One of the reasons I wanted to save Project Leopard is because of its historic significance. It was the 2nd M30 to be featured in a tuner style magazine, but it was the most famous. It made people want an M30 because you can swap in an RB engine and this magazine did a step by step on how to do it.
Project Leopard made a huge impact on F31club and M30 owners (as well as Japanese owners I found out years later). It set the bar high because there was still a lot of unknown about M30 compatibilities and barriers with engine swapping. Project Leopard impact was made. Since 2009, no M30 has been featured in American publications since.
The initial and residual impact Project Leopard has made to this day revolves around how many of the newer and sometimes younger owners say that Project Leopard (and Project Car Magazine) introduced them to the M30. Their first impression was an RB swapped M30 that could drift at events, but also be a nice cruiser and different from the typical Japanese RWD platforms.
The impact overseas in Japan was something else. F31s are regularly featured in the various publications of older cars in Japan. Project Car Magazine to them was on only one to feature an F31 in America and the intention was to be a tuner build, so they were impressed. I didn't realize this until I went to Japan and people were asking for the magazine and what happened to the car.
The signficance of a build, I feel, doesn't hold the same as before. There are manufactures and fabricators making parts (quality in question), many without proper testing and for cheaper prices. With so many parts to choose from (some good and bad), I feel many (not all) builds are not high on quality as builds used to be. I definitely get budgets and DIY. But we see when projects don't complete or fail that many just move on.
Before there would be very few platforms for a build. Magazines usually put the cream of the crop in features and many forums had people that kept the build within the community. Nowadays, with the many parts/manufactures and knowledge (good and bad), ANYONE can build a car. Is the quality up there? Again, subjective depending on who is building. With print media going away and car specific forums not being utilized like before, people often use other social media platforms such as Youtube, Instagram and Facebook to document their builds. Again, it seems like anyone can "build a car".
Before, it would be enthusiasts that would build these non mainstream cars. They would build it for the community (Project Leopard is an F31club car and credits F31club). Nowadays, people build cars to try to get social media likes, try to go viral, and get instant gratification acting like they somehow discovered the car without acknowledging the specific car communities.
Project Leopard came from an era where there weren't as many manufactures and fabricators (like today). Where people couldn't get access to information as simple as nowadays. This is what also drew me to the car. It was built differently from how people build cars today.