In this deep dive, we uncover the incredible story of this S13 180sx, the origins of Mitsuru Haruguchi, 326 Power and a shop called Car Planner Zone.
After 18 years, I finally own my dream 180SX! Built by Zone and Designed by 326 Power in Japan, this car survived Europe and returned to Ireland. Now, it’s time to share its wild history!
Ireland is packed with sheds; when you think you’ve seen or heard about it all, something comes down the wire, and you must check it out. Paul Stryker and family have been in the scene for years, and Paul himself is a big Nissan guy. He asked us to look at the family collection some time ago, and it didn’t disappoint. The chicken sheds on the land were filled with cool cars like this Ex Uras R34 skyline, which survived the Ireland import boom in the 2010s.
I remember seeing photographs of this S-chassis online many moons ago and couldn’t believe this car was coming to Ireland. I had a chance to see it only once at our local race track, Mondello many years ago and then it seemed to vanish off of the face of the earth.
Ah yes, the Rps13….. a chassis know to pretty much any person who has an interest in Japanese cars, otherwise referred to as the 180sx or the 200sx/240 depending on where you are reading this from. This chassis was made for ten years and has dominated the drift scene for pretty much the same amount of time. I have no doubts that the RPs13 will have as much of a cult following for the next thirty years as the AE86 following has shaped into at the minute, both cars are perfect mascots for the activity we love so much…. The s13 chassis is easily one of the best FR platforms to ever come out of Japan.