This gorgeous R34 Skyline GT-R is a 650bhp, near-half-million-dollar restomod

2024 is the year of the R34… in America, of course. Long denied this little-known two-door Japanese oddity, citizens of the United States can now legally discover what the fuss is all about.

We jest, of course. Nothing ‘little-known’ or indeed ‘odd’ about the R34 Skyline. And Americans know it well, because it’s appeared in something called a Fast & Furious. Both terms equally applicable to this particular R34 Skyline.

It’s the work of Japanese restomodder ‘Built By Legends’, and is the second such R34 it’s built especially for the US, to take advantage of the expiration of the ‘Imported Vehicle Safety Compliance Act’.

They take an R34 base, and 3D-scan it to get as much data as possible… before completely tearing it down to its undercrackers. It’s then wet-blasted, spot welded, reinforced and layered with five coats of special paint (this time in the classic ‘Bayside Blue’), while every part is either powder-coated and refitted, or completely replaced.

Speaking of which, the 2.6-litre twin-turbo straight-six gets a thorough going over, using a new ‘N1’ block, a new ECU, a new carbon intake duct and fuel delivery pipe, the airflow meter and injectors from the R34 GT-R, and a new engine cover.

BBL says it now churns out 650bhp, delivered to all-four wheels via a Getrag “heavy duty” six-speed manual gearbox. Naturally there are beefy brakes to deal with this grunt – AP Racing six-pot calipers up front, four pots at the back, clamped over 356mm RDD discs all round. They hide behind 18in custom Rays alloys.

You can hide inside a refitted interior featuring two-tone ‘ultrasuede’ (like suede, but… really suede-y) on the seats, aluminium 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, and that doesn’t include the little-known, two-door base car.