There are three things I would never be able to turn down in life:

1) Free Champagne at events I definitely don't belong in

2) Emily Ratajkowski

3) Driving Takashi's Nissan 350Z from Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift

As luck would have it, last weekend I ticked off number three on that list as I was invited down to an airfield in Cheshire to take the former Drift King's 350Z for a spin.

Most of my Fast & Furious-loving friends cast aside Tokyo Drift as the runt of the litter and mock its entire existence, but it is actually my favourite film of the entire series. Whether Tokyo Drift has a place in the F&F series is an argument for another day, but when I told them I was driving D.K's 350Z, their jealousy was plain to see.

Arriving at the classic car showroom your first thoughts are that the drift car is a little out of place. This showroom had some of the most beautiful and glamorous cars ever made. I'm not exaggerating that by the way, they had a £1 million 1977 Lamborghini Countach LP400 for sale.

Among one of the most stunning showrooms I've ever seen was this Nissan with a massive rear-wing and an interesting paint job. Somehow, it held my attention longer than the rest of the motoring royalty and the anticipation of getting behind the wheel of the famous drift car was intensified upon hearing the 430 bhp turbocharged engine fire up.

In my head, I was going to be drifting in a multi-storey car park in Toyko winning the hearts of beautiful women with my skills, but in reality, I would be juddering between speed bumps down the road from Sandycroft trying not to stall and impressing exactly zero women.

5 things I learnt driving D.K's 350Z from Tokyo Drift

1) Getting into the car leaves you with no dignity

This is something that isn't referenced in the film, but getting into a car with a drift setup is not an easy thing, especially if you're 6ft 2.

The roll cage needs stepping over whilst aiming your arse toward the middle of the bucket seat in order to not break your coccyx. I failed at both of these things the first time around.

If I was at a drift meet, I would have certainly lost a lot of credibility before I'd even started.

With dignity levels at an all time low, it was time to start her up.

2) Drift cars are very easy to stall

I was definitely much more comfortable driving the car after seeing the showroom manager stall it before I drove (sorry Max). However, it is still very embarrassing to stall, especially being a motoring journalist.

This drift car's biting point range was so small, you just blink and you'd either have stalled or you are wheel-spinning into a hedge.

This is an untampered-with photograph of me drifting... This is an untampered-with photograph of me drifting...

In the films, you can see the drifters slowly approach the starting line in a cool and menacing fashion, locking eyes with the foes they are about to school. In reality, it would look like they are playing Buckeroo.

Just trying to inch forward without wheel-spinning or stalling was a similar skill set to performing brain surgery whilst being occasionally tasered.

3) Speed Bumps are a drift car's worst enemy

Being a drift car the 350Z was lowered quite a lot, which, in the film, means that it looks badass. Cruising around the streets of Tokyo, D.K's car would be in its element.

However, and you can ask any spectators of my drive, having to drive over a speed bump at a 45˚ angle going 1 mph doesn't look so badass. Especially when you hear the slow scraping noise that cuts into your very soul.

4) Short ratio gearboxes are fun

Those speed bumps were annoying as they cut up the long runway where I would have been able to build up some serious speed.

Luckily, being a drift car, the gearbox had very short ratios, so I was going through the gears quickly. This also meant that I often experienced involuntary and unnecessary (but also wonderfully necessary) wheelspin changing up a gear.

I found myself changing gears way more than was needed just to simulate the feeling of being a drift king. Yes, the footage below may look like your great aunt Doris driving her Nissan Micra to the bingo, but it felt like I was racing in a Touge event against Takashi in a battle to the death.

Loading... Don't judge, this is as fast as I could go before the speed bump.

5) I can't drift

I'll make my excuses that:

a) The roads weren't really driftable

b) It wasn't my car to drift

...but even if I was allowed to, I was a long way off being able to drift this car.

The car can easily be made street legal, but I was in full drift setup and I got the strong impression I'd need a lot more driving talent to really push this car if I were given the opportunity. I definitely want to give it a go though.

Here is the clip of Takashi, the former Drift King, pushing the 350Z a little harder than I managed to:

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Despite my limited driving talent, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the former Drift King's weapon of choice and if anyone wants to give me a few lessons, I'd be a willing student.

If you want to channel your inner Drift King, this car is actually for sale at Cheshire Classic Cars.

I'd also recommend having a look through the rest of their collection as it is properly impressive.

Here is a link to the listing:

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