Clean: You Have a JDM What?

This week's feature hails from Woodland Hills, CA. The car may be American, but the look definitely screams Japan. And it works. It really does.

Maybe it's just the fact that I love 80s sports cars with a shutouku theme, maybe it's the fact that the C4 Corvette is one of my favorite cars, (It's probably both) but when I ran across this car I knew I had to feature it. Travis, the owner, actually owns a small stable of interesting projects, including a very clean DSM, A Japanese gangster-themed Mercedes 190E, And a Nissan 300ZX.

The car you are reading about now is his 1990 Z51 Corvette. Instead of going the traditional American iron route with his mods, Travis decided to draw inspiration from Japanese highway racers. Before you write off this idea as completely random, you should know that there are imported, modified American cars cruising Japan's highways at night. And having spent time in Japan definitely skewed Travis' tastes in this direction.

This car is a work in progress, but with the body in fantastic shape, the modifications really stand out. First of all, the body's been lowered over the ARE mesh wheels, which feature stretched tires and 1.5" spacers in the rear. I rarely see a Corvette look this classy and aggressive at the same time. The stance really brings out this car's aggressive side.

Power mods are few as well. There's the K&N Filtercharger under the hood, but (if you haven't already noticed from the pictures) what you should really be interested in is the genuine HKS exhaust system underneath. That's right, a Corvette with HKS exhaust. I wish I could hear it in person, because Travis claims it sounds incredible.

This is not the last you'll hear about this particular project. As I said before, there's still work to be done, and Travis has some choice parts sitting in his garage waiting for installation. Travis actually sent me a pic of the twin turbo kit he's assembling. I know I want to see this thing when it's all ready, so expect another feature on this car whether you want one or not.