Pure 90’s period correct tuning. Not a genuine one but my image of how one should look. Sunroof is the icing on the cake.

First up for our JDM unicorns series we look at the Nissan Sileighty. You may not think that it is a rare unicorn due to so many unofficial examples existing. What is so cool is that the general public created this car and Nissan then finally celebrated their customers with a final run produced by drift tuner Kids Heart at model runout. Unofficial Sileighty’s were first created by swapping the external front end of a Silvia from the windscreen forward in the early 90’s once drifters discovered that the internal panels were the same. At first it was purely down to cost. As the S13 Silvia was far more popular initially at release than the RPS13 180SX Silvia parts therefore were more plentiful and cheaper. The early Silvia Jack’s fronts with non projector headlights were the cheapest so it was common to see them with this front using the “brick” headlights. One could only assume someone on a budget fitted a S13 Silvia front end to their 180SX and it took off from there. The Silva front was also lighter giving a better weight balance front to rear and became a favored swap even for non accident cars.

Sileighty’s soon became touge legends and were made famous in Anime series like Inital-D with Mako Sato’s Impact Blue Sileighty. Mako’s car was even featured in Grand Turismo 2. Mako’s car featured a couple of different fronts during the Inital-D series and what looks like a 90’s B-Wave Aero Master Rear Wing. Even to this day Sileighty conversions are common place. But finding a genuine one is like finding a needle in a haystack. The last time I saw one was 2001. Let us share what we know about the genuine Sileighty’s along with some myths.

Kids Heart ad for Sileighty Limited Edition release. Note: Non turbo and Auto options.

The genuine Sileighty’s were based on the 1997 factory production run of RPS13 180SX Type-X Turbo or Type-S N/A models with a release date 1 May 1998. Nissan collaborated with Kids Heart to convert these 500 180SX’s into Sileighty’s to celebrate the end of the line of a sports vehicle that was so popular it lasted around 10 years in production. Some claim only 400 were sold, others 700-800, but Kids Heart said themselves 500 units were produced and they were marked as sold out with no evidence that the run fell short or extras were produced.

Kids Heart Sileighty’s front end - There’s a lot about this car to suggest its likely more than just a replica but only Kids Heart would know.

Aesthetically Kids Heart used the early 1988 S13 Silvia J’s brick style headlights rather than projector type along with Nismo’s S13 Silvia “R32” style Aero grille and front Bumper which was fitted to match the front of the car nicely with the rest which used the Type X body kit. The rear quarter glass and tail light center garnish were branded Sileighty rather than 180SX. Some rumors say the seat fabric was trimmed to say Sileighty rather than 180SX. I have indeed seen a pair of Kouki seats trimmed in the exact same fashion as the 180sx that said Sileighty for sale but could not confirm if they were real or custom. The 98 Sileighty I saw had been modified with a roll cage and bride interior with rear seats trimmed to matched but had Kids Heart documentation in the glove box. Kids Heart themselves don’t specify Sileighty trimmed seats and others that have claimed to be genuine have had seat fabric which still reads 180SX. This adds to confusion for collectors looking for the real deal. Evidence points to the seat fabric been a rumor, but those seats I saw have left me to this day wondering as they were prefect.

98 spec interior with SRS Momo Airbag wheel. From what we know Kids Heart did not re-trim the 180SX seats and if they mentioned details such as quarter window decals surely they would mention the seat fabric.

Another claim is that they made more power than the Type X with a re-tuned ECU Map to run 0.9 bar of boost over 0.5 increasing power from 205ps to 230ps, that they also had stiffer suspension and a upgraded LSD. Grand Turismo 4 which features the real Sileighty Type X base only advertise 205ps a hint this might be whispers spreading on the internet. Kid’s Heart advertised 140ps to 205ps for the non turbo and turbo versions. Our research shows that the buyers could indeed specify the car to be fitted with Nismo parts by Kids Heart as optional extras if they chose to pay for them, this at a cost above the list price below. These items included a remapped ecu, adjustable suspension, possibly sway bars and mechanical LSD. This upgrade pack was purchased in some cases. So while yes there are some out there making 230ps, not all do. Further evidence that the 500 were not one size fits all is the selling price was between 2,288,000 yen-3,096,000 yen depending on colour, turbo or non turbo engine, and if you went for Automatic or Manual. Yes evidence suggest some were likely sold as Autos and some as non turbos or at least the option was there for the customer. If non turbo autos are news to you then the photo supplied from Kid’s Heart release above may help convince you.

Note Sileighty colour coded center garnish - this one has an aura about it.

Colours available were Midnight Purple Pearl, Super Black, Spark Silver Metallic, White, Yellow. There was no guarantee of a perfect colour match if you went for silver or white even though the paint was carried out by Nissan in house. They were not recognized as a genuine car in Japan and identified by their base designation as a 180SX. This making it very hard to confirm a genuine one for any collector with there been so many variations available for the 500 made. Unknown is if any were actually produced or ordered by customers in non turbo or auto. But if you happen to stumble upon one in that spec with the correct quarter glass and garnish it is much more likely you have stumbled across the real thing than a turbo version as very few owners would go to the effort of creating an authentic looking Sileighty conversion only to leave it as a auto non turbo.

B-Wave Aero Master Rear Spoiler. B-Wave was famous in the 90s for their Drift and Wangan body kits and pink demo cars. For me this is the spoiler a Sileighty should have genuine or not. But Kids Heart were limited to Nissan / Nismo parts only.

For a collector a Genuine Kids Heart Sileighty Type X manual in limited edition Midnight Purple Pearl with the 230ps Nismo upgrade, LSD and Suspension would be the ultimate unicorn. That’s if one is even left in the world. The Nismo LSD was said to be set so aggressive and snap happy by Kids Heart most drivers with the money to buy such a car at the time probably were not skilled enough to control it meaning most would have been destroyed. But what would you expect with a car set up by a D1 legend notorious for his extreme entry angles. My hope is to see one in the flesh again as its been nearly 20 years but as time goes on the chance fades. If your wondering who B-Wave is I will leave you with this photo of some 90’s style madness.

B-Wave 90’s ad - B-Wave was the business in the 90’s for Touge / Wangan Aero parts. Famous for their Pink Demo cars.

JDM Unicorns Episode 1: Nissan Sileighty by Kids-Heart Japan