Welcome to a little flashback using nostalgic pictures from the past, specifically from the time when Thomas and myself started getting obsessed with the madness that is motorsport and drifting.
When I first met Thomas, I would not have thought things would play out like they did. We were barely 17 and were both starting off our work life as IT apprentices. The more I got to know Thomas, the more I noticed his obsession with cars.
He would check out the pictures of supercars on the internet or look at weird and spectacular drifting movies from japan. But all that did not bother me at all at the current time. I was not interested in cars or driving. For some reason, I just couldn’t be bothered.
The S13 that started it, sitting in it’s natural habitat. It was already slightly modified here
Even after I’d turned 18 (Thomas had his license for almost a year now) that didn’t change. Until I took my first ride in my fathers car. The instant I took the wheel I just could not stop! It was quite an alien concept to me, driving. But for reasons I still can’t fully comprehend I’ve been addicted to any sort of driving, be it cruising on the streets, touge racing or taking it to the limit on any track since then.
The S13 of Thomas again. Can you tell we were touge-mentalists?
After it was established that driving still is something I can get excited about, the question at hand was: What to drive? At that point I still didn’t care about particular types of cars or brands. As long as it rolled and wasn’t colored pink or turqoise or some shit then it was good enough for me.
We’d travel to the biggest mountains in Switzerland, just to turn around and drive home again
This quickly changed when Thomas got his Nissan 200sx S13. Now we were not just rolling around in crappy Micras and Sunnys. No, we were rolling in SPORTS CARS!
Obviously our money back then went into our cars, not our clothing. Hobo life!
Of course the ’89 s13 was old, rusty and probably most of it’s suspension was falling apart. But still, this car provided an incredible feeling of speed and rear wheel drive agility whenever Thomas took it up to high revs. I knew I needed a sports car just like that.
My very own green S14 soon followed…
It was only about 1 year later that I finally saved up the money to get myself a 200sx. And I even got the later model, an S14! Oh what a world that was, 2.0 litre turbocharged engine with 200 horsepowers!
Back in the day 200hp was more power than any object in existence! That was jet fighter speed to us! Of course it was wobbly, slow, laggy and unstable but we didn’t care and enjoyed every minute of over the top mountain pass driving in our S-chassis cars.
We started hanging out with guys of the swiss 200sx owners club as well
Thomas had even started with MAD TUNING on his engine, increasing the boost using a „manual boost controller“ … which was basically just a cheap valve with a spring in it. That’s just WICKID, man!
Thomas always wanted to drive quickly, tried to improve his driving techniques and lines while not investing alot of money in tuning. I on the other hand was a moron and thought the speed of a car & driver is always directly proportional to the amount of modifications installed on the car.
After I discovered the wonders of performance parts, my car was in the shop constantly.
I started going mental, stuffing my s14 with jdm-tight mods left and right. Blow off valve here, boost controller there, adjustable suspension, sway bars, struts, rods, pillowball arms, steering wheels, you name it. More often than not the cheap know-off brand parts I’d used did more harm than good.
Drifting at the Hockenheimring. Our first high-speed drifting experience!
Nonetheless we started to partake in drifting events from time to time which took place an a remote airfield in Tuttlingen, Germany. Bring some tires and fuel, and you could rip it up on a small airfield the whole day. I guess this was about the time we first properly started drifting.
Thomas giving it hell on our first proper drifting event in Germany
It was just sooo mental and fun to throw the car into these corners above the limit of driver’s ability and car’s stabiliy. We kept coming back to Tuttlingen quite often for more. Of course the speed and general madness increased with every time we went out, and we even started attending some drifting trainings in France as well…
Me beating the crap out of the S14 in Tuttlingen, Germany
Until things went horribly wrong. I had just agreed with Thomas to do a ‚Touge style‘ battle where I’d basically follow him at high speed over the small german airfield track as closely as possible.
Until he ran wide in a long corner and had to brake hard. I remember like it was yesterday when I stupidly followed his understeering line right into the back of his s13. BOOM.
Oh my goddo, crashuuuuuu!!
My world was shattered – back in the day we did not have various mechanics and supporters on track to help fix issues and crashes. For me, with all my mechanic inability, this car was now totally broken.
You fail at drift battle!
If an accident like this happened today I’d laugh loudly and kick the fender and hood with my feet until it’s straight again, apply zipties, spray some black paint on and tell myself „Fixed forever!“
Ouch! It was just cosmetic damage though, but I didn’t realize that back in the day.
But being young and stupid I concluded that I needed a new car now. I went home depressed and sad, then went on the internet to look for S14’s. I found an good offer just that night, which was really a fluke since it’s hard to find good S14’s in Switzerland.
Just one day later, I had already bought this new S14. It was the same spec and color as my old one. We swapped a few mods on my parking lot and that was it.
I’m seeing double! And my parents were none the wiser after we hid the crashed car
I think my parents and various friends, even to this day, have no idea that I’ve actually owned TWO s14’s because the new one looked just the same and I never really mentioned the accident to most of them.
Thomas drove around with a broken rear bumper for at least 1 year after the incident, proving that he didn’t give a fuck what a car looks like as long as it performs. Nice.
Thomas was either colorblind or just couldn’t be bothered. I think it was the latter
I guess we were always drifters by heart. Good times.
And some more shots just because I’m getting nostalgic…
Taken at the Nürburgring, this shows my current S14 already modified, but still road-legal
Some drift training in France
Something rarely seen: A drifting event in Switzerland, near the mountain passes
Parked near a 14-km long ONE WAY mountain pass during a roadtrip to Croatia, Zagreb
Rolling with the corollas during another very small parking lot drifting competition
Starting to look meaner…
Welcome to a little flashback using nostalgic pictures from the past, specifically from the time when Thomas and myself started getting obsessed with the madness that is motorsport and drifting.
