S13 Day Melbourne :: 1-3-13

Last Friday was a special date on the 2013 calender, it was dubbed “S13 Day” 1/3/2013. Local Nissan enthusiast and all round top bloke Niel Gray from Primal Garage eagerly set about organising a meet for Melbourne S13 owners to come together to celebrate the humble 25 year old chassis.
With a strict S13/180SX invitation only, I opted to go as a passenger in a friends Type X 180SX. This meant I could try my hand at a few rolling shots between the eastern suburbs pre-meet and the final destination, at the Essendon DFO Shopping Center.


We left the pre-meet at around 7pm with six Nissans, including this ‘strawberry’ faced 180SX. (So much for a strict 6:30pm departure!)

Thankfully the group decided to go via the freeway which allowed for tonnes of shots showing all the rides in action.

Once the group passed through the Domain Tunnel we joined the Tullamarine Freeway (Melbourne’s oldest freeway), where there is a bit more happening in the background which made for some interesting backdrops for a couple of shots.

There were a few funny looks from motorists as the pack made their way to the meet point in Essendon but we didn’t care!

We arrived to find a similar sized group already there waiting for us. Not knowing what to expect numbers wise, I thought it was pretty good just to see cars in the double figures.

There were already quite a few different examples of the older Nissan we have all come to love over the years and of course we had the regular S13/Silvia, hatchback 180SX and a few mix n’ match versions.
Pictured is a Onevia, which is the combination of a 180SX nose/front on the regular Silvia body.

Parked close by was the reverse combination, a Sileighty. You guessed it! A Silvia front end on the 180SX hatchback body.
Some of these ‘Sileighty’ variants were produced and sold in Japan for Nissan by a company called Kid’s Heart.

This particular Sileighty belongs to Jason, who has given the car a host of updates since taking ownership a few years ago. Not only has he attached a Silvia front to the car he has also then given that a complete freshen up!
The car now wears J Style ‘Brick’ headlights with 2up clear covers and URAS front grille.

All four corners have been dressed up with a GP Sports body kit and some uber rare D1 style rear window covers, rumored to be the only set in Australia too!

It seems it is the same story every time I shoot at the DFO Shopping Center, the light is always fading when I start so I run around like a mad man with his finger stuck to the shutter button before it gets dark.

Parked next to Jason’s Sileighty was Neil’s good ‘ol fashioned 180SX. As you can see, the Silvia front offers quite the transformation!

Neil’s 180SX is a very nice example of what the Type X can be. with a rather simple looking wide body conversion you could be forgiven for thinking it was from factory.

From looking at the fuel cap you can see just how much wider the car actually is. It’s also hard not to notice how well the AME TM-02 wheels fill out the widened guards!

Let’s play a game. LS Integra tailights or S13? Ok go!

The vibe at the meet was fantastic and chilled, with everyone taking some time to walk around and check out other people’s cars, just one of the joys of a smaller meet I guess. With some of the larger events held recently, it has been next to impossible to get around and see everything on offer.

There were quite a few late arrivals but none snapped as many necks as this clean and tidy RPS13 (Type X).

The sleepy eyes are a nice touch here.

The numberplate’s are a clue that this car originated from Queensland but has since migrated south to Melbourne. Surely this is a win for Victoria with such a nice 180SX now on our streets.

The bronze Volk TE37 wheels instantly reminded me of local drifter and fabrication extraordinaire – Nigel Petire’s red 180SX driftcar.

Perfect factory lines accentuated by a little bit of lowering (read – a lot!) and some nice wheels.

All in all some 20-30 Silvia’s were parked together over the course of the little event.

Although it was a strict S13/180SX meet, there were bound to be a few intruders… One of these things is not like the others, one of these things just doesn’t belong.

This two toned beauty stood out thanks to some interesting vinyl wrapping on the front fender. It is cool to see so many of the same make/model cars parked together and check out all the owners twists/touches they have added over the years.

This black Silvia was a bit more VIP style compared to the street look of some of the others. The big flared kit and dished Work VS-KF wheels do wonders for the boxy shape!

The light was really getting low at this point so we decided to try and clean up the lines of cars and get everyone into order so Silvia’s together on one side and 180SX on the other side.

While everyone was busy moving their cars I was drawn back to the white 180SX… So damn nice!!

This was the last we saw of the sun before it disappeared behind the shopping centre.

I tried my luck with a few old ‘camera on the end of a tripod’ snaps to get some wide shots of the cars together.

Even without the light the Primal Garage 180SX looked stunning!

I also loved how the setting sun made the bonnets look on these S13’s. The lines in the bonnet looked great!

One of the latest arrivals was Jacquii with her pride and joy. It is always great to see a female into cars, modifying and motor sports… Yep Jacquii has taken the car though it’s paces at one of the DECA days last year and has plans to drift it too!

Some of the 180SX’s parked together, from this angle you can see how striking the D1 vents are on Jason’s Sileighy but more on that in the very near future.

Another good example, here is a comparison between the standard tail lights on the left and the updated RPS13 (Type X) version on the right.

With the light completely gone and our stomaches fast becoming empty, it was time to hit up some fine eateries back in the eastern suburbs and we opted for dumplings of course!

This was one of my favorite meets of late, probably due to the fact that I got out of driving but most likely because of the good people.
It felt like the good old days, before cops knew what imports where and before the word ‘hoon’ had the meaning it holds today.
Hats off to a great group of enthusiasts and of course Neil for making this happen!
Thanks for reading,
– Gwyn.