Words: Warren Sare Photos: Glen McNamara
The journey of every owner is full of defining moments, and this ride known as KING JZ is no different. You see, we at NZPC have met Suhail before. He has been around the scene for a while and had a run for over six years where his 1981 Datsun Sunny cleaned up show awards around the country and, while it wasn’t ever going to set any records, did plenty of laps at every cruising event. It was one of those cars that was just so distinctive that everyone knew it, but had it not met an untimely end you wouldn’t be reading this story. Without going too far into detail, the car was in an accident that was no fault of the owner, and that set in motion a journey down the path of turbo car ownership that brings us here today.
No NZ Fijian Car Club story gets too far without mention of family and friends and here again this comes to the fore as Suhail proudly mentions the fact that: “Dad is my biggest inspiration, he and my uncle were both in the industry and that’s where my love of cars and fixing things came from.”
Suhail is actually a mechanical engineer and there are touches throughout the car that he has completed himself and he has input into each and every aspect of any NFORCA GARAGE build. He continues that strong family theme with wife Alisha and son Ezra mentioned as a constant motivation. The King’s court if you will.
The base of this build is a Toyota Mark II Tourer V that rolled off the production line back in 1997, likely destined for use moving a family or perhaps executives around in comfort and that is largely where the thought process was here. “I set out to build a comfortable and roomy cruiser, that could make easy and reliable power and still had room for the shopping and kids,” said Suhail as we look over the Taxi-themed big body which idles with just enough menace that you know something lurks within. These engines are capable of 500kW in near stock trim and KING JZ isn’t far shy of this currently and still on 98 pump gas.
With 2500cc to start with and strong internals fitted at the factory, there is a relatively proven recipe for turning up the wick with the 1JZ. You pick how wild you want it to be and add bolt on parts according to requirements that include driveability and how often you want to be replacing driveline parts and tyres. In this case, it’s Kiwi know-how with a Steve Murch-built MSE40RS Gen 2 turbo mounted on a Sinco manifold called upon in combination with a set of Kelford camshafts to open things up a little and bring some life to the party.
This creates that distinctive sound which is channelled rearward, via a 3.5-inch exhaust which often sees a straight pipe fitted because we all like angry pops, bangs, and flames. The 1JZ needs fuel to match and drinks a solid diet of straight pump gas from 1000cc injectors and, at this point, is still supplied by an in-tank fuel pump, however that may change as there is some talk of moving to Ethanol with a flex-fuel set up.
This is still a street car, so low boost sits at 17psi, while it takes 25psi to achieve the current peak power numbers. It’s no secret that Link ECU is well regarded and reliable in the hands of Autech, where Sam has this build well set up for all its duties.
While wanting to stay true to his personal style, there is a strong Japanese look to this car along with Suhail’s own touches which draw your attention. He takes things a step further by running an actual taxi sign on the roof (lit up at events). The car’s colour itself is an OEM Silver and is something that is potentially up for a change given the owner is a perfectionist and everything on the body has been touched or modified. The big Toyota wears a full Vertex body kit with additions from Origin lab and it is fair to say this car would be at home in the Japanese Mountain Touge or sitting in a salon-style car park. The little details haven’t been missed and it just creates an all-around slick image which has seen this car add to its owner’s extensive trophy collection.
We mentioned earlier that Suhail does get amongst everything at events, and while the theme is a bit of a fun play, it’s unusual not to see the car fully loaded and out and about being enjoyed. The boys paid attention to making the car stop, as she is no light weight — especially with five fully-loaded Kava aficionados on board — and DBA comes to the party with 340mm slotted rotors in use and a set of Brembo four-piston callipers (that originally called a newer model Lexus home) residing in the front of the car.
While wanting to stay true to his personal style, there is a strong Japanese look to this car along with Suhail’s own touches which draw your attention. He takes things a step further by running an actual taxi sign on the roof (lit up at events). The car’s colour itself is an OEM Silver and is something that is potentially up for a change given the owner is a perfectionist and everything on the body has been touched or modified. The big Toyota wears a full Vertex body kit with additions from Origin lab and it is fair to say this car would be at home in the Japanese Mountain Touge or sitting in a salon-style car park. The little details haven’t been missed and it just creates an all-around slick image which has seen this car add to its owner’s extensive trophy collection.
We mentioned earlier that Suhail does get amongst everything at events, and while the theme is a bit of a fun play, it’s unusual not to see the car fully loaded and out and about being enjoyed. The boys paid attention to making the car stop, as she is no light weight — especially with five fully-loaded Kava aficionados on board — and DBA comes to the party with 340mm slotted rotors in use and a set of Brembo four-piston callipers (that originally called a newer model Lexus home) residing in the front of the car.
With this being a street and family car and a Misti Evo that is destined for drag duties also in the stable, KING JZ has been kept fairly stock on the inside. The factory seats are more than up to keeping passengers in comfort or fitting a baby seat, while the driver can easily see information on a power tune dash in between grabbing coffees. You don’t need a whole heap of audio when you have a 450kW JZ to listen to, but everything has been upgraded or has customisation just because that is the owner’s way.
We start to wrap up, and we simply cannot cover all the people Suhail wanted to thank for supporting him along the way. The strong theme of family is to the fore and he wanted us to ensure we mentioned that he appreciated everyone who was part of this journey.
From NFORCA to a KING… it sounds a bit like a Gangster movie doesn’t it? We all know those have sequels and for some reason I feel like we aren’t quite done with Suhail and his NFORCA Garage builds just yet.
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This article originally appeared in New Zealand Performance Car issue 302