When I first met Thomas, I would not have thought things would play out like they did. We were barely 17 and were both starting off our work life as IT apprentices. The more I got to know Thomas, the more I noticed his obsession with cars.
He would check out the pictures of supercars on the internet or look at weird and spectacular drifting movies from japan. But all that did not bother me at all at the current time. I was not interested in cars or driving. For some reason, I just couldn’t be bothered.
The S13 that started it, sitting in it’s natural habitat. It was already slightly modified here
Even after I’d turned 18 (Thomas had his license for almost a year now) that didn’t change. Until I took my first ride in my fathers car. The instant I took the wheel I just could not stop! It was quite an alien concept to me, driving. But for reasons I still can’t fully comprehend I’ve been addicted to any sort of driving, be it cruising on the streets, touge racing or taking it to the limit on any track since then.
The S13 of Thomas again. Can you tell we were touge-mentalists?
After it was established that driving still is something I can get excited about, the question at hand was: What to drive? At that point I still didn’t care about particular types of cars or brands. As long as it rolled and wasn’t colored pink or turqoise or some shit then it was good enough for me.
We’d travel to the biggest mountains in Switzerland, just to turn around and drive home again
This quickly changed when Thomas got his Nissan 200sx S13. Now we were not just rolling around in crappy Micras and Sunnys. No, we were rolling in SPORTS CARS!
Obviously our money back then went into our cars, not our clothing. Hobo life!
Of course the ’89 s13 was old, rusty and probably most of it’s suspension was falling apart. But still, this car provided an incredible feeling of speed and rear wheel drive agility whenever Thomas took it up to high revs. I knew I needed a sports car just like that.
My very own green S14 soon followed…
It was only about 1 year later that I finally saved up the money to get myself a 200sx. And I even got the later model, an S14! Oh what a world that was, 2.0 litre turbocharged engine with 200 horsepowers!
Back in the day 200hp was more power than any object in existence! That was jet fighter speed to us! Of course it was wobbly, slow, laggy and unstable but we didn’t care and enjoyed every minute of over the top mountain pass driving in our S-chassis cars.
We started hanging out with guys of the swiss 200sx owners club as well
Thomas had even started with MAD TUNING on his engine, increasing the boost using a „manual boost controller“ … which was basically just a cheap valve with a spring in it. That’s just WICKID, man!
Thomas always wanted to drive quickly, tried to improve his driving techniques and lines while not investing alot of money in tuning. I on the other hand was a moron and thought the speed of a car & driver is always directly proportional to the amount of modifications installed on the car.
After I discovered the wonders of performance parts, my car was in the shop constantly.
I started going mental, stuffing my s14 with jdm-tight mods left and right. Blow off valve here, boost controller there, adjustable suspension, sway bars, struts, rods, pillowball arms, steering wheels, you name it. More often than not the cheap know-off brand parts I’d used did more harm than good.
Drifting at the Hockenheimring. Our first high-speed drifting experience!
Nonetheless we started to partake in drifting events from time to time which took place an a remote airfield in Tuttlingen, Germany. Bring some tires and fuel, and you could rip it up on a small airfield the whole day. I guess this was about the time we first properly started drifting.
Thomas giving it hell on our first proper drifting event in Germany
It was just sooo mental and fun to throw the car into these corners above the limit of driver’s ability and car’s stabiliy. We kept coming back to Tuttlingen quite often for more. Of course the speed and general madness increased with every time we went out, and we even started attending some drifting trainings in France as well…
Me beating the crap out of the S14 in Tuttlingen, Germany
Until things went horribly wrong. I had just agreed with Thomas to do a ‚Touge style‘ battle where I’d basically follow him at high speed over the small german airfield track as closely as possible.
Until he ran wide in a long corner and had to brake hard. I remember like it was yesterday when I stupidly followed his understeering line right into the back of his s13. BOOM.
Oh my goddo, crashuuuuuu!!
My world was shattered – back in the day we did not have various mechanics and supporters on track to help fix issues and crashes. For me, with all my mechanic inability, this car was now totally broken.
You fail at drift battle!
If an accident like this happened today I’d laugh loudly and kick the fender and hood with my feet until it’s straight again, apply zipties, spray some black paint on and tell myself „Fixed forever!“
Ouch! It was just cosmetic damage though, but I didn’t realize that back in the day.
But being young and stupid I concluded that I needed a new car now. I went home depressed and sad, then went on the internet to look for S14’s. I found an good offer just that night, which was really a fluke since it’s hard to find good S14’s in Switzerland.
Just one day later, I had already bought this new S14. It was the same spec and color as my old one. We swapped a few mods on my parking lot and that was it.
I’m seeing double! And my parents were none the wiser after we hid the crashed car
I think my parents and various friends, even to this day, have no idea that I’ve actually owned TWO s14’s because the new one looked just the same and I never really mentioned the accident to most of them.
Thomas drove around with a broken rear bumper for at least 1 year after the incident, proving that he didn’t give a fuck what a car looks like as long as it performs. Nice.
Thomas was either colorblind or just couldn’t be bothered. I think it was the latter
I guess we were always drifters by heart. Good times.
And some more shots just because I’m getting nostalgic…
Taken at the Nürburgring, this shows my current S14 already modified, but still road-legal
Some drift training in France
Something rarely seen: A drifting event in Switzerland, near the mountain passes
Parked near a 14-km long ONE WAY mountain pass during a roadtrip to Croatia, Zagreb
Rolling with the corollas during another very small parking lot drifting competition
Starting to look meaner…