It’s not just the space-inspired touches that help make Drew Evans’ tuned Infiniti G37 an unforgettable ride. There’s also the one-off Liberty Walk kit and spotless supercharged motor that ensure it’s well and truly out-of-this-world…
If aliens were to swoop down upon earth today, how do you think they’d modify their cars? One thing’s for certain: no matter how bonkers their other-worldly creations ended up, at least they’d pretty much be guaranteed to stand out from the crowd…
Growing tired of witnessing the same trends at every car show he attended, Pennsylvania resident Drew here has taken a leaf out of our imaginary extra-terrestrial chums’ book while undertaking the epic six-year build on his Infiniti G37 saloon. Now undeniably one of the most awe-inspiring examples of this car the world over, it seems that daring to be different sometimes really does pay off.
It may have gone on to win more awards than La La Land has Oscars since its recent completion, but Drew’s car beginnings were just as humble as the rest of ours. “I’ve always been a JDM car enthusiast and always will be,” he proudly reveals, rattling off the dozen-or-so Nissan and Infiniti variants he’s owned over the last couple of decades. “I’ve also modified them since high school, too… just not to the same level as the G37!”
This particular German-rivalling saloon from Nissan’s understated sub-brand Infiniti came into Drew’s life in late 2012, with the initial intentions for the car a million miles away from creating the show-stopping machine that’s since emerged. “It was originally purchased for my wife, which people are normally pretty shocked to hear!” he laughs, continuing to explain how the announcement of his third child soon after snapping up the car meant that it unexpectedly fell into his hands as his other half required a slightly larger vehicle instead.
Suddenly left with this then-white, fairly lowly-spec’d example of the luxury saloon that sports the same V6 motor as the Nissan 370Z, then, what on earth was Drew going to do with his latest surprise acquisition? Well, modify it, of course! “I started with some basic changes that went down well at shows and spurred me on to go more full-throttle with the project,” he remembers how it all unfolded.
Although he’d spotted countless two-door coupé examples of the G37 receiving a whole load of attention at shows like SEMA in Vegas in recent years, Drew was hard-pressed to find anyone that’d shown the four-door saloon version like his any love in the modified car scene, helping to spawn his plans to do things a little differently from here on out. “I wanted my saloon to be one-of-a-kind; many coupés could pull off what I was planning, but it’d never been done with a version like mine before…”
The brief was simple enough: create a super-powerful, wide-body machine that would receive a no-expense-spared level of attention over every square inch of its smooth skin. Parts would unsurprisingly revolve around genuine JDM components wherever possible too, to signify Drew’s love for his very favourite car scene out there. And it only takes one look at the finished product to see that he’s not only made his initial ideas a reality, but completely pushed it to a whole new dimension in the process.
Let’s start with that Liberty Walk body kit. Its physics-defying riveted-on wide arches and low, swooping bumpers might look like they were always designed for this saloon, but in actual fact, the kit has been meticulously adapted from the coupé version to make it the very first of its kind in the world. With Drew’s assistance, the bulk of the painstaking job was performed by APAC in Maryland, which required some imagination and a lot of balls to see through to the end. “Hacking up the body of the car, and also a brand-new Liberty Walk coupé kit from Japan had me sweating a bit; not to mention the costs involved…” Drew tells us with a grimace.
Thankfully, though, the kit was soon sitting perfectly and was topped off with some subtle extras such as bonnet vents from a GT-R, Carbon Signal splitters and that custom ducktail spoiler, before the next rather unforgettable enhancement was performed: that blazing Candy Apple Red paint job. Another one-off, the colour was developed with help from BASF and is topped off with a Glasurit clear coat and CQuartz ceramic coating to make sure it’s smoother than Marvin Gaye’s greatest hits album. “It looks ridiculous when it’s out in the sun now!” our proud owner gleams.
Soon developing the nickname of ‘Mars’ thanks to its new-found colour scheme, Drew explains how it was around this time that his obsession with astronomy began to make itself apparent throughout the build as one of the main themes of the car. It’s why you’ll find such unusual and inspired LED lighting not only in the usual spots such as the headlights and indicators, but in the form of the starry night-esque headlining and boot lining inside, too. “It’s made by poking tiny holes through the Alcantara with fibre optic lighting underneath,” Drew explains. “It actually simulates real constellations; my family’s zodiac signs are visible in the boot lining.” Where else have you seen such overwhelmingly impressive attention to detail as that?!
Filling up the wide arches are some stunning WORK split rims that’re as monstrously girthy as you’d expect, finished up in a night sky-matching gloss black and graphite colour scheme. While these aren’t the most unusual wheels you’ll ever see, there is an aspect of this rolling setup that Drew is particularly proud of. “The fact I run my camber at basically OEM spec and have hardly no stretch on the tyres at all seems to be pretty mind-blowing to everyone,” he reveals, those chunky Toyo R888 tyres arguably looking all the better with their refreshingly functional amount of sidewall on offer when compared to the stretched setups seen all too often nowadays.
It’s just as well the car’s set up to be driven hard, too, once you pop the bonnet and discover the next jaw-dropping aspect of this inspirational ride. Now sporting a hefty Stillen/Vortech supercharger package on top of its V-oriented engine, the Infiniti now offers up over 450bhp to the rear wheels through its flappy-paddle gearbox. But that’s not where it ends – just look at that bay! “The fact is fully polished under there is a personal highlight of mine,” Drew modestly admits. “It’s the world’s first fully polished Vortech supercharger setup, and the process of getting it that way took over a year in itself to complete…” He certainly doesn’t do things by halves!
