This Fast & Furious Skyline R34 Reveals The Shocking Truth Of Movie Cars

A viral video of the R34 Skyline ‘Buggy Car’ from Fast & Furious 4 has once again been sparking confusion, anger, and controversy online.

However, there’s an interesting story behind this bizarre “GT-R,” which ensured that no actual holy grail R34 GT-Rs were harmed for the movie.

Here’s the behind-the-scenes video, which appears to have been filmed on a potato. Brace yourself!

The reality of movie cars, and why this ‘buggy’ GT-R exists

The Fast and Furious franchise has famously built and destroyed over 1,500 cars since the first movie was released on June 22, 2001.

Every main car you see throughout the franchise typically has around five replicas, some of which are designed for just one specific scene. This buggy car was one of those.

For Fast & Furious (the fourth movie in 2009), Paul Walker’s character, Brian O’Conner, needed to navigate stairs and steep freeway embankments during a street race in what appeared to be the iconic, genuine Bayside Blue R34 GT-R.

Here’s a throwback to what went down:

Obviously, navigating stairs isn’t an ideal scenario for any real Skyline, even a base model.

Why they opted for the ‘buggy’ design

A real R34 would be too heavy for the scenes they needed to produce. However, this replica design solved the problem by mounting an air-cooled VW Beetle engine in the rear, providing clearance and preventing damage when the “GT-R” slammed into the ground.

As you can see from the video, the design means there’s minimal weight (given the questionable ride height), and the interior is completely stripped out. The fiberglass replica GT-R body panels were mounted onto (what’s left of) the original chassis.

Interestingly, despite the R34 being purpose-built for these specific scenes used in the movie, the production team ultimately ended up using a different car.

Don’t worry – no genuine GT-Rs were destroyed

The ‘buggy’ chassis originated from either a GT or GT-T R34, considered base models that were extremely common in Japan at the time and were used mainly as daily drivers, rather than the legendary RB26DETT twin-turbo R34 GT-Rs, which now frequently sell for six figures.

While even the GT and GT-T models have increased significantly in value since the R34’s popularity boom, they remain the only somewhat affordable options for most enthusiasts compared to the skyrocketing prices of the GT-R.

What happened to the real hero GT-R?

The actual GT-R used for the close-up and detail shots in the movie was a genuine Nissan Skyline GT-R that Paul Walker drove during filming. Rather than being destroyed like the rest, this car was carefully preserved and later sold in 2023 for a record-breaking $1.35 million.

All the stunt work and rolling scenes utilized a variety of custom-built replicas, using cheaper chassis and replica GT-R body panels. We’re all for this, as it allows them to create the crazy scenes while still preserving the true JDM legends.

So, next time someone gets upset about this “ruined GT-R”, you can remind them it was actually just Hollywood trickery for the greater good of enthusiasts!