Rocket Launcher

Posing for the Camera Wasn’t a Problem for This Rocket Bunny Nissan Silvia Built by Garage 21, One of the Best-looking Drift Cars We’ve Ever Seen!

- Dan Goodyer

Drift cars have to look special, don’t they? It’s important they look unique, too. 31-year-old sideways specialist James Tooley agrees: ‘That’s part of the fun,’ he says, ‘if all the cars looked the same it would be boring!’ He’s right. Drifting is all about expressing yourself, not just behind the wheel but with the car you drive.

So it’s safe to say that James is making quite a statement with his Rocket Bunny kitted S15. It sent shockwaves through the drift scene when it first appeared at Japfest last year. It’s wider than a market stall trader on East enders, with deep concave 18in Cosmis S1 wheels filling out the extensions perfectly. It looks like a show car but is ready for drift competition. That extra width is there for stability, grip and more steering lock. This has been built to be flung sideways at high speeds, time and time again, and still come back for more.

We’re sure our photographer, Ollie Wild smith, won’t mind us saying that in our opinion these are his best photos to date. That’s no accident. This car is so well put together, it pushed Ollie to the next level. Not surprising, really, as that is the exact reason why James had the car built by Garage 21, despite possessing the knowledge to build it himself.

You see, James is a motorsport engineering graduate. He knows how to tune a car, what makes it go sideways, etc. He is currently a design engineer for Jaguar, making sure their next car is even more badass than the previous one. So why didn’t he just build the car himself?