Nostalgia Trip: Ryan Coffel’s Nissan 240SX
It’s safe to say that in the course of any given person’s life they’ll meet someone that will inevitably alter their life forever. You never know when you meet them, it’s only in those moments of retrospection that you begin to discover who they are. I found that out long ago and I realized that one of those people is one of my best friends, Ryan Coffel. It’s truly crazy to think how different my life would be had I not bumped into him at a checkout line in Publix with a hotwheels car in my hand. Had I not met him, I would have likely not pursued automotive photography in the way that I did, I would not have bought the cars I bought, or done so many things that I have done. In the same sense had he not met me, he might not have acquired this very 240SX. After all, I was the one who drove with him to go buy the damn thing and who knows if he would have been able to get it if I didn’t go with him.
While yes the car in itself warrants greater discussion, to me the story here is about how truly far this thing has come. When Ryan and I drove up into Tennessee for him to purchase it, it was brown, on stock wheels, and likely would have never been taken to near the level it’s at today. I still have photos of it from back then and I remember how rough around the edges it was. Sure it was ready to take whatever you would throw at it, but its potential back then seemed much more limited. Ryan wanted to have it as a driftable daily and it was totally capable of that, but I don’t think either of us back then imagined it could be as great as it is today. At the time Ryan had a full metal widebody LS400 that was his pride and joy, so this simple S14 was obviously going to get nowhere near the same level of treatment.
Of course, once Ryan tapped back into his roots, AKA his love of drifting, that changed. It wasn’t long before the LS400 had gone and the S14 was the main focus of his car building habits. It started simply as a stock body drift car and after running through a gambit of different events it definitely was a bit worse for wear. I distinctly remember it losing a wheel mid corner. Along the way to its current form, it continued to sport a brown coat of paint, a variety of different wheels, setups, and at one point it even wore a very aggressive looking Car Modify Wonder kit. Unfortunately I never got the chance to truly photograph it in that state. I was across the country at the time and when I was around, it was either not running or damaged, but I still distinctly remember it. As good as it was, it pales in comparison to its current self.
At some point in its used and abused drift car era, Ryan had to take a step back from it all to take on cancer of all things. Being the resilient bastard that he is, he fought through it all. It took him quite a while to return to normal and get back into the swing of things and after taking a few detours with some other cars he once again returned to that beaten down S14. A lot of thought, effort, time, and money went into the third version of this car and it’s endlessly apparent as you look through it. It went from the dailyable drift car to the s-chassis build that he longed for.
Going from brown to a bright and vibrant bayside blue is the most glaring of all changes. For the entire time I’ve known Ryan, he’s been nothing but a diehard Nissan fan, so choosing one of their most iconic colors is a no brainer for him. Continuing the nostalgic decision making, the full Vertex Ridge body kit really harkens back to that early aughts styling. The more modern but retro looking Advan GTs and TCIIIs finished in chrome round out that early D1GP aesthetic that Ryan was aiming for with this build. One of the other standout upgrades from when he originally picked it up until now is the multi-colored SR20DET that sits proudly in the engine bay. The tried and true turbo-four from Nissan’s hey-day makes a modest 330hp thanks to the Twisted Motions GT2871 and a standalone Haltech ECU to manage it all, not to mention the litany of other nice pieces of kit that make up Ryan’s blue beast. Did I mention it's six speed now? Long gone are the days of a stock body KA24DE, odd colored drift car. Ryan has successfully taken what was once a rather homely looking S14 into the future-past of nostalgia driven, high-caliber build.
I could go on and on about the various pieces that Ryan has thrown onto this car, but frankly spending too much time on the technical details makes my eyes glaze over. I like hitting the signature pieces and letting the eagle eyed reader discern what they can from the photos. To me, seeing this car in the state it is in today makes me so damn proud of my friend Ryan. It was never really that bad of a car, but to see him take it to this level despite everything he’s been through is so inspiring to me and I’m so glad he’s still with us today. I’m thankful I got to photograph it and I look forward to seeing him drift it one day. Love you buddy.
