This Crazy Skyline Graveyard Has More R31s Than You Knew Existed

Have you ever wondered why R31 Skylines have become so rare, and where they’ve all ended up? Naturally, you’d assume they’ve all been written off or met similar grim fates with failed drifting on the touge.

While that’s true for plenty of them, it also turns out that a huge chunk of these JDM legends that remain are hiding in plain sight, stacked like crazy Skyline Jenga blocks in the Japanese countryside.

Deep in rural Japan, Shibata-san has what can only be described as R31 heaven and hell rolled into one. You might want to brace yourself!

Back when he was just 21 years old, he was so obsessed with them that he ended up buying 200 R31s at auction in just over two years.

With numerous reasonably priced options available on the market, the R31 was an affordable drift car at the time. The modern R32, R33, and R34 additions to the Skyline family made the latest versions shiny and exciting when stacked up against what many saw as boxy ’80s relics.

With prices fetching around ¥1 million (around $7,000), he saw it as an opportunity to stock up. Since then, his company, R31 House, continued to add to the collection, which has turned out to be a pretty epic JDM car investment.

What has now evolved into a three-decade empire, these sought-after classic Skylines now sell for up to ¥20 million ($100,000+) when fully restored by the team, with a five-year waiting list.

Among them are numerous rare and exclusive models, including the Tommykaira M30 with the RB30DE engine, which is thankfully carefully stored away on its own. (Away from the carnage on the other side!)

Your mind will be blown (and probably devastated) when you see the “R31 cemetery”, with now over 500 donor cars spread across two lots.

There are so many that they’re stacked on top of each other and serve as a parts source for maintaining customer cars, since many R31 parts are no longer available. Some will also get a new lease of life.

While many of them look extremely sorry for themselves, that’s thankfully not the case for all of them.

In the video, Dino DC wanders around, checking out the incredible variety of R31 variants, from basic GTS models to rare GTS-R versions, including four-door sedans and station wagons. Many feature period-correct modifications with vintage wheels like Watanabes and SSRs.

It soon becomes clear that it’s like the gift that keeps on giving, with more and more cars appearing. Not just R31s, either. Take a look at this D1-spec Nissan Silvia S15, for example.

And our personal favorite, which is this insane HKS-powered RB26 D1GP drift car build, is one of several D1-spec R31s featured in the video.

The ever-growing R31 specialist now operates across multiple buildings, each handling different aspects of the business, including a workshop which performs everything from basic maintenance to complete ground-up restorations, engine swaps, and custom fabrication. 

They’ve developed hundreds of parts specifically for R31s, including their famous “takoashi” equal-length exhaust manifolds. They even make parts for RC drift cars using 3D printers.

Among their crazy builds, they’re also building an R31 time attack car, utilizing R34 suspension components both front and rear, with plans to achieve similarly impressive lap times as its modern-day counterparts. The project involves extensive chassis modifications, including tubbed wheel arches and a repositioned firewall.

Alongside all of this, Shibata-san also operates his own tire business, which he launched just four years ago and has achieved massive, unexpected success.

Shibatire ships approximately 15,000 tires per month, focusing on specific aftermarket tuning scene sizes that other manufacturers aren’t interested in. They mainly specialize in unique fitments to support the crazy fitment, small, dishy wheel sizes for these classic Japanese cars.

This incredible R31 kingdom needs to be seen to be believed, so be sure to check out the video. It’s an awesome, unique insight into what goes on behind the scenes at these Japanese tuning houses.