Joe A. and Justin S. show us how it’s done
If you haven’t heard of Joe A. and Justin S. by now, it’s
time for a wake-up call. These two guys are at the top level of the motorsports
media game, traveling around the world to bring you the very best in drifting
photo and video coverage. But when they’re not catching up on sleep on a
Trans-Atlantic flight to Norway for Gatebil, sampling the street cuisine of
China during World Drift Series, or just making a quick trip to the “local’’
Formula Drift rounds all over the United States, they like to spend time in
their hometown of Medford, OR, working on one of the coolest pairs of S13s
we’ve ever seen.
1993 Nissan 240SX
Fastback
When they first met at a mutual friend’s house in 2007, Joe
was driving an RSX and Justin (embarrassed to admit it) was in a Prelude.
Justin really liked Joe’s RSX, so the two got to talking. Soon after that
Justin got his S13. It was completely stock, just another champagne coupe with
pop-ups. Joe and Justin would occasionally pass by each other in Medford, but
hadn’t really become friends yet. The next year, Joe would be helping plan the
very first Drift Evolution event in Medford. One night he randomly bumped into
Justin at Subway, and invited him to the event. Justin jumped at the chance to
drift legally instead of settling for doing donuts at the local movie theater.
Since Justin was also into skateboarding and making skating videos, he
naturally thought it would be fun to make a drifting video at Drift Evo. And
since Joe’s new FC project wasn't done yet, he was taking photos. It was a
media match made in heaven.
Immediately hungry for bigger things, that same summer
Justin went to Sonoma to shoot Formula D and check out some pro cars up close.
Excited about the future, Joe sold his FC project and picked up his own S13, a
red fastback. In 2009 Joe got to experience Formula D Sonoma for himself, and
then teamed up with Justin on another Drift Evo video. With exposure to
top-level drifting and top-level media production, the stage was set for big
changes in Medford.
Southern Oregon is not known as one of the hotbeds of automotive
culture in the United States. At first it seems like the kind of place where
you’d expect the occasional hot rod or lifted truck to cruise by, maybe a Civic
or two, and nothing more. But then you’ll pass a lowered Corolla or 240 with
reasonably proper drift style, something that might seem more at home in Los
Angeles. Since Justin and Joe are so well known and well-traveled, they have a
certain influence in Medford and the other towns in the Rogue Valley. I had
the opportunity to attend a Drift Evo event at the Jackson County Fairgrounds
last year, and can attest that Medford definitely has a strong drifting
community. The people are nice and helpful, and their cars while typical of
budget drifters in bigger cities are light-years ahead of where they might have
been if Joe and Justin weren’t around.
1992 Nissan 240SX
Coupe
While I was up at Drift Evo, Justin was leading a tandem
train, followed by Ryan Kado, Joe, and Mannerz Mojarro bringing up the rear.
Justin spun out and Ryan, trying to avoid him, spun out too and slammed his
quarter-panel into Justin’s front bumper. Joe hit Ryan’s front bumper with his
own wheel and fender, and Mannerz escaped the catastrophe. The crash broke
Joe’s tie rod, and even though there was a big competition the next day, he
didn’t seem to care. A broken car meant more time to shoot photos! Justin,
however, was a bit more upset. Even though his car was still drive-able, he
broke almost every part on his Silvia’s front, including the hood. He was sad
not because he’d have to replace the parts, but because he had broken parts his
girlfriend, Katelyn, had helped him buy in the first place.
For a few years, the two S13s looked fairly stock. Joe had
swapped in an SR20 and Justin was still rocking the KA24. Justin’s car had the
Silvia front and he painted it flat black like so many other project cars. Joe
had moved to San Francisco and Justin to Portland, but they’d come back home as
often as they could to work on their cars and drive at Drift Evo. By 2010 they
were getting to be big names in the U.S. drifting scene for consistently
putting out high-quality videos. In 2011 they started a video project called Tondem
of Die (it was a typo but they ran with it), documenting the entire 2011
season of Formula Drift, ripe with candid moments, things that should be
outtakes, and way too many shenanigans for their own good. The teasers for Tandem
of Die launched them into the upper echelons of the media community, and
they decided it was finally time to make their cars into more than just
missiles and use them to promote the Tandem of Die DVD. Taking
inspiration from early 2000s Japanese street drifting style, especially cars of
guys like Mitsuru Haruguchi and Joel Hedges, they started collecting parts like
crazy. They wanted the cars to look as gangster as possible, and for them that
meant big wheels, body kits, over-fenders, and wings. They had some fun on the
Internet, posting photos of their cars with all the parts on but with no paint,
so nothing matched. They thought it was hilarious that people could hate on
such awesome cars that were obviously unfinished. I don’t care how many colors
a car is, when it’s so low that a wedding ring won’t fit under the front bumper
and it’s tucking 17-inch Work wheels under big over-fenders, it’s a thing of
beauty. Knowing that they would be painted soon was just a bonus. As the builds
got more and more serious, more people started to take notice. For example,
Chris and John Corvinus, brothers from Northern California and owners of Cor
Integration, produce big-angle knuckles, named “Chuckles" after the
technique of chucking a car as hard as you can into a drift. Joe and Justin
made friends with the Corvinuses at a Thunderdrift track day and now Justin
rocks a pair of Chuckles on his car. Joe and Justin like to support their
friends and local shops as much as they can. Justin got a hold of a Toyota 1JZ
so he’d finally be able to keep up with Joe (and because he liked the sound),
they took their cars to PSI in Portland to get them tuned. Joe ended up with 290
hp and Justin edged ahead with 301. Once they had all the exterior parts they
needed, it was off to Bigger Hammer, a local Medford body shop. Nitto signed on
as their tire supplier, since the plan is to drive the cars to all the West
Coast Formula Drift rounds as well as drift at Drift Evo, Thunderdrift at
Thunderhill Raceway, the Jackson County Sports Park kart track in White City,
OR, not too far from Medford, and Pat’s Acres Racing Complex, in Canby, just
south of Portland. They’re going to need a lot of tires. Now that the cars were
show worthy, that meant no more thrashing, right? Wrong. The guys are having
just as much fun as ever, shredding tires and breaking body kits. They’re not
showing any signs of slowing down either.
