In the 1990s, the automotive world witnessed somewhat of a golden era of incredibly fast Japanese-made cars, and Nissan designed one of, if not the most, iconic sports cars of that era. The mighty and beautiful R34 Nissan Skyline is without a doubt a legendary JDM with immense power and a distinct intimidating yet subtle classic look that represents its fine engineering and design.
For years, the popular 1998 Skyline has been a dream car for a lot of enthusiasts who have an unmatched love for 1990s Japanese sports cars. And since there has been a law preventing the importation of such vehicles into the US market unless 25 years pass from the production of the vehicle, instances of this legend in the States have been quite rare and expensive.
However, 2023 marks the 25th birthday of the beloved 1998 R34 Skyline and the restriction on importing it is now no more. Let’s take a look at how this Japanese beast earned its iconic international status and why one might consider importing one.
The Nissan Skyline R34 Carrying The Godzilla Name
Originally manufactured in 1957 as a four-door sedan, Prince Motor Company (later bought by Nissan) meant for the Skyline to be a luxury car to compete against European and American-made vehicles. Over the following years, Skyline improved and went through significant changes. In 1966, Nissan purchased the Prince brand and in 1969, the Skyline started to become something more than a mere family sedan.
This gave birth to the S20 engine, a six-cylinder twin-cam 24-valve roaring beast put into the 1969 Skyline which made 160 HP. The new and improved Skyline received the first ever GT-R badge and went on to dominate touring races and become a serious rival for its European and American competitions.
After a couple of decades and after the gas crisis of the 1970s, Nissan reincarnated the GT-R badge with the 1989 R32 Skyline, and the Godzilla was born. The introduction of the R32 proved to be a crucial hallmark not only in Nissan’s history but also in the automotive world. The all-wheel-steering, twin-turbocharged, four-wheel-drive 1989 GT-R made about 320 HP while the official claim was 289.
The R32 Skyline is the start of the JDM legend the car community knows and loves. It received improvements, upgrades, and minor redesigns over the decade, such as a lightened front end, improved aerodynamics, better structural rigidity, and a refined exterior look.
This process caused the Skyline to evolve into the R34, which is arguably the most popular car among the Nissan Skyline models throughout the history.
Peak Japanese Engineering And Performance In The R34 Skyline
Powered by RB25DE NEO 2.5L i6 paired with a five-speed transmission, the 1998 Skyline was both powerful and relatively environmentally friendly and provided efficient gas mileage. There were also 2.0L engines put in some models of the tenth-generation Skyline called RB20DE NEO that were the most fuel-efficient variants of all straight-six-powered Skylines.
1998 Nissan Skylines with RB25DE and turbocharged RB25DET in the engine bay respectively made 197 and 280 HP. The Skyline 25GT FOUR and 25GT-X FOUR models also featured four-wheel drive.
Furthermore, Nissan brought back the GT-R badge for the R34 Models and upgraded many aspects of the already capable Skyline to make it the best-performing factory-made vehicle they could come up with. The R34 Skyline GT-R, powered by the iconic RB26DETT 2.6L engine, made a whopping 327 HP while Nissan still advertised it as making 276 HP due to an unwritten gentlemen’s agreement among Japanese manufacturers to understate their HP numbers for their sports cars.
Unfortunately, however, the R34 Skyline received the GT-R treatment in 1999, a year later than its initial release, meaning you will not be able to legally import a 1999 Nissan Skyline GT-R R34 until 2024.
What To Consider Before Importing A 1998 Nissan Skyline R34
While owning and driving a Japanese domestic-market 1998 Skyline is certainly a wonderful experience, the complicated US import laws and classifications are to consider when attempting to import a car from Japan.
A common problem with JDM cars hitting the 25-year mark is the immense increase in price. A sensible way to get around this issue is to purchase a car that is not yet legal to import, keep it overseas, in this instance Japan, and wait for its importation to become legal.
Although, for this process to take place you will need to either travel to Japan or partake in Japanese used car online auctions.
These online auctions featuring cars that have usually been sitting in storage for many years will provide you with a page listing defects with quantitative ratings. These defect sheets are mostly reliable since they are official.
After making a purchase, we recommend that you leave the rest to an importing agency. While this might cost you anywhere from 10 to 20 percent more than the original overall costs, their expertise will save you a lot of time and trouble.
The final matter to consider when importing a 1998 Skyline is the fact that most cars sold in auctions have spent quite a lot of time in storage and will potentially have problems such as oil leakages, battery issues, and cracked paint. This will most likely not pose a serious problem as these Nissan JDM legends can withstand modifications and you can further improve and maintain your ride with certain aftermarket changes and upgrades.