2024 is the year of the R34 in America. Long denied, citizens of the United States can now legally discover what the fuss is all about regarding this little-known two-door Japanese oddity.
We kid, of course. Nothing is ‘little-known’ or ‘odd’ about the R34 Nissan Skyline. And Americans know it well because it appeared in a movie franchise called Fast & Furious. Both terms equally applicable to this particular R34 Skyline.
It’s the work of Japanese restomodder Built By Legends (BBL) and is the second such R34 to be built especially for the US, to take advantage of the expiration of the ‘Imported Vehicle Safety Compliance Act.’
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They take an R34 base, and 3D-scan it to get as much data as possible before completely tearing it down to its chassis. It’s then wet-blasted, spot-welded, reinforced, and then layered with five coats of special paint (this time in the classic Bayside Blue). Every part is then either powder-coated and refitted, or completely replaced.
Speaking of which, the 2.6-liter twin-turbo straight-six gets a thorough overhaul using a new N1 block, ECU, carbon intake duct and fuel delivery pipe. The airflow meter and the injectors are from the R34 GT-R, but the engine cover is also new.
BBL says it now churns out 650hp, delivered to all four wheels via a heavy-duty Getrag six-speed manual gearbox. Naturally, there are beefy brakes to deal with this grunt, AP Racing six-pot calipers up front with four-pots at the back, and with clamped over 356mm RDD discs all around. It all hides behind 18-inch custom Rays alloys.
You can hide inside a refitted interior featuring two-tone ‘ultrasuede’ on the seats, along with aluminum pedals, a retrimmed steering wheel, and better sound and heat insulation.
“Incorporating modern techniques and materials, our focus is to restore and recreate the Japanese tuner cars that have been permanently ingrained in our memory for decades,” said BBL boss Masaharu Kuji. “We are taking these iconic Japanese cars of the 1980s and 1990s to an entirely new level so that they can be owned, driven, and appreciated by enthusiasts all around the world.”
Enthusiasts with a fair bit of disposable cash and patience, mind. Each one takes a year to build, and starts at $450,000 (P26 million), excluding the base car.
More photos of the R34 Nissan Skyline restomod by Built By Legends:
NOTE: This story first appeared on TopGear.com. Minor edits have been made.
