Last month we reported that this R34 with a unique history, including use by the late Paul Walker, was coming up for auction.
Well the results are in, and it sold for an eye-watering US$577,500, or A$840,122 at Mecum Auctions yesterday. Pocket change, hey? To be clear this wasn’t even Paul’s actual car, just one Motorex in the USA loaned to Paul for some time.
For anyone who missed the previous details around this particular R34, here’s a brief history of it, and an explanation as to why R34 GTRs are so highly desired (and priced) in the USA.
Americans have long been restricted from the joys of legally owning R34 GT-Rs due to some fairly strange regulations, but a handful of GT-Rs were legally complied before the long arm of the law clamped down and destroyed a number of examples that had been illegally registered in various states.
On the other hand though, this unicorn of a car is one of 16 fed-legal R34s in the country. Anyone else will have to wait another few years before the 1999 models are allowed into the country.
Aside from it being one of the only legally-registered R34s in the US of A, this one comes with a very colourful history. For starters, this particular R34 GTR was driven and maintained for some time by the one and only late Paul Walker. More about that later.
As for specs? This example comes loaded to the hilt with accessories, yet tastefully modified to maintain a near-stock look.
Up front we have the 2.6-litre, six-cylinder RB26DETT engine and a six-speed Getrag manual transmission that sends power to all four corners via the ATESSA all-wheel drive system with HICAS all-wheel-steering.
Other mechanical modifications include the beautiful NISMO carbon air inlet pipes, Greddy radiator, Greddy intake manifold, Garage Defend Cooling panel, Tein coilovers with electronically adjustable dampers, Trust stainless steel exhaust, Volk TE37 Saga wheels, Nismo shifter, Sparco four-point harnesses, Momo Apache steering wheel, some tasteful carbon fibre accents, and plenty more.
Being the Vspec-II it is one of the most desirable models of R34 GTR, especially in stunning Bayside Blue.
If that’s not enough for you, this was used as the poster vehicle for BFGoodrich in the early 2000’s.
So where does Paul Walker come into the picture? That in itself is rumoured to have some obscure history behind it. As the story goes, he was responsible for the majority of the miles driven as he was designated to put the mileage on this vehicle necessary for proper importation.
However, according to “GTR-Registry“, we have a little bit more of a back story behind this car.
“In 2001, It was purchased brand new in Japan by its original owner, who was military personnel stationed there at the time. He had the car shipped to the U.S so Motorex could Federalize it for US road use. Whilst the owner was in Japan, the car was stateside undergoing NHTSA/EPA Compliance, the owner told the founder/owner of Motorex, that he thought about selling the car.
“So Motorex leant the car out to Paul Walker as an extended test drive, Paul in turn leant it to a Greddy employee, who then Greddy prepared the vehicle for SEMA & the BF Goodrich Marketing Campaign. (Which is where the famous poster came from)”
“After all these weird things happened with the car, the owner got it back & stored it away for the last 20 years, driving it periodically; Until it was sold Earlier this year to Hive Garage.”
Whatever the story is, the vehicle is truly a stunning example of what already is a highly desirable automobile. The fact Paul Walker has been in possession of it for some time is just some added bragging rights at local car meets (if the owner ever actually chooses to take it out in the wild).
