When it comes to Japanese cars, modifications are as common as ketchup on a hot dog. Pretty much anything that you can do to a car has been done, so standing out may be a challenge. That said, a guy named Jim Bjork has decided to think outside the box and has modified a very American C4 Corvette in a very JDM way. What came of it is one of the most unique-looking vehicles, you have ever seen.

Jim is an interesting guy he has a great love for JDM cars but has never owned one, himself. In the past, he has owned a variety of American performance cars, including a C5 Corvette, Ford Mustang, Chevy Camaro, and a Dodge Viper.

Speedhunters first mentioned the JDM-inspired C4 Corvette when it made its first real-life debut at the Ultrace 2021, which is a special event for stance vehicles, organized every year, in Wroclaw, Poland. Jim, initially planned to take the car at the Bilsport Performance & Custom Motor Show in Elmia, which is the Swedish equivalent of SEMA. However, that was canceled and the C4 Corvette had to make due with a couple of virtual car shows. Those included RADwood, where the JDM-inspired Corvette won the “Raddest Domestic” trophy.

While we don’t know what made him sell the C5 Corvette and Dodge Viper for a car like the C4 Corvette – largely believed to be the most unsuccessful of all generations – he used the Pandemic to finish the car. In the process, he found that the car had previously lived in Japan, before being imported into Sweden. Given the car’s previous home, Jim got to work at reimagining the C4 Corvette as a JDM sports car.

A lot of custom fabrication has been done on the side, more specifically for the Pandem-inspired body kit. The flared fenders are wider than anything you will find in a catalog, Jim explains, and are made so a specific set of wheels and tires would fit. Speaking of which, the three-spoke Super Advan Racing SA3E wheels are another retro-JDM design piece. They are 11 inches wide at the front and 13 inches wide at the rear.

The side-skirts are another custom piece, made from John Greenwood Motorsports kit and Nissan S13 items. Above them, you will notice black stripes, which are believed to mimic the side-strakes of the Ferrari 512 Testarossa. The rear bumper is a custom piece and the rear wing is a replica of the BMW M3 E30 EVO, with a 16 cm increase in height.

The choice of paint is also quite unusual, as the exterior is finished in Porsche's Miami Blue. It actually reminds us of David Patterson's (ThatudeInBlue) Nissan 240SX.

Under the IMSA-inspired, vented front hood resides a 5.7-liter L98 V-8 with 250 horsepower. Performance-wise, the car features mild performance upgrades, such as an open air filter, straight-pipe exhaust, and a chipped ECU. Suspension-wise, the JDM-inspired C4 Corvette features a TA Technix air suspension with Air Lift Performance 3P management system.

One of the C4 Corvette’s Achilles heels is the interior, which especially in earlier examples left a lot to be desired in terms of quality. This one has a later-model interior and has also had some custom work done to it. There’s an obvious black and white theme (mostly black). The seats have been custom-trimmed, the door panels have been redone, and all interior panels have been flocked, in order to eliminate the typical 1980s GM, uneven gaps.

Out of all possible builds, a JDM-inspired C4 Corvette is among the last thing one might expect. That said, the marriage between American and JDM car culture has worked brilliantly. The C4 Corvette is definitely a looker and one of the most unique-looking builds, currently circulating the internet. If there’s one good thing about this pandemic, it’s that plenty of interesting builds are on the way.