ARCHIVES: STILLEN: PART TWO

"Jake Stumph Racing" (jakestumphracing) 06/02/2015 at 11:40 • Filed to: STILLEN, NISSAN, HISTORY, BRE, MOTORSPORT

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Originally written and posted on February 18th, 2014 at:
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PART ONE: !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

When we last left off, we had been introduced to the STILLEN philosophy, and their tenured racing heritage. However, it seemed as if the Universe came to sudden halt. Steve Millen’s 300ZX IMSA-GT car was no more. The warehouse lights had gone dark, leaving only shadows of a car deemed “too fast” by the governing bodies at hand.

The Z-car was dead.

However, STILLEN was still in it. Curious as it may seem, STILLEN’s commercial success stemmed from a rather different automotive scene than their racing legend. Kyle Millen informed us, that it was not racing cars that cemented their reputation with tuners across the world. It was something far beyond what even the most cultured car enthusiasts would think about. STILLEN’s moneymaker in the 1990’s came about through Mini Trucks !

What on earth are Mini Trucks?

A niche to a niche. Mini Truckers are enthusiasts of small, predominantly Japanese trucks, fitted with large wheels, riding on air suspension, that with the drop of a hat, can be “laying frame” in seconds.

Yes, STILLEN catered to this scene through one of their largest ventures, which was, and still is, the production of body kits, bumper covers, spoilers, and bits of body cladding and trim.

Bumpers, lip kits, diffusers, STILLEN does, and has been doing it all. This ties back into their working relationship with the OEM manufacturers, especially Nissan/Infiniti. Below, you can see original pre-production molds for specific models. The first bumper mold on the left is marked “03 G35 Coupe” in reference to the Infiniti G35. Next to it was another mold for an early model year Nissan 350Z.

There were racks, upon racks, and stacks upon stacks.

Kyle further explained STILLEN was quite unique in the bodykit biz, because their products were made of polyurethane, as opposed to simple plastic.

Due to the compliant nature of their polyurethane compounds, STILLEN offers an unprecedented lifetime warranty against defects and damages, excluding obvious abuse. It will not crack, deform, or shatter.

I spy styling cues from a 2000-ish model year Nissan Maxima? Curious indeed, STILLEN’s role in product development, and what wound up getting the green light into mass production...

Let’s be honest. Neither you, nor I, came here to talk about polyurethane. My apologies if you were led to believe otherwise. What you, I, and indeed everyone else want to know is of the modern STILLEN. What happened in the years following the 300ZX IMSA car, and the bygone era of Fast and Furious body kits?

Let us walk forward, let us not cling on to the past. What is the STILLEN of today? Well, let’s literally walk forward. Past the giant pile of flywheels.

Past another giant wall of tires (I spy R888’s)!

Let’s walk into STILLEN’s “current” portion of the workshop. Lo and behold, something that, again, is a bit different than a sports car.

An offroad racer, this 5.6L V8 Nissan Titan is supercharged (of course), and fitted with off road tires, and a trick Fox Racing suspension.

Multiple remote reservoirs. This truck may look simple and crude, but there is clearly a lot of tech making it go. These ready-to-rumble offroad trucks have become quite popular following the 2010 debut of the Ford SVT Raptor, a truck with similar ambitions, that could be bought off the showroom floor. Granted, the Ford isn’t packing as much heat as this Titan.

So, that is the STILLEN of today, producing a myriad of parts for the manufacturers, and go-fast stuff for the aftermarket tuners like us. Thanks for reading. The end...

Or is it? What if I were to tell you that there were two more cars in attendance that day. What if I also proclaimed that THESE TWO CARS are the pinnacle of STILLEN’s recent history? One, the stuff of legend. The other, a film star.

The Legend:

The 2010 NISMO 370Z, inspired by BRE. This is car #1 of 1. A glorious return to form for the Z-car. It’s livery is an homage to one of the most profound stories in Nissan’s history.

In 1970, Nissan brought the first Z-car to the United States under the Datsun brand. The first Z was called 240. Almost immediately, it became a racing sensation, something Datsun desperately needed to win over American audiences, who by and large were still reluctant to embrace the emerging Japanese brand.

The first of the big name racers to get their hands on the newly minted 240Z were an outfit called Brock Racing Enterprises , or “BRE” for short. BRE, Southern California hometown heroes, were big time in the SCCA road racing circuit. By 1971, the car hit the scene, and dazzled the fans.

With it’s lightweight body, compact size, and potent 2.4L straight-six engine up front powering the rear wheels, it was a natural born racer. The Z-car was alive in America, and Datsun owed the success to BRE. Race on Sunday, sell on Monday.

However, come 1972, there was a new object of affection in the BRE camp. The Datsun 510 sedan. With a hot new class emerging out of SCCA rules, the 510 sports sedan jettisoned into the spot light. A high strung 1.8L inline four, screaming it’s lungs out as it was routinely wringed out beyond 8000rpm in search of all 180 horsepower.

This car became the signature vehicle associated with BRE, and it’s chief driver, John Morton. The red, white, and blue livery, emblazoned with the number 46, it was the BRE way. A look that we would remember most covetously.

Apparently we were not the only ones coveting after it. For the 40th Anniversary of the Z-car in the United States, Nissan USA reached out to STILLEN to recreate the BRE livery on the new Z-car, the 370.

The cars to which Nissan owed it’s Motorsport heritage in the U.S., this is the result.

If you listen for long enough, you can hear Andrew quietly saying “Want.”

Nissan’s advertising for the new 370Z NISMO looked a little something like this:

The story was published by ROAD & TRACK, the same publication responsible for reporting on the original BRE 240Z.

If there were ever a Z-car to have, it was the original 240, but good God this 370 was doing an excellent job in trying to bring me around.

Nissan’s every man sports car was not content just having one last hurrah in this piece. 370Z and STILLEN came back in 2012, this time, it’s guise is different. This is not the Legend. This is the Film Star.

You may know of Film Star. It appeared on the DRIVE Network, with TUNED host, Matt Farah behind the wheel.

A 500 horsepower, supercharged version of the 370Z, as imagined by STILLEN.

This car is an ANIMAL! Nothing but pure tire fire here, folks.

While the BRE car harkened back to the era that sold the Z-car to the tuning world, and indeed the general public. This car looks forward, and solidifies that position. This is the true ender-ender. A CARB-certified, emissions testing-ready, 500-horsepower, bright red sports car that shows that the car enthusiast will not disappear under the ever stringent laws surrounding the automobile.

As the term “sports car” becomes fuddled and diluted by laws and regulations that dictate what a car has to be in terms of emissions, and pedestrian safety, I rest easily. There will ALWAYS be sports cars for us to enjoy, and it is thanks to people like the Millen family, and STILLEN who hold our virtues high. Mind-bending power, and the visceral sensory overload that we all feel when roaring down our favorite canyon roads, or the race track. Our favorite tuners will continue to find innovative, and modern solutions like this, that prove that sports cars will continue to live on.