A plethora of strut bars and a trick AirREX air suspension system set up to perfection reflect the fact that refreshingly, Drew is now keen to drive his mighty machine at any given opportunity. “I can never comprehend spending a tonne of time and money on something that sits in a garage and gets trailered everywhere!” he puts it. And with such a formidable machine on your hands, why would you want it to be any other way?!
Despite his penchant for getting behind the wheel, this stunning G37 has rather unsurprisingly garnered a lot of attention on the show circuit and through the world of social media. Drew was lucky enough to debut the car at none other than the New York International Motor Show on the DUB stand – a sure-fire way of getting it into the public eye – which was followed up by an invite to SEMA, the event that can be blamed for starting the build the first place, the following year.
The secret to all this success? Drew unsurprisingly puts it down to adding a touch of originality here and there. “I can’t stress enough to everyone in the scene to be original and build your vision for your yourself. There’s too much cookie-cutting and repetition out there. So be different!”
TECH SPEC: INFINITI G37
STYLING
Full re-spray in custom BASF/R-M Carizzma Candy Ruby Red Metallic; Glasurit Superior Gloss clear coat; CQuartz professional nano-ceramic coating; full Liberty Walk wide-body kit (modified and adapted from G37 coupé application); Nissan GT-R bonnet vents; modified Infiniti Sport-spec chin spoiler lip; Carbon Signal Spec IN front splitter, V1 side skirts and rear diffuser; Custom Successful Automotive Bella ducktail rear spoiler and side skirt extensions; Access Evolution wing mirrors; ShadowSpeed rear windscreen spoiler; custom OnEighty satin black headlight housings with quad LED halo bulbs and custom quad RGB demon eyes; JDM LED indicator covers; factory LED daytime running lights; custom Ghozt Lighting rear indicator and brake light modules; custom TRS projector LED fog lights; LEDGlow under-car lighting.
TUNING
3.7-litre VQ37VHR V6 engine; Vortech V-3 supercharger kit by Stillen/RTTuning; Turbosmart blow-off valve; Frozenboost water-to-air intercooler; HKS M45HL Super Fire racing spark plugs; Fast Intentions resonated high-flow cats; GThaus MeisterSchaft cat-back exhaust system with custom 130mm exhaust tips; gloss black engine bay with fully polished hardware and bolts; HKS limited-edition caps; custom LEDGlow engine bay LED strobe lighting; Stillen grounding kit; EcuTek ECU.
TRANSMISSION
Seven-speed automatic gearbox with paddle-shift.
CHASSIS
12.5x19in (front) and 14.5x19in (rear) custom WORK Meister S1 three-piece split rims in gloss black with matte graphite faces; polished WORK wheel hardware; 295/30/19 (front) and 325/30/19 (rear) Toyo Proxes R888 semi-slick tyres; AirREX digital air suspension system with pillowball mounts; SPC camber arms (front and rear); Cusco sway bars; GTSpec front strut tower bar; front strut tower modification for extra clearance; R1 Concepts body-matched forged six-pot (front) and four-pot (rear) brake calipers; cross-drilled and diamond-slotted high carbon alloy two piece brake discs (all round); R1 Concepts brake pads; stainless steel braided brake lines.
INTERIOR
Bride ‘edirb’-series premium reclining leather front bucket seats with matching rear bench; Cusco harnesses; body-coloured NRG Innovations harness bar; ExactArt Fabrications custom Alcantara headlining with illuminated star lighting; body-coloured interior panels; Tommykaira LE gear knob; modified factory steering wheel with carbon fibre elements; Tanabe Revel VLS 52mm A-pillar gauges (boost, air/fuel ratio and oil pressure); custom AWD/RWD and VDC on/off toggle switches; custom ICE/air boot installs with LED lighting and illuminated Liberty Walk-style flares; Bose 10-speaker audio system; twin 12in Alpine Type-R sub woofers; Hifonics Brutus 1500w Monoblock Series amplifier; twin Shuriken 600w reserve batteries.
THANKS
Derrick Nowell and Paco Duarte at APAC; James Coyne and Vince Hafner III at RTTuning; Mark Chin and Kenny Chan at RavSpec; Alex Murr at OnEighty Customs; Stan Chen at Toyo Tyres; Meguiar’s; Mike and Joe Creighton at Creighton’s Auto; Brendan Ginty at GintyFab; Nik Oakes at Oakes Detail; Sean Mallon at 4UDrew Foundation; Charlie Gonzalez at R1 Concepts; Ryan Nettleton at ExactArt Fabrications; Dave Brown at F.A.S.T.; Manny Torres at Effix Graphix; Artem Lenchuk at DnD Custom Autobody; Mark Dorman at Stillen; Adam Krawczuk at Race Consulting Agency; SoFresh Lifestyle & Apparel; Carbon Signal Automotive; Moe Nowicki and Chris Gulich at Smokin’ Moes; Dan Evans at Ghozt Lighting; Xprite USA; Diode Dynamics; Khris Tabucanon; Penn Auto Body; Gabe Torres at Intercity Concepts; Marshall Lum at AirREX; Nick’s Blasting and Polishing; Concept Z Performance; Robbie Trengrove at Japan Auction Parts; Dan Ruggiero at Willow Grove Infiniti; Brian Fox at BASF; Dave Lightner at LED Glow; Chis Whelan at Custom Engine Bays; Ian Nerida Yu at Tanoshi Lifestyle; my wife of course for supporting my time involved and passion in building the car over all these years, and also the many shops who helped put my vision to fruition, and the true friends who have been by my side with great support.
Words Sam Preston Photos Mike Kuhn
