The late Paul Walker was a big fan of the Nissan Skyline GT-R, owning several of them, including this R34 model. This video offers a deep dive into the car’s history from someone who knows it inside and out. Craig Lieberman was a technical advisor for the “Fast and Furious” franchise, and helped introduce Walker to the GT-R.
An R32 GT-R at a “Fast and Furious” car casting call piqued Walker’s interest, Lieberman said, so he took the actor to MotoRex, a company that was importing and federalizing GT-Rs at the time (this was before the model was officially launched in the United States with the R35 generation). MotoRex then loaned Walker an R34—nicknamed “Blackbird”—for an extended test drive.
After the test drive, Walker purchased the car featured in this video. It’s a 1999 V-Spec model painted in Sonic Silver. V-Spec models got a few performance upgrades over the base GT-R, including an active limited-slip differential and stiffer suspension. However, it was soon surpassed by the V-Spec II, and later by the even more hardcore M-Spec and Nismo Z-Tune models.
Paul Walker’s 1999 Nissan Skyline GT-R R34 V-Spec
Walker later traded the silver V-Spec for a white V-Spec II, according to Lieberman. The silver car was sold to an owner in Hawaii. Intending to make the car into a replica of the MotoRex Blackbird (while retaining the silver color), he installed a C-West bodykit, as well as a carbon-fiber hood and some other performance parts.
The car was later seized from its Hawaiian owner by the DEA as part of an asset-forfeiture ruling, and sold at auction. It went to an owner in Texas, who kept it for about 15 years, Lieberman said. It was sold earlier this year to JDM importer Toprank. The R34 is one of only 14 federalized Skyline GT-Rs imported by MotoRex (other R34 Skylines won’t be legal to import until 2024 under the 25-year-rule), according to Lieberman. That, along with the connection to Paul Walker, means this car is likely worth about $400,000, he said.
It’s also worth noting that this car is not the R34 GT-R Walker drove in “2 Fast 2 Furious.” They aren’t even the same shade of silver (the movie car was painted in a non-factory hue from U.S. firm House of Kolor). That was actually Lieberman’s own personal car. It’s currently in the hands of an anonymous owner, and reportedly no longer appears as it did in the movie.