The year is 2011. You get home from high school and fire up the Xbox 360; Forza Motorsport 4. Impatiently mashing the A button to get you through the loading screens, finally, there she is!

You’ve recently got your hands on the Top Secret D1-Spec S15, and you’ve been driving it non-stop since. But, for Ryan, the obsession didn’t stop there. His love for this car led to researching and following different S15 builds. So a passion for the S-Chassis formed relatively quickly.

Once he was old enough to buy a car of his own, Ryan searched for an FD RX7 or 180SX. Yet, he found himself wanting the newer creature comforts and aftermarket availability of a more modern car.

He found himself in the market for an 200SX S15, searching and sifting through any vehicles available in the country. About to give up, a chance meeting with a local S15 owner at a petrol station started the conversation. And a few weeks later, he sealed the deal on his first car; a 2002 Nissan 200SX Spec R GT.

The newly purchased S15 was a generally clean and stock example. The car was sporting a modified exhaust system and front-mount intercooler. Ryan was happy that he’d found a respected model. But, unfortunately, as is familiar with this market of vehicles, looks can be deceiving.

The S15 proved to be a reliable daily for Ryan over the next few years. Although, as the modifications started, the value of the S-chassis kept rising. He found himself needing to invest on a daily.

Sporting a 9N Polo GTI cured the itch for a little while. But, changing it up with a GRS204 Crown Hybrid as a bigger, more practical car has given Ryan quite the garage. This also allowed the ability to make his dream ‘forever car’ from the S15 start taking form.

“The main goal was to show me what I could do. The ability to gain a lot of knowledge during the process and show that with the final product. Besides, I wanted to build my childhood dream car that I would be super happy with.”

Ryan’s university was closed during the pandemic, which presented itself as an opportunity. Also, Ryan was hoping to finish the car in a reasonable timeframe and have the ability to work on the car daily.

So it began. Out came the factory SR20, and things snowballed from there. Ryan had been scouting prices for a closed-door respray to refresh the silver paint. But, giving in to the desire and opportunity of a full-colour change, he pulled the pin and decided to go all out.

After removing the engine, his friend Ezra relocated the fuse box into the glove box. Next, let Ryan strip the engine bay and smooth out the arches and any visible holes.

Then, when sanding back the rest of the car in prep for the midnight purple 3 paintwork. Ryan found the hidden issues of purchasing a pre-owned JDM car.

The driver’s rear quarter had a thick layer of filler lying underneath the paint. Along with the metal buried further down had seen severe abuse. Luckily, he found a rear cut-off of an S15 that could replace the rear quarter. Over the next few weeks, the car was completely stripped, and the new panel fitted.

The car was then prepped and ready for the midnight purple 3 paint within a few months. Ryan was searching for a reputable panel shop to fulfil the task of the full respray, with a shop on the Gold Coast ticking all the boxes.

Even though there were a few hiccups and delays, the car was back home. Over a few weeks, all the accessories and interior components got fitted, and the car was swiftly coming together.

While the car got painted, Ryan and his dad also had the motor built and ready to be carefully installed in the midnight purple 3-engine bay.

A whole bunch of the interior pieces were carbon laid by SGT Composites. Then giving the interior an incredible new look. Perfectly matching the new Bride seats, Ryan found things moving quickly.

After the engine was sitting smug back in its bay, Ryan replaced all the fuel lines and the power steering lines under the car due to relocating the pumps to the boot. Along with now housing a 5.5 surge tank and two feed pumps.

The whole car has had Teflon braided lines and fittings used. Including new ABS hard lines, which are out of sight. Leaving a clean and shaven-looking bay.

Within 13 months, the car was ready for its start and off to the dyno for tuning. At this point, some VCT issues were quickly fixed, and the car ran flawlessly.

Ryan was happy with the 540hp result, running 28psi through his Gen II GTX3076. The car would later go to Deluxe Detail for them to go over the paintwork and apply the ceramic coating. The result was a perfect shine on the new LX0 midnight purple 3. Leaving an utterly different finish from when the car first got painted.

Ryan’s dream car was finally complete and looking better than ever. The final touch is the gorgeous billet rocker cover. Arriving just before the shoot and sitting at home in the midnight purple 3 engine bay.

Where to from here? Ryan hopes to install a new Haltech ECU. With plans involving fitting a VVL head and potentially going to a grippy time attack setup.

Either way, with a car that looks/drives like the S15, you can’t help but smile—finding any excuse to get the 200sx out of the house.

Ryan would like to first thank his family for being so helpful during the process. Ryan’s Uncle Stephen, for his expertise with the body and midnight purple 3 paintwork. Ryan’s girlfriend, Kiara, for her patience and understanding through the S15 build process.

Ryan would also like to thank Justin from Horsepower Solutions, Billet Inc, Ezra, Lucas King and Jerry from Direct Clutch for their help and involvement in making this dream a reality.