would take the grey one parked in front of the cafe. It’s interesting that the move was made back to round headlamps. That change really makes the cars stand out. Those two opening pictures had me worried about this post!
Something totally new to me. Wow! Thank you for the introduction.
Surely Miuras BMW is an E36, from the dash panel ?
Love the purple RX7 , but changing the look of an RX7 may be sacrilegeous…
I’ve seen some of his work before, but didn’t realise just how clever he is.
He’s been around for a while. One piece showed this as his daily. Mebbe it changed.
might be this one. Apparently he has 20 cars.
BMW interior is an E36 for sure.
The dash panel is an E36 – I’d love to see what he has done with his daily driver….
Love the creativity displayed here.
Didn’t know about this guy –
it’s articles like this that make this site so eclectic, informative and enjoyable.
As to sneaking that retro Miura concept into the article – I see what you did there!
How about this one – a rebodied Mazda MX5 that was shown at the 2015 Tokyo Auto Salon
Nice try from this angle
It looks pretty good, the centre stack lets the interior down a bit as does the fake engine in the back (Ford V8 in front). See the link below for more photos (at the end of the article), and note they have done a Toyota S2000 as well!
http://www.speedhunters.com/2015/01/tokyo-auto-salon-spotlights-1/?utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm_content=dz2npM&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter#!dz2npM
That polystyrene block is a deal breaker. What the.
Brilliant article, and spot on treatment in letting the pictures speak with minimal verbiage. I had heard of his work before, but hadn’t realised just how talented and adventurous he is.
Both RX-3 and RX-7 were known as Savanna in Japan. Mr. Miura makes the relationship explicit.
Previously unknown to me, I’m very impressed. Thanks for assembling the story with such clarity.
I don’t recognise the car above the Ferrari/Fiat pairing. Jaguar? Help?
Momo Mirage. Looks nice in purple.
I had assumed Montiverdi, but it’s actually the 1972 Momo Mirage (from the file name), built by Frua and powered by the ubiquitous 350 small block.
https://www.conceptcarz.com/z21306/momo-mirage.aspx
Years ago I saw a Ferrari 400/412 auctioned off for a couple of grand – would have been a great donor for a mad project.
Interesting stuff though, going beyond the basic overfenders done by many.
Good call on the Monteverdi.
A great find and great work, He has a unique and creative take on restyling.
That is definitely a way cool office. That’s a Sharp GF-999 boombox on the floor behind the chair, early 80s vintage and very high end.
Thanks for sharing!
Very cool Don, I’d heard of him but never realised how prolific he’d been, vast improvements over factory styling.
Maybe he could fix what I think is broken with this one. Maybe old skool to have split grilles but I think it looks better.