Chris’ Nissan 350Z - Built, Not Bought

May 23, 2025

Meet Chris - a hands-on car enthusiast with a mechanical mind, a background in engineering, and a serious passion for custom fabrication. His journey into cars started young, stripping apart toy models (and not always getting them back together). But things took shape properly at 15, when he found himself immersed in the golden era of Max Power and local car meets. From there, it was all about building, trimming, upholstering, and learning by doing.

He kicked off his career as an apprentice at Citroën before taking his skills to a whole new level in the British Army, serving with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME). Fixing vehicles in extreme environments with whatever was on hand built not just experience, but the confidence to take on anything.

“This 350Z is actually my first real show build. Normally I’d fix something up, enjoy it, and move on. This time I went all in.”

The vision started as a clean fast-road setup; dialled suspension, grippy tyres, subtle engine mods... But things evolved fast.

Rather than going down the well-trodden route of bolt-ons and catalogue parts, Chris wanted to do something more personal. The Porsche-style wide hips inspired the look, so he widened the rear arches by 40mm and fitted a set of Work VS-VX wheels. J11s at the rear and J10s up front to nail the stance.

The car is packed with custom work, all done at home with help from a few mates. Standouts include:

Custom widebody setup - Rear arches widened 40mm with universal arch extensions, plastic-welded into the OEM bumper and trimmed to fit
Custom vented front wings - Handcrafted for a unique silhouette
Hand-shaped rear diffuser - Based on an off-the-shelf fibreglass diffuser but cut and modified beyond recognition
J11 WORK VS-VX wheels in the rear, J10 up front - The fitment matches the widened body perfectly and nods to a Porsche-style stance
Custom headlights - because why not after making everything else bespoke?

The build process was raw and hands-on. After noticing some crunching between 5th and 6th, Chris stripped the car down on his driveway to sort the CD009 gearbox, only to discover some surface rust underneath. That quickly turned into a full underside refresh: sandblasted, treated, and painted right there on the drive.

While the car was stripped, it was the perfect time for upgrades:

HSD Monopro Coilovers - Fully adjustable, built for fast-road confidence.
Full adjustable rear arms & Driftworks front uppers - For dialling in geometry
Whiteline polybushes throughout - Hubs, knuckles, subframe and more
Uprated pads, MTEC drilled & grooved discs, braided lines - Braking upgrades to match the chassis setup

Then came the biggest twist in the story. Chris and his partner found out they were expecting twins. The 2-seater had to go... or did it?

“I got told to sell the car. Instead, I cut the rear out and fitted G35 rear seats.”

Rear seats?! In a Z?! Whilst most of us are removing our rear seats, Chris is adding them in...

From there, it turned into a more refined OEM+ build, but with a hidden twist. Inside it features a 370Z steering wheel, custom interior panels, a Bride retrim, and a Tesla-style screen. Hand-fitted to blend modern tech with factory feel.

Custom rear seats from a G35 - Fabricated to fit, trimmed to match.
Bride interior retrim - Tastefully done, and completely bespoke.
Tesla-style screen & 370Z steering wheel - Blending modern tech with daily usability
Handmade trims - Upholstered with that same attention to fit and finish he’s always had

Most recently, the car’s been evolving again. The clean look is staying, but there are plans for a livery down the line. And power? That’s coming too.

“I’ve been stockpiling turbo parts. Not going built, just a mild setup. 7PSI should keep it in the sweet spot without pushing the HR internals too hard.”

This really is the definition of a unique build, with plenty of bespoke parts throughout. A testament to Chris' ability to make, mould, fabricate and create a one of a kind 350z.

Chris recently showed the car with Auto Finesse at Japfest and has more lined up: Horizon, Japanese Performance Show, and possibly Rollhard, Players, Gravity, and a few other favourites.

It’s a proper home-built, family-balanced, no-compromise kind of car, and the kind of story that reminds you why people love this scene in the first place.

Big shoutout as always to Chris for his time on this, and to JIMIIB Photography for letting us use there photos of this epic build. The social tags are linked, you know what to do.

Think you've got what it takes to feature on our build breakdowns? Reach out to us and tell us what you're driving. Until next time 🤙