Untouchable

He’s normally found performing an engine swap on one of his many modified cars, but Steve Grove’s latest project is more of a lesson in preserving some fascinating JDM history rather than adding his own signature style…

- Tom Willcox

‘I’m only looking for the most cherished, unmolested examples out there’ – words we’ve become all too familiar with hearing from those searching for their next used motor recently, with society for some reason deeming that buying an already-modified car will cause nothing but nightmares in the ensuing few years of ownership.

But is this really the case? We’ve heard a growing number of stories in the Japanese import scene in particular of people shipping over premodified vehicles and ultimately winning as a result. With unrivalled modifications and sometimes even a fascinating back-story on the cards, if you know what you’re looking for, buying pre-modified can actually sometimes be a bit of a no-brainer. Not to mention the potential to save yourself a packet in the process, too...

This is something that serial Japanese car tuner Steve Grove has certainly discovered with his latest purchase here. You might actually recognise this Milton Keynes-based exengineer’s name as we’ve previously featured several of his heavily modified machines on these very pages, but he’s the first to admit that, this time around, it’s more of a case of preservation over personalisation.