Collecting kei cars is more than a hobby for Nick Jimenez—it’s a full-blown addiction, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. In this week’s episode of CARISMA on YouTube, we’re seeing what happens when kei cars take over your life. Honestly, looks like a helluva lot of fun.
“You can get people breaking their necks for a $6,000 kei car, which people try to get in a $60,000 car, or a $600,000 car, but I’m getting that in something that doesn’t even have 60 horsepower.”
A few years ago, with his streetwear business Way Before the Fame sidelined by world events, Nick needed a new creative outlet. That’s when he discovered kei cars, the tiny Japanese vehicles growing in popularity (and controversy) in America as more imports come ashore.
“I was like, oh, these are kind of cool, but what am I gonna do with a two-seater pickup truck in New York City? But the more I thought about it, I was like, you know what? I can get a right hand drive car and feel like I’m in Japan for 5 Gs.”
He bought a tiny Suzuki pickup, then a van, then a Jimny (which he heavily modified), then a Wagon R. Eventually he found this lightly tuned 1991 Suzuki Cappuccino in Hawaii, had it shipped to California, and drove it across the country to his home in NYC. Then the real work began: he bought a parts car and swapped in a whole new Limited interior, added Blitz coilovers, a strut bar, an HKS blow-off valve, N1 ECU for +50 hp, new paint, and more.
Now, kei cars are his life and his business. If he’s not at the port inspecting his latest buy—he tries to get a new one every few months to enjoy and then resell—he’s filming them, fixing them, taking them on absurdly long road trips, or just thinking about them. And what he’s come to believe is that his obsession stems from the pure driving experience a kei car provides and the reminder that life is fleeting.
“It’s kind of like we’re all like-minded in a way. We don’t take life too seriously. It has no airbags, it’s not safe, it’s old. It just doesn’t make sense to own a kei car in America at all. But the people who do, to me, I feel like we are on the same page. Like we have to both understand that we could technically pass away any day from just driving a car like this on the daily basis.”
Which is very true. We don’t talk about it a lot, but anyone driving a kei car, or really any vintage car (myself included) regularly, has made an implicit pact with fate that we could easily exit this world on any given excursion. And we’re OK with that. I remember talking to a French guy this summer who told me he decided to stop driving his old Citroen 2CV because it was too dangerous. I replied that I understood the feeling because I drive an old truck with no airbags or ABS on Los Angeles freeways, but I’ll never stop because it’s what I love. He looked at me and sighed: “That’s the most American thing I’ve ever heard.”
Anyway, enough with the existential talk. Enjoy the video, and be sure to follow Nick on Instagram and subscribe to his YouTube channel.
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