Behind the Curtain with A Reserved R34 Skyline
On my very first day in Melbourne at an organized shoot near the docklands was when I was introduced to Nick’s Skyline Sedan. It was one of the many R34s I’d become familiar with over the course of my trip in Australia, but it’s simplicity is what drew me in initially. As R34s are still a rarity in the states they have that unobtainable allure to them and the exposure to them is often through rather extreme examples. Track monsters, drift cars, Wangan champions are the lenses that the R34 chassis is usually viewed through, at least online, and not without good reason either. Sure I’ve seen more than a handful online that don’t match those descriptions, but my time in Australia showed me what R34s look like in reality where they are treated with far less reverence and are far more obtainable.
When I first saw Nick’s Skyline it was the large faced SSR Koenig wheels that immediately grabbed my attention. I’m a sucker for a fat-five spoke wheel design and Koenigs are among the top for me. The tight rear fitment and clean dark blue body provided good contrast for the white faces with flashy gold hardware. After snapping a few photos, I moved on and I wouldn’t see it again until a few days later. Nick joined up with us on our journey to the 12 Apostles and after a full day of driving unforgiving highways and carving through curvy mountain roads we came to a stop allowing me to take a good look. Unprompted, Nick positioned his car perfectly in line with the road markings, which naturally drew me towards it. As I worked over every inch of the body trying to frame it the best I could I noticed the Junction Produce window curtains, a staple in the VIP scene.
As I glared inside, I spotted traditional VIP tables adorned in a white and black Louis Vuitton pattern. It might be corny to some, but I couldn’t help but smile as I remember seeing a scan of an old Japanese magazine where a woman had replaced several interior sections with LV material in a similarly blue colored S13 Silvia. Providing a bit of contrast to the more upscale themed VIP tables, the shift knob, boot and floor mats have a Japanese cherry blossom motif. Of all the interior accents the floor mats are what had me marking out the most; seeing Garage Moon Power floor mats all the way across the pacific made me realize just how small the world is. I mean, one of the most well known drift teams of the south, that are practically in my backyard, has their merch in cool ass cars across the planet.
It’s no GT-R and it isn’t sporting some aggressive aero package, it isn’t trying to be anything other than the big body sedan that it is, but it’s still cool. To someone like me whose only seen the extremes that this chassis have to offer, getting to see a tame, more reserved example of an R34 isn’t something I’m likely to see again in person until they become legal in the states. After a day of driving cross country it wasn’t exactly the cleanest, it wasn’t some top trim level model, and it wasn’t some crazy build, but damn if I didn’t love the simplicity of a low, well fitted Skyline.
