Yousif Mahmood is front-wheel drive phobic. As far as he's concerned, it's wrong-wheel drive. Which is why Mahmood, who lives in Austin, Texas, purchased a Ford Mustang GT a couple of years ago. Mustangs, for those of you that have lived under a house for the past 38 years, are rear-wheel drive.
At first, Mahmood thought he had done right. The 5.0 emblems on the fender looked kinda cool, the Mustang guys welcomed him with open arms and he outran a stock Civic EX automatic the first night.
Then Mahmood realized he had made a mistake.
"I saw a 240 keeping up with a Supra, and had to find out what it was." He found out all right, and just a few months later, he ditched the 'Stang and picked up a low-mileage 1995 240SX for $6,500.
Now 6,500 bones doesn't buy you a pristine car, but Mahmood wasn't too concerned. "The condition and price were perfect for me. It was a little out of shape, but I was tearing the car apart anyway." This was a man with a plan. He had already picked out a body kit, rear wing, paint, seats, wheels and tires, coil-overs, exhaust and other bits and pieces.
"As soon as I got the car, I started purchasing products that would make it handle well, go fast, and look different than all the other 240s around," says Mahmood. He had also selected the shops that would do the work. Pro-tech Body Shop would do all the exterior work, Leather Menders would work on the interior, and MZM Performance got the green light to tweak the suspension.
Mahmood says he's invested a heady $30,000 into the car in just under two years. Almost half of those dollars have gone into the body, and it shows.
After seeing the gas tank of a Harley Davidson painted fire gold-one of those paints that changes color depending on the light-from the House of Kolor palette, Mahmood knew his Nissan would wear it, too. From one angle, the 240SX is purple, from another angle, it's gold, then it's green. Staring at the car too long has been known to cause color blindness in lab mice. We're told the paint cost $350 per quart. If you're keeping score at home, seven quarts were needed.
To complete the exterior, Mahmood selected a Dulock body kit, an APR GT spoiler with custom bridge, and 18-inch Kinesis K29 wheels wrapped with Nitto 555 Extreme ZR tires. The look is tasteful compared to most, but just showy enough to draw attention.
To spruce up the interior, black-and-blue Cobra Sidewinders replaced the stock front seats and custom fabric for the back seats was sourced out of London, England. The dash was painted blue, the door panels were sprayed black and blue, and new carpeting was put in along with a headliner.
A MOMO steering wheel, aluminum pedals and a custom shift knob completed the interior treatment.
With the car beautified, Mahmood was ready to add some performance. In the go-fast department, a GReddy header, an A'PEXi N1 dual cat-back exhaust, and an AEM intake were added. Mahmood also installed 12-way adjustable GAB coil-overs front and rear, a Cusco strut-tower bar, a Suspension Techniques front anti-roll bar and 13.5-inch Brembo cross-drilled front rotors, along with four-piston Brembo calipers, pads and stainless-steel brake lines.
Then Mahmood ponied up for two JL 10-inch subwoofers, MB Quart front and rear speakers, an Alpine head unit, and two Precision Power amplifiers. The 240 can now thump with the best of 'em.
Previously just a spectator, Mahmood is thrilled to display his work at car shows. So far this year Mahmood has won third place in the Nissan category at the Import Revolution and second place in the Sport Compact category at the IDRC show in San Antonio, Texas.
"Everybody that sees it thinks it's a Skyline or something that came out of 'The Fast and the Furious,'" says Mahmood, though he's quick to point out he got the car before the movie came out and there wasn't even a 240SX in the film.
By Dan J. Gardner
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