This is my 1998 Nissan Skyline R34 25GT 4-door, and the vision for it right now is pretty simple: build a bagged show car that I can still daily and turn heads in every day. Because seriously, what’s the point of buying a car if you’re not going to drive the hell out of it?
For the future, hopefully sometime next year or early 2028, I want to take the build to the next level with a manual swap, RB25DET, and all the supporting mods and little extras necessary to turn this thing into an absolute beast.
I had wanted an R34 sedan for a long time. While I was deployed to Japan, I actually tried finding one over there, but with the limited amount of time I had, it just never worked out. Luckily, I ended up finding this one back at my home station and bought it while I was still in Japan.
That actually made the whole experience even cooler. Throughout the rest of the deployment, I was constantly hunting for parts at Up Garage and shipping them back myself from Japan. Wheels, side skirts, OEM rear spats—you name it. Little by little, I was already putting the build together before I even got home to the car.
As much as I wanted a GT-T, once I compared what they were selling for in Japan versus what people were asking for them in the States, I just couldn’t justify the massive upcharge. Instead, I picked up this bone-stock 25GT with only 50,000 miles for $16K, which gave me a clean platform to build exactly how I wanted.
Since getting it home, I’ve daily-driven the hell out of it for about a year in Florida, and it’s honestly been incredibly reliable. The only real issue I’ve had was the starter dying, which only had the car down for two days. Huge shoutout to TFA Speed for actually having RB starters available stateside and getting me back on the road.
Fast-forward to September 2026, and I’ve been deployed again since April. I’m finally heading home in October, and I seriously can’t wait to get back and unwrap all the parts I’ve been collecting for it while I’ve been gone. Air suspension, brake upgrades, new axles, interior pieces, and a bunch of other parts are all waiting to go on.
While I’ve been away, the Skyline has also been in the shop getting completely repainted in a dark red with cherry-red flake. I haven’t even seen the finished color in person yet, so that might honestly be the thing I’m most excited about when I get home.
The goal has never been to build something that just sits around looking pretty at shows. I want a car that can look the part, turn heads everywhere it goes, and still get driven every chance I get.
Show car or not, this Skyline was built to be driven—and I’m ready to put another year of miles on it.
New parts to install
ROFU street brakes
J30 Rear Axles
Maxload/Bagriders air suspension kitn
Gtr ring style taillights
Uras rear half bumper
Paint job**
steering wheel
