If you've been around the Boise area in the past 7 years and are always on the look out for cool cars, this S13 is one you may have caught downtown one day and have never seen it again. The reason it seems like a myth is due to the owner, Pete Wilson, residing in San Francisco and only visiting his home town a few times per year. Since 2013 the car has looked just as you see it in these photos however for the length of Pete's ownership it has gone through many changes.
"I have owned this 1991 Nissan 240sx Hatchback since 2011. People often think these cars are unreliable or hard to maintain but I have to say this has been one of the most reliable cars I have ever owned. Part of this probably has to do with the relatively stock SR20 that is under the hood. When I purchased the car it already had the motor swapped into it but it was in bad shape. The turbocharger was giving up and subsequently it was smoking profusely. We replaced it with a simple GT2871r and 550cc injectors which I knew would provide reliable power without being too crazy. I sent the ECU off to RS-Enthalpy for a tune and it came back perfect. It is only pushing about 8-9 pounds of boost which is perfect for me. Not knowing the full history of the motor I never wanted to push it too hard. The car in sitting on Stance coilovers with Stance arms all around. I was inspired by Asano-San’s alignment and knew I wanted to go with a lot of front camber. Cameron Eisenman extended the lower control arms by 25mm for me which allowed me to achieve the alignment I was looking for. " - Pete
Pete only comes to Boise a few times a year, mainly around holidays as his family is still up here. With the car being stored at his parents he's able to have a safe place to store it and when he visits there's always a reunion with the car. Taking it out for a drive and soaking in the sound, feeling, and rustling up all the memories made with the car as if he never left. This being the first time I've met Pete outside of Instagram DM's it was a real treat to see someone so ecstatic to talk about their pride and joy. Looking over the car you start to see the little fixes, modifications, and personal flair throughout the whole build. The car isn't perfect by any means due to it being driven all the time when Pete still lived in the area. However that adds a certain charm to it, it wasn't made to be a show car which Pete is very adamant about.
"The car has been through 3 major aero changed since owning it. First, it had origin stream aero which I really liked. The fiberglass was super thick and the whole kit felt like quality, however it was short lived. I ended up putting the car off the road on bogus one night getting a little too crazy with some friends. Next the car had Origin Aggressive aero. I had to wait for almost a year for the kit to show up from Japan. When it finally arrived the fit was awful and required a lot of cutting and custom brackets. The fiberglass was paper thin and I wasn’t very happy with it from the start. I ran the car with this aero for around a year before I decided I wanted to go the Type-X route. I started piecing together the parts I would need for the Type-X, I knew I wanted to go with OEM parts (except the lip). I bought the two fenders separately, found the bumper and ordered the side skirts brand new. I was never able to find the rear valences but I should probably start looking again!" - Pete
The more you look around the car, the more you start to find neat little pieces that make it much more than your average 240sx. The OEM type-x aero being the first thing that changes the whole look of the car being one of the more uncommon pieces, but things like a VIS carbon hood, carbon headlight covers, 180sx quarter glass, and a kevlar HighEndPerformance bucket seat go unnoticed at first. Along with the more rare pieces you also have simple things like how Pete took the time and cut out the rear quarter plastics to fit around the half cage as neat as possible. Keeping the car simple but adding a variety of neat pieces to it really show the quality taste Pete has refined over the years. Even down to the color, similar to a Corvette C5 green but with a bit more flake making it glow in the sun really sets it off without being too flashy. Pair that with the bronze Work Emotion T7R's and you get a classy but aggressive look overall.
"Hoffman Auto Body on State street has always painted my cars and they are really good at what they do. I would suggest them to anyone looking for quality work! They were able to get the Type-X painted in record time. I got it back from them the day before we were supposed to drive to Seattle for Formula Drift and hang out with some friends. We stayed up late installing the kit on the car and set out for the 10 hour drive the next morning. The car worked perfectly the entire trip, I had thought about the motor getting hot in the 100+ degree heat the entire drive so I think I ended up with 15w-40 diesel oil in the motor. This is something I had heard older SR20 guys talk about running and it worked perfectly. The car didn’t have a single hiccup the entire trip there and back, however it was a little hot in the car with no A/C. " - Pete
Aforementioned above the car has basically been the same since it was put together after paint. A few basic things here and there have been cleaned up or added but for the most part it's at a point that Pete is comfortable leaving it alone. Talking about the car he mentioned possibly changing it up slightly with the Type-X rear valence and taking the spacers off the hood, but still nothing drastic. If anything is going to change on it I'm sure it'll be some time before it comes to fruition. This is something many people involved in the car scene should adopt is that you don't have to make huge progression or big changes in short amounts of time. Sometimes you just have to slow down and enjoy the car, friends, and the memories they create.
"Since I moved to San Francisco in 2013 the car just does a lot of sitting now. I am lucky to have a place to park it. I love being able to come home and drive the car, It starts up perfectly every time and it always feels like no time has passed. It is a car I feel connected to on a deeper level than any other car I have owned. I have had so much help from all of my friends working on it. From people coming to the rescue when I was stuck on the 5 lug swap, to friends helping weld a small pin onto the hatch for new dampers. Everyone has always been willing to help me out when I can’t do something myself. I feel like that is the most important thing to me about the car scene I am a part of. It has introduced me to people I am still best friends with today. Even if we never talk about cars we can still trace that back to the origin of our meeting. There are countless stories that center around this car, and that’s what I think cars should be. They should be a way to create memories that extend beyond a car or a car meet, but memories you can hold onto your entire life with some of the best people you know. " - Pete
I'd like to thank Pete for taking the time to meet up and write out some stories/info about the car!
Follow Pete @petewilson on Instagram
Also check out his photography @ www.petexwilson.com
- Joshua Brown
@luckyclub.us
Lots of awesome extras below!
