What is a drift missile? The beat-up car drifters don't mind crashing

A drift missile is a cheap car built for drifting that its owner doesn't mind wrecking. It's often dented and sometimes wearing mismatched panels, and that's fine with its owner. Motor Authority put it plainly in 2014, calling a missile car "drift-speak for a beat-up clunker drivers build for times when they want to have fun, but don't want to risk destroying the pristine cars they've already put a lot of work into."

The idea is simple. Drifting means sliding a car sideways on purpose, and at some point you're going to tap a wall, a tire barrier, or another car. A missile lets you do that, shrug, and go back out.

What makes a car a missile

Mostly, the lack of effort. In the same Motor Authority piece, Formula Drift driver Chris Forsberg built one out of an S13 Nissan 240SX with "plenty of crumpled sheetmetal and a blown engine." The budget was $5,000. "A proper missile car doesn't look like much," the article said. The modifications stay minimal to protect the budget, and "body damage is worn like a badge of honor."

Where the name came from

The word came over from Japan. In a 2016 Speedhunters interview, Andy Gray of Power Vehicles said, "That word has been used in Japan for years." Gray didn't love it. Gray said the word suggests "something that is just throw away," and added, "I think you should call it your 'practice car', because that is what it is." Plenty of drifters still say missile.

The cars people use

The 240SX is the classic. Hagerty called it a "perfectly poised Nissan coupe just waiting for a turbocharger, slammed suspension, and a budget for rear tires to be the perfect drift missile." In Japan, drift culture "chewed through Silvias at a high rate," Hagerty wrote.

That popularity has a cost. By 2024, Hagerty's average quote value for an S13 240SX was $15,600, and average auction prices had passed $20,000. That isn't missile money anymore. Gray saw it coming in 2016: "Two or three grand used to get you a basic drift missile, but it just doesn't any more."

So drifters have moved on. When Hagerty's Chris Stark shopped for a grassroots drift car in 2022, the Mazda RX-7, 240SX, and AE86 Corolla were all out of Stark's price range. Stark noted that the Nissan 350Z is "widely considered one of the best out-of-the-box drift cars," and that a BMW E46 is underpowered unless you find a 330i. Stark ended up buying a 1998 Ford Mustang GT for $2,000.

Older BMWs show up at grassroots events too, like the graffiti-covered E36 at the top of this page, photographed with a British drift club in 2012.

If you want to see the polished end of drifting, read how tandem drifting works, or put a clean 240SX up against a missile on WhipJury and see which one people pick.

Sources:

The definition and Forsberg's $5,000 build: Motor Authority

Andy Gray on the term and on costs: Speedhunters (archived)

The 240SX as a drift car and its current values: Hagerty

The 350Z, the E46, and the $2,000 Mustang: Hagerty