The Nissan Skyline GT-R has at all times been lusted after, thanks partly to its forbidden fruit standing courtesy of the 25-year rule. Because the clock ticks away, extra of those automobiles change into out there in America, and the coveted R34 era is now hitting these shores. There’s a fairly fetching instance on Vehicles & Bids proper now, however one thing doesn’t fairly add up about this one.
The car in query is a 1999 Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec, listed in Gulfport, Mississippi by vendor HBWholesales. It’s a fascinating trim, and we’re informed it’s bought a clear Florida title and 56,200 km (~34,900 miles) on the clock. On the time of writing, the excessive bid sits at $100,000 with two days remaining. That’d be a steal, however you’d anticipate the worth to go considerably larger earlier than the public sale closes.
Dive into the numbers, although, and issues get slightly curious. As famous by Fb web page Crew Free Spirit, keying the VIN into Google brings up some irregularities.
The automotive is marked with a contemporary VIN plate marked BNR34-001222. This exhibits up at just a few locations, chief amongst them being Traditional.com. That web site lists the present Vehicles and Bids public sale web page, however it additionally information a former tried sale by Amassing Vehicles in September final yr. At that time, the car was listed in Malaysia with simply 14,724 km (9,149 mi) on the clock, with the word that complete mileage was unknown—suggesting the car lacked an unique cluster.
Dig deeper and also you’ll discover a extra curious end result. A automotive with the identical VIN exhibits up on the @wheelsporn Instagram account, posted on November 1, 2023. At the moment, the Indonesian account had listed the automotive with 72,000 km (~44,000 miles) on the clock. Curiously, within the final 21 hours, the publish has been edited to checklist the VIN as “BNR34-00xxx…”. The automotive additionally seems fairly completely different within the particulars. The stereo, exterior lighting, and intercooler are all completely different, and below the hood, there’s a unique cam cowl, consumption, and turbo setup on the very least. The mod checklist is sort of completely different, too, with the engine apparently having an N1 block, cast HKS pistons and rings, a Belief intercooler, a GReddy radiator, and it depends on an HKS FCON ECU.
In distinction, Vehicles and Bids lists the automotive with fairly a unique array of modifications. We’re informed it at present rocks a Tomei exhaust and titanium downpipe, an HKS blow-off valve, and a GReddy intercooler. It’s additionally bought a Haltech 2500 ECU with a flex-fuel tune, although we’re not given any dyno charts to point how a lot further energy these mods may be making. In any case, few to not one of the components match the Instagram publish, and there’s no point out of an N1 block or cast internals in any respect. Oh, and the automotive is seemingly working a Volcan battery… mostly seen within the UAE.
In fact, none of that is to say that the automotive on Vehicles and Bids is essentially not what it claims to be. It’s completely potential that clerical errors are guilty, or the posts from Indonesia and Malaysia are themselves false. The automotive may have additionally been legitimately bought and modified this yr; a number of the unique lights which can be included with the Vehicles and Bids sale assist this concept. The vendor claims to have bought the automotive earlier this yr.
Regardless, the irregularity has raised questions in regards to the car’s authorized standing within the US. That’s partly as a result of not each R34 GT-R is but authorized for import to the US. If certainly this car is BNR34-001222, it was in-built January 1999 in accordance with GT-R Registry. That’s now over 25 years previously, so it may have been legitimately imported stateside. Commenters on the public sale web page have referred to as for documentation to confirm the matter.
On the vendor’s half, HBWholesales has been doing its half to reply questions on the public sale web page. As famous by Crew Free Spirit, the Vehicles and Bids images present a VIN plate that doesn’t look like a real article, with typos and a unique font to a manufacturing unit instance. This contrasts to an earlier photograph shared by the vendor of a worn and broken VIN plate. The present vendor additionally notes that they’ve contacted the unique importer for extra particulars on the automotive’s standing and import approval. The vendor posted an import bill dated 10/25/2023 for the VIN in query from one Technique Auto Group in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
“The vendor has been unusually diligent and responsive in working with us and making an attempt to determine what’s happening. He’s nonetheless trying into it,” web site founder Doug Demuro informed us in a textual content. “If we don’t come to a optimistic conclusion earlier than the public sale ends, clearly we’ll simply cancel it for the good thing about our bidders — however now we have just a few days, and given the vendor’s optimistic perspective and bonafide efforts in making an attempt to study extra, we’re inclined to offer him a bit extra time to due diligence.”
Compounding this concern is the truth that, whereas automobiles typically want appropriate import paperwork to get a title, not all state DMVs will return that documentation with the title. If you happen to’re shopping for a PT Cruiser out of your buddy that in all probability doesn’t matter, however for automobiles on the sting of 25 years it’s a a lot greater deal.
[Mercedes’ Note: Luke from Team Free Spirit does comprehensive dives on an imported vehicle’s history so that buyers don’t get screwed. The poor quality VIN plate, which is in a font not used by Nissan and has a bad typo in the engine/transmission area, makes you question the rest of the vehicle. There was no mention of a restoration on the vehicle until the VIN plate discrepancy came up. The question also remains if this vehicle is a 1999 or later, which would impact its importation status. Thankfully, the seller appears to be working hard to figure all of this out. – MS]
General, it’s a nice-looking R34. Nonetheless, till its standing is confirmed in larger element, you may need to tread fastidiously. Importing automobiles like these entails grand sums of cash, and also you at all times need to be sure you’re getting what you paid for.
Picture credit: Vehicles and Bids