SEMA Dispatch 2: The GT-R Takeover is in Full Swing
My favorite Skylines from the world’s biggest aftermarket convention
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Feature Article
The Brands Eyeing the GT-R Market
GT-Rs HAD JAWS DROPPING at the 2024 SEMA Show. Though the Nissan Skyline GT-R is nearly 30 years old, built from 1989-2004, the car is a hero to today’s enthusiasts. SEMA, to its credit, recognized this and placed them front and center.
A bright blue R34 GT-R, offered for about $400,000 by the restomod brand Built By Legends, held center stage at the entrance to the show. And a blue-and-silver R34 GT-R built to resemble the famous “Paul Walker car” from Fast & Furious 4 made its debut at the massive Meguiar’s booth.
Because of an obscure law that prevents cars from entering the country if they weren’t originally sold here as new, the Skyline GT-R is only now finding a market in the U.S. But as the cars legalize for import, one by one, that market is growing fast.
There were at least a dozen Skyline GT-Rs on the show floor in Las Vegas. Their nearly ubiquitous presence showed that while the once-forbidden sports car remains rare on U.S. roads, it’s front of mind for modern enthusiasts. My 2023 book Cult of GT-R delves into the myriad reasons behind this phenomenon.
The blue R34 GT-R was made by Built By Legends, a collective that enlisted the help of iconic Japanese shops like Mine’s and Garage Yoshida to create the ultimate refurbished GT-R fantasy. And the Walker-inspired R34 GT-R was built by Throtl, the parts seller and YouTube channel that geared the car for drag racing.
Both cars attracted throngs of fans in high-traffic sections of the show. And there were others that showed, in addition to pristine restoration and high-powered drag racing, there are multiple ways to celebrate the car known as “Godzilla.”
Outdoors in the Toyo Treadpass, a curated selection of custom builds sponsored by Toyo Tires, an earlier R33 Skyline GT-R presented yet another approach. This one was built by Garage Active, a Japanese shop known for carbon-fiber widebody kits. Its car sported extreme bodywork with an original design, along with hand-stitched leather interior and an airbag suspension that dropped it to the floor.
The show-stopping aspect was the bare carbon body that faded from red paint in the front to bare black in the rear. As you rotate around the car, its paint and carbon weave sparkled and danced in the overhead light.
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These were undisputed showstoppers. And there were even more versions that went beyond “wow”-ing, and show that the proliferation of Skyline GT-R parts in the U.S. is only just beginning.
Seibon Carbon, headquartered in California, debuted a new dry carbon fiber hood for the R34 Skyline GT-R. As opposed to typical “laminated” carbon fiber, dry carbon is pre-impregnated with resin, and therefore lighter with a flat appearance. Seibon officials said they’ve seen skyrocketing demand for GT-R mods in the U.S. and that it will retail for about $1,800.
Muse, a Japanese company specializing in handcrafted upholstery and sporty interior parts, brought an R34 GT-R in stunning color-changing Midnight Purple III paint. Australia also made an appearance. Platinum Racing Products, or PRP, displayed “The World’s Quickest GT-R,” an Australian-made drag racer that will appear at the inaugural GT-R Festival in Dallas this weekend.
One booth even displayed all three countries at once. SEMA 2024 served as the public debut of Bodan, a company producing high-performance GT-R parts inspired by the U.S., Australia and Japan. It showed a nearly-stock R33 GT-R and an eye-catching drift R34 GT-R built by iconic shop Bee-R for the D1GP series in Japan.
Bodan displayed two versions of its own proprietary engine, the RB7 and the RB9, named because they’ll redline to 7,000 rpm and 9,000 rpm, respectively. (There’s an RB11 on the way, too.) And although they pay homage to Nissan’s RB26 by name, the Bodan engines were inspired by another automaker entirely.
It was Honda that Bodan engineers sought to emulate with the goal of high-response, precision acceleration and efficient airflow. And it was Australia that inspired the use of a billet aluminum block that has grown increasingly popular Down Under.
Add to that variable valve timing (VVT), a dry-sump oil pan to handle high pressures and custom Bosch ignition coils for better combustion, and the Bodan engines introduce several key technologies that bring the RB26 philosophy into the 21st century. They’ll be expensive. But it won’t stop Bodan from finding customers.
Elsewhere there were more stunning Skylines, though they may not have advertised anything you can buy at all. Among them was the R33 400R, an authentic 1-of-40 variant produced by Nissan in the 1990s with the best parts available at the time. (Many consider this the ultimate factory GT-R — there are likely only two in the U.S., and this one sold for seven figures.)
Sadly I didn’t get to see it this year. But the car’s owner and its host booth partnered with me to launch Cult of GT-R at SEMA last year, and I was pleased to see them thrilling the crowd once again.
On a similar note, the parts superstore Type S displayed a 400R tribute. This white R33 GT-R is an N1 edition, another low-volume GT-R built to commemorate their racing victories in Japan. Each had an N1 engine, modified and fortified to handle increased power and keep on ticking. Legend has it that Australian racing teams advised this to Nissan after cracking multiple RB26 blocks with too much power. Having spoken with a few Australian GT-R fanatics, I’m included to believe it.
Finally you couldn’t walk past the candy red R33 GT-R from Little Panda out of Japan, housed at the JDM Showcase section, without stopping to gawk. Its extreme aero parts, plus frighteningly-upgraded engine bay and all-business interior showed that no two GT-R have the same character.
SEMA this year was about celebrating extremes. The Skyline GT-Rs in attendance made it clear that the car is capable of being stretched in any number of directions, from drifting and drag racing to upgraded “OEM-plus” and wild reimaginations. All this without traditional players HKS and GReddy staking their claim on the scene, choosing perhaps to save their stuff for the GT-R Festival this weekend.
Are they being overtaken by young players? Or simply biding their time. We’ll have to wait and see. But in the meantime, it was the Skyline that stole the SEMA Show in 2024. And with no signs of slowing down, and more GT-Rs being legally imported into the country each month, it’s likely this trend only continues to grow more popular. And maybe more expensive, too.
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Next Time…
A.I. is finding its footing
Cool debuts from friends of Race Day
What I drove out to Vegas
Stay tuned.
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