A soldier's life definitely isn't an easy one. They wake up everyday not knowing what the day will bring as they dedicate their lives to defending our country. Many times we take our freedom for granted and worry about such trivial things as what to eat or what to wear to work that particular day. We have the freedom to do as we please because there are people out there who fight for us. Richard Andrew is one of these people. In fact, the Chandler, Arizona native was even wounded during the war in Iraq. He received a Purple Heart from the President himself after he and his team were ambushed while on patrol in Iraq.
Though his everyday life is very different from common folks, he does share a similar hobby: cars. Before its most recent incarnation, the 350Z you see before you was once completely draped in carbon-fiber. That means the doors, hatch, fenders, quarter panels, everything. Not one section of the exterior had an OEM piece on it. How it got to its current, more extreme state happened after a minor fender bender. With the carbon-fiber front end smashed up, Richard saw it as an opportunity to rebuild.
Maybe it's due to the monotony of waking up every day to the same routine or wearing the same uniform daily, but Richard really saw this as an opportunity to step outside the box. He was no longer interested in the uniformity of the 350Z scene and really wanted to stand out and be recognized. To accomplish this feat, he called on the services of Francis Fabiculanan, the owner of Donlyson Auto Concepts.
You may be familiar with the Donlyson name if you've been involved in the West Coast import show car scene within the last couple of years. Though his body of work isn't for everybody, it's definitely different and there's no denying that the cars that he's built stand-out in a crowd. "Donlyson is actually one of the few companies out there that does custom widebody work from all sheetmetal fabrication." Richard states. "Francis doesn't go the typical route and just use everyday aftermarket parts to build his cars. He's a lot like me in that we both want to be different."
Fabiculanan was inspired after he heard of Richard's ordeal in Iraq. "I was touched when he told me he was saving all his money for his 350Z." Francis says. "After the ambush and recovery, he couldn't wait to go back on duty because he wanted to make more money for his project. Richard wanted something truly one-off and we did exactly that." "One-off" is definitely what he got. There was so much sheetmetal fabrication involved that the man who created it couldn't even reproduce it exactly the same again if he tried.
"The widened panels were all created from sheetmetal and welded to the original body of the 350Z." Francis explains. "The front was widened 73 inches and the rear by 74 inches. I created a louver vent in the rear on both sides and also relocated the fuel-filler door to the top of the rear panel. For the front and rear bumpers, the carbon-fiber units he had remains. I just added sheetmetal and shaped it so that it blended in with the custom widebody."
Having a car with so much added sheetmetal means that Richard had to figure out a way to get enough power to move it around. Sure, the stock VQ35 is no slouch and the weight reduction from the Seibon carbon-fiber hood, rear hatch and door help, but some forced induction will definitely do the job. Behind the GReddy Type 23R intercooler lurks two 18g GReddy turbos. Spent exhaust gases exit the 350Z by way of a GReddy Evo-TT catback exhaust and all cooling system duties are handled by Mishimoto products.