At Broken Motorsports, they call it “Old ’87.” It’s their all-purpose, 1987 Nissan 240SX drift car, which has been hibernating all winter, waiting for the season to start at Club Loose at Raceway Park in Englishtown, New Jersey. Old ’87’s been used and abused by many drivers, with different skill levels, and it has the bashed-in body panels to prove it.
But don’t let its trashed exterior fool you, Old ’87 is the ultimate Drift Missile: rear drive, light weight and with a legendary KA24E powerplant that’s practically bulletproof.
On this episode of /MY LIFE AS A RALLYIST, Ryan brings Old ’87 — which started its life as an SCCA road race car, before being pressed into drifting duty — out of hibernation. The plan is to take it to Club Loose, the east coast’s headquarters for drifting competition. With help from his friends at the shop, Ryan gets the Nissan running and is quickly introduced to the world of drifting. Is it like rally? Will Ryan’s rally skills translate to the sideways tarmac ballet. Let’s find out.