Three paces north of the coconut tree and 'X' marks the spot.... Yep, it sure looks to us like Gavin Harris has got his hands on the last piece of ol' Captain Bluebeard's lost map and uncovered a veritable treasure chest of precious metal. I mean, how else would you explain the gold riches that have recently been bestowed upon his spectacular Nissan 200SX? Certainly, you could almost describe Gav's ride as shining bullion with wheels... It's one of those few cars that really is worth its weight in gold!
Two years ago, Gavin was looking for something current-model and ho-po to replace his $700 LX Torana (a step-up of truly momentous proportions!). Not fixed on just one sort of car, Gav took up the recommendation of a mate to check out the Nissan 200SX - an often under-rated vehicle. As you've probably figured out, Gav immediately fell in love with the SX and within two months he was releasing some of that huge potential that he saw hiding under its conservative 2-door panels.
During this face-lifted '97 200SX's more humble days, Gavin first showered it with "the usual" presents of a T28-sized ball bearing turbocharger (together with a 7/15 psi boost switch), K&N cone filter, GReddy blow-off valve and a front-mount bar and plate intercooler. You can thank Adelaide's Morpowa for the majority of this mechanical work. On the other side of things, back-pressure was cut down thanks to a 3-inch stainless D&T exhaust running a US race cat and a custom dual tipped rear muffler (a combo that, Gavin says, is completely drone-free). Once up and running - not surprisingly - this solid brace of bolt-ons yielded highly effective performance gains. Seat-of-the-pants technology confirms this beyond a doubt...
Next - on the tail-end of this hi-po package - came an Everlast Mufflers tubular extractor manifold, which went a little further to fully liberating the 2-litre SR's heart of gold - with a sizeable 167kW now measured at the back wheels. One hundred and sixty seven kilowatts at the back wheels from a 2-litre on only 15 psi boost - that ain't half bad is it? Moving attention away from under the hood, each corner of the car was also equipped with a 2-inch lowered variable-rate coil spring. This dropped the 2-door body sexy-low to the ground - but nothing out-of-control.
After all of these mechanical pump-ups and suspension drops, Gavin's 200SX made a visit the local make-up artist. It was time to transform the SX's factory bland styling into something truly eye-catching. Something unique. And - most of all - something c-l-a-s-s-y. Browsing through a compilation of body kits available both locally and from abroad, Gav (quite rightly) opted to go for a distinctive Veilside kit. Ahh, Veilside; the king of Japanese body kits! However, this skirts and bumper package wasn't about to get slapped on all higgledy-piggledy (like it had arrived!). The experts at Morpowa set to work for around three months making the kit integrate the way the factory would've liked it. Certainly, with their one-off mods (which also change some of the styling lines), you won't find another 200SX kit like it. And that can only be a good thing...
Now came the car's very first golden moment... In the first visit, A-Class Metal Finishers gold-plated the factory wiper arms and badges - and they sat on the dressed-up body absolutely exquisitely. So now - with a beautiful gown and jewellery draped over the svelte Nissan body - a pair of high quality shoes was needed to match. These came direct from Enkei and came in a box marked 18 x 8. (Big feet, this 200SX!)
With its new kit and rims, Gavin's baby really did look like a million dollars. But with an Adelaide car show looming near, it was only fitting that the car received a little extra special attention. It needed a theme. A hook to really give the car a unique identity. In the end - just in case you haven't picked it! - Gav liked the idea of splashing with around vast expanses of gold. Obviously, the sparkle and twinkle from the most valuable of the Earth's metals has a certain cred to it...
Since then Gavin readily admits the gold theme has "just gone a little boonta". Honest - it wasn't
intended to go that way! Take a deep breath - the present list of gold-plated beauty touches now extends to the seat rails, brake calipers, intake plenum, airflow meter, car phone aerial and extractors (which go on for shows only). There's probably more gold hiding around the place somewhere - it's hard to tell with all that sparkle... And, if all this wasn't enough, A Class even whipped up a couple of gold plated 200 SEX number plates! Oh, and - again purely for show purposes of course - a race-style side entry exhaust outlet was also hooked up to the turbo as well. ROOOAAAAR...
Barely six months before our photo shoot, Gavin decided he'd silk-line the inside of his Nissan jewellery box. A touch of soft elegance was injected with cream leather inserts in the door trims, rear seat, parcel shelf and hoodlining. These inserts feature a theme - curiously enough - of Wylie Coyote and the Road Runner... Gavin makes up some excuse that this was the only "suitable" design available at the time - but we know better than to believe that!
Trimmed in matching cream leather is a couple of Velo Podium race seats (embossed with 200 SEX, like the plates), plus there're Leading Edge white faced dials, a fire extinguisher and Autometer boost and oil pressure gauges to boot. The SX's boot, incidentally, is awaiting a full trim job - once a kickin' sound system is wired in.
Given the amount of detail that's gone into the car, Morpowa is literally the next thing Gav will be out to get. Not entirely happy with the present 167kW at the rollers, he's intending to go a full performance rebuild with the mandatory programmable management system. Gav reckons the stock ECU is what holding the power output back at the moment, which is exactly while he'll probably end up going for a top-shelf Autronic system. As a point of interest, though, we thought Gav
already had programmable management the way those long flames boomed outa the end of those side-pipes whenever he backed off the throttle sharply...
Certainly, impressing a big crowd is what Gav's SX is all about. The big wheels, the body kit, the interior, the gold, the side-pipes - and, of course, the power! Under pressure at last year's Summernats to pull a burnout, Gav kindly obliged and popped the clutch big-time - totally destroying the 265/50 rear rubbers amid a thunder-cloud of smoke! Hmm, at that rate, he'll have to melt down some of that mountain of gold just to keep in supply of tyres!
Contacts:
A Class Metal Finishers Pty Ltd
+61 8 8384 4331
http://www.aclassmetal.com.au/
Morpowa
+61 8 8264 2077
D&T Performance Exhaust
+61 8 8212 4100
Everlast Mufflers
+61 8 8396 3255
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