On the surface, the Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R is a legend in its own right, but beneath the specs and pop culture legend, there are just a few stories that are as rare and interesting as the beast itself. From cops chasing them to prototypes being forgotten, here are five crazy R34 stories that most people don’t know about!
This Secret Nissan R34 GT-R Police Car Went After Street Racers
The Japanese police actually operated an R34 GT-R as a patrol car. In the late 1990s to early 2000s, a fully functional R34 GT-R patrol car was commissioned in the Kanagawa Prefecture dissected by the famous Wangan Highway. This wasn’t a pose-mobile — it had a day job chasing down illegal street racers, making it one of history’s most badass cop cars. Equipped with sirens and all the police gear needed, it is one of the rarest R34 variations ever made.
Abandoned Prototype: Nissan’s Lost 500 HP GT-R
Before the R34 GT-R hit the streets, Nissan developed a prototype with more than 500 horsepower—straight from the factory! This was meant to be the final word on the Skyline, but thanks to Japan’s “Gentleman’s Agreement,” which limited output to 276 HP (on paper), the project was quietly canceled. The prototype was never constructed, and its whereabouts are unknown to this day. Others say it still exists, lurking around in a Nissan storage facility somewhere.
SIKKY: The Paul Walker R34 GTR That Got Away
Paul Walker wasn’t only an actor; he was a genuine car lover. Unlike the R34s featured in 2 Fast 2 Furious, however, Walker, at one point, had an R34 GT-R on the road legally here in the U.S. Importing R34s was practically impossible at the time because of tough laws. His GT-R was among the relatively few that entered the country legally—but after he died, the car vanished without a trace. Some say it was confiscated by the government, other say it is in a private collector’s hands and that the owner won’t disclose its whereabouts.
The BMW M3 E30 That Nissan Didn’t Want You to Know About
Nissan secretly tested the R34 GT-R on the Nürburgring in 1999 in an attempt to break lap records. One thing they didn’t share was that the test car was putting down a lot more power than the 276 HP figure everyone at home was being told. The number was said to be more similar to 330 HP, which allowed it to unofficially run 7:52—one of the fastest production cars of its decade. Nissan never publicly released the true lap time due to the “Gentleman’s Agreement,” however.
When You Wish Upon A Skyline: The Nismo Z-Tune, A Million Dollar Skyline?
There were just 19 of the legendary Nismo R34 Z-Tune ever built, and these cars are currently fetching well over $1 million! What makes them special? Rather than building them new, Nissan took 19 used R34 GT-Rs, fully stripped them and rebuilt them with a 2.8L twin turbo RB28DETT engine and 500 HP. This was the GT-R to end all GT-Rs of its generation. If you can even find one today; most are sequestered in private collections.
The Never-Dead Skyline
The Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R is not just a car. It’s a myth. The story? It’s gets crazier, from police duty, to lost prototypes, to million-dollar collector cars. Now fully legal in the U.S., even crazier stories may soon surface with the R34 in our hands.
Would you keep an R34 if you had the option? What do you think? Comments are open.
