SEMA 2017: Jun Imai debuts his widebody Datsun Z

Five years ago, we watched as the pink slip of a dusty blue 1974 260Z was signed over to Jun Imai. It appeared as if attempts to turn it into something greater had been cut short, leaving a car that was neither stock nor carefully modified. If you had told us then that the tired Z would one day be a SEMA Show booth car, we would’ve bet good money against it. 

Perhaps even more amazing is the fact that this isn’t even the Z’s first full transformation. At Jun’s hands, it has undergone major surgery, first as a home-grown kaido racer, then as an G-nosed shakotan sled. Now it’s back to the original nose, but with the Rocket Bunny Pandem body kit popularized by Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift star Sung Kang. That’s three re-builds in five years.

Some of the car has stayed the same throughout its many iterations. Its midnight blue paint, for example, has stayed, along with custom graphics designed by Jun himself inspired by the Leyton House Formula One team. Other aspects have changed with the rest of the car, like the KW suspension and slick Momo Futura steering wheel.

Jun’s old Work CR01s are gone, replaced by massive 16×10 CCWs deep enough to take a bath in. Wrapped in slightly stretched 225/45-16 Yokohama Advan A052 tires, it looks ready to eat asphalt by the mile.

In the window was an upcoming Hot Wheels version of the car, designed by Jun during his day job as Hot Wheels’ lead designer. If it looks familiar, that may be because you’re thinking of the previous Fairlady Z casting, which he also designed, and which wears the same livery.

The current iteration is the car’s most extreme yet. If you’re attending the SEMA show, the car is on display at the KW Suspension booth in the Central Hall. But make sure see it now, because by the time the next big event rolls around, it could look completely different.