Man reveals how he managed to get his hands on an R34 Nissan Skyline GT-R that’s federally illegal in America

This man in San Diego, California, bought an R34 Nissan Skyline GT-R that’s federally illegal to own in America.

For context, this car isn’t just illegal in the US, it’s explicitly banned.

But there are workarounds to everything, and there was one for this R34.

Now the owner’s sharing exactly how he managed to work the system.

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Man legally bought an R34 Nissan Skyline GT-R in the US

In a video posted to YouTube, TJ Hunt surprised his viewers with a 1999 R34 Nissan Skyline GT-R in a stunning Midnight Purple II spec.

The colors are important here because hardcore enthusiasts know them all.

Despite the car being banned in the United States, TJ shared how he managed to buy one legally.

It was an expensive purchase, so he first had to sell his Lamborghini Huracan project car to be able to afford it.

It all began in 2022, when he made up his mind to track one down and buy it.

However, he wanted to own it legally in America.

Naturally, that would be hard, considering it’s a federally illegal car.

It’s also not the only vehicle to suffer the wrath of government regulations because the ‘greatest car ever’ is banned in all fifty states.

The workaround in question

There are actually a few workarounds for owning or importing a car like that in the US.

For instance, if a car is 25 years of age or older, you can import and buy one without any problems.

That’s also how someone imported a Lamborghini Diablo into America.

Secondly, you can get it under the ‘show and display’ rule, where you can only drive the car for 2,500 miles per year.

Another option is to either get the car modified to American standards using a ‘federalization’ way through a broker or get a letter from the manufacturer certifying that it meets the US standards.

Fortunately for TJ, he didn’t have to get into all that trouble, unlike another YouTuber who imported an Australian exotic car.

TJ found someone who already owned this R34 Nissan Skyline GT-R under this rule, and he convinced them to sell it to him.

The YouTuber wanted to make it a project car and transformed the R34 into an absolute beauty over two years.

It’s a wild story, but there’s a catch.

You see, this specific car is from 1999, and that means it reached 25 years of age last year.

As of writing, it’s now legal to own and doesn’t need to be under the ‘show and display’ rule.

That’s obviously a win for TJ because he won’t have to worry about counting miles anymore.