While it wasn’t the drifting abilities that first caught Kane’s attention, it was the fact that it was a slick looking, high powered sedan. Taking influence from his dad’s affection to Ford Falcon’s, Kane wanted to be just like his old man. Though he had a few years before he had his own license, the next best thing was to drive a Falcon in video games like Gran Turismo. The problem was “there’s no Falcon’s in Gran Turismo so I settled for the Japanese version”. And so entered the Chaser into Kane’s life for the first time and he’s been in love ever since, eventually buying the one you see today almost 7 years ago.

The car originally came as a bone stock, auto, pearl white 97’ JZX100. Like many other owner stories on this page, the goal was to have the car serve as a daily driver so the initial mods were pretty mild in nature. Some HSD coil overs along with some CR Kai’s completed the look while a Greddy front mount setup and custom dump back was fitted on for some power gain. When the stock turbo puffed the last breath, Kane opted for a Garrett GT3076r which was promptly installed in time for the incoming R154 manual gearbox. A custom split dump and hot pipe from Fabulous Fabrications and a new tune finished what was by all accounts a fun daily with plenty of smiles to be had. Six months of smiles to be exact.

A rear end hit whilst on daily duties saw the boot and rear bumper become a bit out of whack. And while no one wants to have their car damaged, the silver lining was that insurance was happy to shell out enough cash to have the whole car resprayed. Along with the usual dings, touch ups, the car also got a Series 2 bumper set installed during the respray process to restore the car back to its pearl white factory glory.

Just when Kane thought he was out of the woods, the car unfortunately hit another challenge. Uncharacteristically to these usually reliable motors, the bottom end let loose or as Kane put it, “left the chat”. After deliberation on the build options, Kane decided to keep it relatively simple and opted for a OEM + rebuild keeping the standard crank, rods and pistons. All the weak points were remedied through some upgrades like ACL bearings, ARP rod bolts, head studs as well as a suite of brand new gaskets, pulley kits and pumps.

The head also got a refresh and sports some HKS 264 cams, HKS adjustable cam gears, BC valve springs and retainers to get the most out of the VVTI engine. A new tune on E85 sees a very reliable 440hp at the wheels on 15 psi but future plans include running the motor through more boost as no doubt the motor has plenty more to give.

In what seemed to be an unending cycle of misfortune, Kane remembers that it was around this time that he separated with his long term girlfriend. “I was a bit lost as to what to do. Car. Car is what I’ll do”. Using the car to take the burden off his mind, work got underway to significantly change up the suspension to both tighten up and stance out the car in the way that you see it today. A stupid amount of money has been spent in this area of the car which at a partial level is difficult to appreciate. However once you step back and look at the car, it’s seamless and clean in the way it’s presented – a true indicator of a well modified car. 326 coilovers, DanyT and Dmax arms, Cusco braces and sway bars, Supero bushes; you name it and Kane’s probably got it.

While you probably established by now that the first respray above wasn’t the last given the pics, it wasn’t something that Kane was initially set on. “I was apprehensive about the change [but] the opportunity to do a full colour change came up and I kinda just went for it”. Knowing with the suspension done that the car could be lowered even more, Kane also got the guards cut more aggressively and the body panels pumped though the factory lines. The R154 box was also swapped out for a TR6060 6 speed which saw the whole engine and box both come out. Presented with the empty engine bay, Kane seized on the chance to shave the engine bay. With the body work done, the last bit to figure out was the colour which he eventually settled on a Lexus metallic grey.

The crowning piece to complete the new look was a new set of Work T7R2P wheels in 18×9.5 + 12 fronts and 18×9.5 +0 rears. The finished look is really something that can’t not be appreciated. Simply put, it is a very, very cool car to look at. The combination of the colour, aggressive stance and clean body lines really draw your attention from every angle. With performance and reliability to back it up, the car is almost near perfect and really has left no stone unturned.

Though it probably isn’t anything like the Chaser’s Kane played with in Gran Turismo or the Falcon’s his dad is into, Kane’s chaser is something he can really claim as his own. Sure seeing Daigo Saito’s red JZX screaming down Ebisu circuit is a sight to behold, it’s almost as satisfying to see the clean silhouette of the JZX rolling down the city streets on a Friday night especially when they look as good as Kane’s.

Special thanks to his close friends Michael and Blake who have helped on the panel and paint work, Buckna from Simply Tuning, Brock at Leeson Engineering, Nathan at Fabulous Fabrication, Darcy for always lending a hand, Goelbys Parts, Michael at Bambullant Towing and lastly Jess his girlfriend for her unwavering patience throughout the whole build.