While plenty of vehicles are primed for drifting, one stands out as being built perfectly for the task: the Nissan Silvia 240SX. T-Pain, the rapper, owned one such car and had a horrible experience leaving it with a friend. What happened, and how did it turn out?

How T-Pain’s Nissan saga began

T-Pain took his Nissan Silvia S14.5 to a local shop years back to get it wrapped in Rick and Morty style. The drift car emerged covered in green with a graphic reminiscent of the Pickle Rick character from the Adult Swim show. The rapper took to Instagram that year to showcase the new look of his Nissan. 

After getting involved in the drift scene in 2018, T-Pain acquired the 240SX and met George Grob, an Atlanta shop owner, who offered the rapper help with the newly acquired drift car and another vehicle T-Pain owned, according to The Drive. 

After the return of the vehicles, T-Pain had taken the 240SX for a day at the track for some drifting maneuvers. Unfortunately, the rapper found that the Pickle Rick car had problems. First, he discovered metal in the oil pan and a blown head gasket, among other issues. 

Grob agreed to repair the issues at no charge if he could do the project on a Discovery Channel show called Getaway Driver. T-Pain gave his permission to the shop owner, and the second part of this story began. 

Was the issue resolved?

While we would love to say everything was fixed and the car came back working great, the story doesn’t reflect that. In fact, more damage appeared to have occurred while the show was being filmed, and Grob hadn’t told the whole story about it. Instead, the vehicle received numerous engine swaps, build kits, and even car wraps that went on for months. 

Eventually, the car returns to T-Pain’s residence, but it was nowhere near what it was before all this went down. The rapper received a vehicle with a wobbly seat, the glove box somehow made it to the backseat instead of the front dash where it goes, and the new wrap job was horrendous. Grob apologizes but states he couldn’t finish the car, including re-wrapping the vehicle. 

T-Pain has shared his experience with the car on social media, letting his fans know what he’s had to deal with. This caused much backlash against the shop owner responsible for the poor job done on the car. Grob reports that his business is ruined because of the videos the rapper put out on the internet. 

What exactly is a Nissan 240SX Drift car?

Nissan first debuted the Nissan Silvia as your typically modest but simple rear-wheel drive vehicle that was lightweight and sported only two doors. It wasn’t built for drifting, but it turns out the structure is perfect for throwing modifications on and skidding sideways along the track.

Under the hood of a first-generation model (1975) was a 2.0-liter inline-four engine, which also powered the second-generation version until Nissan changed to the Twin-plug 2.2-liter L22E Inline-four cylinder. In 1987, the brand switched things up and installed a 3.0-liter V6 engine instead, which produced 160 hp, according to Hagerty. 

Fast forward to the 14th generation model, the 240SX version currently owned by T-Pain. Initially, the car had a 2.4-liter engine, but after purchasing it for drifting, a GM LS3 V8 was installed, which produces 430 hp and 425 lb-ft of torque. This model was built from 1989 to 1994 and came as either a Coupe version or a hatchback. 

This model appealed to so many drifting racers because it had just the right balance of weight and was relatively affordable. Today, drivers prefer the 240SX when sliding on the track for drift races. 

T-Pain had one of the most interesting and iconic meme-inspired drift cars. Unfortunately, circumstances happened the way they did to ruin a good vehicle. But, despite the poor services, it appears the rapper is still in good spirits about it.