In grade 8, we had to write a report on our favorite poem. I fancied The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost. The idea of taking “the road less traveled” appealed to a young Ryan. For years, I touted it as my favourite poem. I thought it would be useful to have that knowledge if I ever needed to prove myself literate to a scholarly type. Also, the idea of being an individual and going against the flow as “two roads diverged in a yellow wood” appeals to most people. It wasn’t until my adult years that I realized I totally misinterpreted the meaning of the poem.
The poem isn’t about carving your own path. It’s actually about retrospect and assigning meaning to something that is somewhat meaningless. Don’t believe me? Look it up; apparently it’s a common misreading. But what does this have to do with Josh Reading’s R33 Skyline sedan? Well, it’s quite simple.
Every time I see Josh’s car, I think to myself that he has taken the “the road less traveled.” It’s not too often you see someone pouring time and effort into a R33 sedan. Then I take a step back and realize Josh is probably the last person I should try to attach a deeper meaning to. In his own words, he built this car “because I don’t give a fuck.”
If you ask Josh for some type of sentimental story about this R33, you’ll probably be met with a blank stare. Ask him why he chose the R33 Sedan and the response is simple: he doesn’t much care for R34’s and he’s already done the R32 thing. He has a S13 coupe sitting in his garage being pieced together for fun, so he thought he’d try his hand at this car.
Looking at the car, you’ll notice a few things that will either make you smile or cringe. The first thing I notice is the fenders. If you’ve been on the internet, you know rivet on fender flares and over fenders are currently having a hay day. However, Josh decided to work within the limits of metal and that’s how Candy Autobody got the fenders to where they are now.
Why such extreme fenders? That was so Josh could fit those massive Work Emitz. It’s no wonder he needed some extra room with 18×11 wrapped in 235/40’s up front and 19×12.5 wrapped in 285/30’s in the rear.
The next thing you might notice is the ride height and some of you might be disheartened to know it’s on air. Josh informed me that some factions of the internet voiced their concerns about a Skyline being on air struts – D2 air struts to be exact. He met those concerns with a laugh. Most people see Skylines as a thorough bread racing machine, but what they fail to realize is that they come in many different trims. Although Skylines can be potent with the right parts, a stock RB25DET in a chassis with two extra doors doesn’t really scream “track me!”
The kit itself is PS-DUCE and the front end is the series 1 (Zenki) front. The hood is a random find and the spoiler is, of course, the a 326 power wing. The car is also equipped with a Nismo Weldina exhaust and a 2-way diff.
Like I said in the beginning, it’s easy to look at this car and try to equate this build to taking the road less traveled or going against the flow. However, that implies that Josh was actively making decisions that stood in opposition to current trends, and in doing so, each decision resulted in a new direction that made all the difference in how it turned out.
As much as we like to romanticize the process of building a unique car, I think we need to embrace the fact that is not always the case. Sometimes people do things because they want to. That’s what Josh did, and I think it led him to build something unlike anything I’ve never seen before. The scene could use a little more of that.