1993 Nissan 240SX Fastback
1993 Nissan 240SX
Fastback
290 whp / 285 lb-ft of torque
Engine
·
S14 SR20DET
·
Tomei 555cc injectors, exhaust manifold, turbo elbow
·
S15 turbo
·
Mishimoto radiator
·
Greddy intercooler, intake
·
Z32 MAF
·
Walbro 255-lph fuel pump
·
HKS downpipe
·
3-inch exhaust
·
A’pexi Power FC
·
Tuned by Portland Speed Industries
Drivetrain
·
Kaaz two-way LSD
Suspension
·
PBM coilovers
·
Tein tie rods
·
CNC knuckles
·
Abercrombie lower control arms
·
Era-1 rack offset spacers
Wheel/tires
·
17x10 and 17x11 Word VS-XX
·
Nitro Neo-Gen Tires
Exterior
·
BN Sports body kit
·
326 Power wing
·
D1-style fiberglass hood
·
Black Cherry paint by Shae Smith and Tony Wrobel from Bigger
Hammer Auto Body & Paint
Interior
·
Nardi steering wheel
·
Sparco Evo seat
·
PBM hydraulic e-brake
Gratitude
·
“Thanks to my sponsors Nitto Tire, Bigger Hammer Auto Body &
Paint, Factory 83, Portland Speed Industries, Enjuku Racing, AttackWorks,
Abercrombie Motorsports, and Era-1. Special thanks to everyone who helped and
supported me in this build: Brooke Ayala, Justin and Joe Shreeve, Scotty
Bigelow, Shane Waterland, Danny Sha, Chris Buck, Dax Rodriguez, Sam Mercado,
Corey Harris, and Mark Marshowski."
1992 Nissan 240SX Coupe
1992 Nissan 240SX
Coupe
301 whp / 310 lb-ft of torque
Engine
·
Toyota 1JZGTE from a JZX110 single turbo VVT-I;
·
Wired by Mark Panic
·
Custom intercooler/intake/exhaust piping by Kyle Pollard
·
Tuned on a Honda AEM (also modified by Mark Panic) at Portland
Speed Industries
Drivetrain
·
R154 transmission with stock clutch
·
Xcessive 1J-S13 mount kit skid plate and driveline
·
Kaaz two-way LSD
Suspension
·
Megan Street coilovers and RUCAs
·
Cor Integration Chuckles and tension rods
·
Abercrombie lower control arms
·
Tein tie rods
·
Era-1 rack offset spacers
·
Ichiba five-lug hubs
Wheels/Tires
·
Work VS-KF 17x10.5
·
215/40/17 Nitto Neo-Gen Tires
Brakes
·
Q45 front rotors and calipers
·
Project Mu pads
Exterior
·
Silvia front conversion with “brick” type headlights
·
Generic vented hood
·
Origin 20/30mm fenders
·
BN Sports body kit
·
East Bear mirrors, Generic roof wing
·
326 Power wing
·
Origin clear corner/bumper/taillights
·
Black Cherry paint by Shae S. and Tony W. from Bigger Hammer Auto
Body & Paint
Interior
·
NRG hub and quick release
·
Generic pink steering wheel
·
Bride LowMax seat
·
Nagisa Auto sliders
·
Abercombie hydraulic e-brake
Gratitude
·
“An enormous thank you to all of the companies who have helped me
get to this point. I am incredibly grateful for all of the support: Nitto Tire,
Bigger Hammer Auto Body & Paint, Tandem of Die, Life Blasters, Portland
Speed Industries, AttackWorks Clothing, Enjuku Racing, Xcessive Manufacturing,
Cor Integration, Abercrombie Motorsports, Rogue Tactical Coating, Eral, and NOS
Energy Drink."
