Have you ever been curious about the man behind the wheel of that big ol' Japanese sedan that slides around Kilkare? The grey one with the stylish livery and the big Breaking banner on the rear window. That's none other than the winner of the 2022 Drift Indy Most Stylish award, Jordan Tippmann.
I had the pleasure of sitting down with Jordan at Media Day to learn a little more about him and about his whip. Here's some of our conversation:
What got you into drifting?
So, as a child, I played a lot of video games, as most children do. I played a lot of Need for Speed Underground One. And that game actually had drifting in it, so pretty much ever since then I’ve thought “yeah, that would probably be pretty cool.” And then, as I got a little older, I learned that Team Breaking was from Fort Wayne, which is where I was born and raised. So then I met those guys and kind of got into it like that.
What are your goals when you’re driving? What’re you thinking about?
So my car is essentially based on like, early 2000s, Japanese style, whatever. So really, just smooth, fluid and then aggressive as far as like entries and stuff. They're really just trying to run a smooth line so that if my friends are following me, it's good to follow. You know, so aggressive where I can be but simple and easy to follow.
Smooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooth
Do you have a favorite tandem buddy?
Obviously, my team, you know, Team Breaking. They're all good guys. I've known them for nine years now. And then Dylan Lobbestael, I probably pronounced it wrong. Dylan and I have been real close for a while. And then Chris, Steve Scherzer as well from Bobby's Crew. I've been close with all those guys for a while.
I've always been a fan of these banners. I guess the team's pretty alright, too.
How’d you end up in a Laurel?
So it's kind of a crazy story. My first drift car was an E36. Just a 325i I paid like $900 for. It was kind of a little rough around the edges, but they’re a good chassis. I drifted that for two years. And then I started looking into adding more power, whether it be a turbo or some sort of built motor, and, you know, I didn't have it. I was like, 19. But anyway, I was on Craigslist one day, and I saw a Laurel for sale in St. Louis. And in the ad, he mentioned that he wanted to trade for an E46. I was like, well, I don't have that, but I do have my 36. You know, I had replaced all the bushings and a proven drift car is good. So I hit him up, and, surprisingly, he was super down to trade. So we traded and I added a little bit of cash on top of it, obviously. He was super down and it's been a very, very good car. It's super simple, SR20. Really, it just does the thing super good.
Do you know the history on the chassis?
I'm not exactly sure about a lot of things, but I do know it had the SR already swapped into it before it came over to the states. And it came with a two way diff and coilovers, modded knuckles, so I'm assuming it was drifted in Japan. The body was really rough before I got it. The gentleman who imported it, Richard from GTR garage, he's based out of Indianapolis, he actually did all the bodywork and painted it gray for the guy before me. So I've known Richard for a while, so it's funny how I ended up in that chassis.
What did it mean to you to get the most stylish award last season?
It meant a lot. So basically, Team Breaking, what we're attempting to recreate is early 2000s Japanese drifting. So it was, you know, the cars were very stylish, low, but also driven aggressively. So my livery or roll call, whatever you'd like to call it, is based on a lot of cars from around that time. So it's kind of a callback for me, just like, you know, it's a simple SR car, modded knuckles. The roll call was also a call back to that. Yeah, style. It felt really good to get that award because I do it because I like it, and it feels good to know that other people like it as well.
This car is just *chef's kiss*. And Jordan streeting it to every event is the cherry on top.
Where do you get your style inspiration from?
I purchased a few option DVDs over the years. My buddy Mike out of Chicago with Burst Speed brings in a lot of Option videos and stuff. So that was a big influence, a lot of cool DVDs. And then honestly, a lot of those old clips from the early 2000s They're all on YouTube, which is very convenient, you know, because if if you're ever looking for some inspiration, it's pretty easy to type in like “2002 Bihoku D1GP,” you know? So that and then, like I said earlier, Breaking was, you know, that style. So Derek Bianski was kind of the first dude I met that did that style that I was close to. So really, ever since then, I've just been trying to recreate it to what I I believe is the best.
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The Whip:
Jordan's ride is a C33 Nissan Laurel. It came over from J-Land with an SR20 swapped in, modded knuckles and a two way diff. All he's had to do to keep it shredding is refresh the suspension and keep on top of engine maintenance. It's a quintessentially simple, stylish, RHD build, and that's why we all love it.