Paul Walker’s character of Brian O’Conner loved Skylines and the Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R driven in the fourth Fast and Furious movie had his specifications.
Its hard not to get caught up in the fanfare and fun of the Fast and Furious movies. This movie franchise brings us amazing action characters, incredibly fast and aggressive cars, and many unlikely chase scenes. Toss in a bit of humor and you’ve got the perfect recipe for a car-based movie franchise that has covered nearly twenty years of our lives. Love it or hate it, the Fast and Furious franchise has become a huge part of our world.
It took four movies before Paul got his car of choice
The Skyline could have had its own credit in the movies. This was the car of choice by Brian O’Conner, played by Paul Walker. We don’t always expect the actors to actually know much about wat they’re portraying, but Walker was a bit of a JDM aficionado. That said, it wasn’t until the fourth movie before he got the car that was customized to his specifications. This was certainly a big deal for him during his time on screen and set.
How was the Nissan Skyline modified?
The Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R featured in the fourth version of the movie franchise was made with specifications ordered by Paul Walker. Strangely, Walker didn’t own the car, but that didn’t stop the movie makers from giving him carte blanche to order items that could improve the performance of this car.
The items ordered to improve this Skyline include a Turbonetics front-mount intercooler, a NISMO NE-1 exhaust, and a Rotor brake conversion. All decals were removed from the car, much like many customized vehicles featured in the film. The dashboard featured a large digital screen that displayed the race route. All modifications were completed by Kaizo Industries.
A legal battle over this highly popular car
During filming several models of the Skyline were used, but only one genuine model was used during filming, and that was the model driven by Walker. Once filming wrapped up, the U.S. government impounded the Skyline due to issues around how it was imported to the United States. This car was still not allowed on US soil in 2009, which caused the government to seize the car. A lengthy battle ensued and the car was eventually released and exported to German where it was put on display at Munich Motorworld.
This Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R will head to auction in Brussels at an auction taking place from April 28 to May 5. The auction is being put on by Bonhams, which is working to determine a price for this car, but it should bring at least six figures.
A Few Paul Walker things to know
Unfortunately, Paul Walker died in a car accident a few years ago, but not before he left his mark on the world, especially in the Fast and Furious movies. Here are a few things you might not know about the actor:
Walker was a car collector
Walker had a pretty cool collection of cars that anyone would love to see. He had seven BMW E36 M3 models, several Nissan Skylines, a 1967 Chevy Nova, a 1964 Chevy Impala, a 1964 Chevy Malibu, a 1964 Chevy Chevelle two-door wagon, and a Porsche GT3 RS. We’re unsure why he chose so many Chevys from the same model year, but there were part of his collection.
JDM became part of his DNA with these movies
If it wasn’t for the Fast and Furious movies, Paul Walker might not have ever collected JDM cars. These cars were a huge part of the movies with the Toyota Supra and Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R becoming two of the most important cars in the films. Although Walker didn’t race the cars or do his own stunts, he did rev them up and did some of the less dangerous driving, which got him hooked.
Walker might be responsible for the JDM craze in America
It wasn’t long before word got out that several Toyota Supra and Nissan Skyline models were being added to Walker’s car collection. When that word got out, more JDM cars were imported to America than ever before. These cars had to be tuned and built to American street legal limits, but many new owners enjoyed the fun of Skylines and Supras.
How much will the Paul Walker modified Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R go for at auction? We won’t know until the end of the month, but it should be a hefty sum.
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