Walking back to my hotel one rainy night in Tokyo, I happened across a clean piece of hot rod inspired, old school Japanese perfection.

Car spotting is what you do if you’re a car enthusiast in a new place, especially if you’re in Japan. I’ve come across some interesting cars there. One of the more unusual was an S15 that would have one mistaking it for an S30 or even an R34 depending on which side they’re facing. Masanari Furukawa’s C211 Skyline has to be one of my favorite “out in the wild” finds so far and is exactly why my camera stays glued to me when I’m abroad. I say “so far” as if I expect to come across something that will top this for a fan of the old school like myself.

It was late, raining and, having been on my feet all day with a heavy backpack full of camera equipment and other random nonsense, all I wanted was to be back in the warm, dry hotel. That was all forgotten when I approached Masanari to snap what I thought would be quick “pic or two”.

From a ways away you’d think this is simply a well put together example of an old school skyline, for which you’d be forgiven once you get a look under the hood…and inside the car… and under the trunk lid. Masanari is a big fan of American hot rods which seems to run in the family judging by the pic of his dad’s 70’s Corvette he showed me. This love for the hot rod style combined with the Japanese car culture’s propensity for building some of the cleanest vintage cars around has resulted in the perfect melding of the best of both worlds.

Under the hood, with all the steel braided lines, the MSD ignition box in plain site and everything down to the power steering reservoir being polished or chromed, it’s only when you realize you’re looking at an L-series motor and not some flathead V8 that you’re reminded of where you are and what kind of car this is.

Then, in true hot rod fashion, you’re clued in to the fact that there’s more. The solenoids conspicuously placed on top of the chrome valve cover hint at its secret weapon.

Yep, that’s a pair of NOS nitrous bottles in the trunk surrounded by polished diamond plating. It just needs a Summit Racing sticker to complete the package.

One thing that stands out is how clean and new everything is. Everything has been removed, refinished, replaced or simply cleaned. You won’t find a rusty bolt or a cut corner here. This is where the old school Japanese attention to detail and hot rod OCD-ness truly overlap. This carries on to the super clean interior where any hot rod fan will feel right at home staring into the oversized tachometer and shift light with a secret button shift knob while learning what Bride racing seats and Takata harnesses are all about.

Moving outside, Masanari’s Skyline is clean but understated in true shakotan style. It has exactly what it needs and that’s it. A set of gold SSR Starsharks, a front lip reaching flush with the rocker panels to even out the body lines and a single piece wing and truck lid combo are all that are needed to accentuate what would already be a beautifully restored car even in stock form with a quad square headlight conversion to give that subtle extra layer. Add in the rear half of the 6-point cage peaking through the windows and this car oozes with understated cleanliness that aggressively demands respect.

This build has already progressed from what you see here. Follow Masanari and his build on instagram: @masa_hgc211

This post wouldn’t have been possible without the tripod borrowed from Naoyuki Yamauchi who owns that sweet NA-2JZ swapped Mark II wagon I’m sure some of you have been eyeing in the background.

Head to the Flickr gallery to see these photos in higher quality.