Star Road is known for wild overfendered FRP body kits on Fairlady Zs, but what they revealed at the Tokyo Auto Salon was surprisingly stock-appearing. The unpainted sections aren’t really stock, though, because they’re made out of aluminum. The goal was to reduce weight while increasing strength and offering body panels that looked factory once installed and painted.
Star Road created six lightweight panels: the hood, doors, fenders and cowl. Together they are said to save about 30kg (66 lb). That might not seem like a lot, but the hidden sides of the panels are reinforced, increasing fender and hood strength by 20 percent and door strength by 50 percent from stock steel. The shape of the bracing on the hidden side of the panels is substantially beefier. They don’t mirror the factory panels, but due to the manufacturing methods and properties of the aluminum it wasn’t possible to replicate the original anyway, according to Star Road.
To develop the panels Star Road worked with Yahagi Sangyo, a shop in Toyota City that specializes in creating one-off prototypes for a major carmaker (can you guess which one?). The panels are friction stir welded It took more than a year to get the panels right and the quality shows. The fitment of the panels looks absolutely perfect, the gaps possibly tighter than what came from the factory in 1969. The panels will be available for purchase later this year but prices have not been announced yet.
but…….. ?
Ian’s getting a set free?
Corrected! 😆
The original Z just keeps getting better.
Star Road makes some great products. Things like this are what give me hope for future enthusiasts. I hear people complain about parts availability, and someday needed parts being unobtanium. However, I foresee a day we will be able to make many of the products we need at ridiculously small scale. 50 years from now, I can see an individual in a shed being able to duplicate most of what we would need.
I hope they can do the same for the Nissan D21 pickup truck 🛻