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Motorex... Are there more GTR's that were imported by them but not documented?

8K views 32 replies 4 participants last post by  W.Velge 
#1 ·
So after doing some research the whole Motorex scandal. It has made me wonder, it has been said by Sean Morris an ex employee of Motorex, now the founder of Toprank Importers that there were 34~R32's, 62~R33's and 15~R34's. Does anyone know of any lost Motorex Skylines? Which maybe never got registered, or got stuck at port or anything along them lines.

It would be very cool and interesting to know about any lost Motorex Skylines.
 
#2 ·
Hello, I think I can answer your question. The numbers Sean posted are Accurate. They are the current (KNOWN) Number of Motorex cars. Over the last couple years, I’ve been working with GT-R registry to Document as many of the U.S Federalized Skylines (under VCP-17 & VCP-32) as we can. I started the project with a buddy of mine for a few reasons.

Mainly to Help any potential buyers in purchasing, Verifying any and all history one of these cars may have. Because they all have a story to them.

I absolutely believe there are still a good amount of undocumented Motorex cars out there. I wasn’t there for any of it, but by all credible accounts, the end few years of Motorex were a mess. Cars not being brought into compliance, piling up in their warehouse, Owners complaining to the DOT, some getting Stolen, Etc… It’s also my understanding, that they weren’t keeping track of inventory. Some werent on anyone lists anywhere.

Example: A friend of Mine’s R34 Vspec II was Imported by MotoRex in 2004, It wasn’t brought into compliance but still got a Bond release letter from the NHTSA in 2006. The “end letter” that said (You lawfully endeavored to bring this vehicle into compliance but we’re frustrated in your abilities to obtain release.. (“blah blah blah keep your car we don’t care”) His 34 was Officially documented as R34 #12 back in 2018, when Sean added it to his list. It was a Ghost car for many years, like you mentioned. But then over the last year & half, Cars, 13, 14 & 15 were found. I’m certain there are a few more Legal Bond released R34 out there. (18-20) is my guess. I’m always actively looking online.

There were also a few cars that Should have gotten a bond release, but didn’t. (3-4 cars) I know what they are.
 
#4 ·
That is affirmative. The VspecII Nür didn’t get a bond release. That car was stolen and long recovered after all the other cars had been blanket released by the NHTSA. When it was found it was missing the Nür 24U engine. I shoulda gotten a release but the NHTSA couldn’t have known what state of compliance the car was in.
 
#8 ·
Yeah, it sounded crazy. In 2005, 5 Skylines were stolen out of Motorex. 3 R34 GT-R, an R33 GTR and a R33 GTS25T. All the cars to my knowledge were recovered, but it’s been confirmed only 2 of those 5 cars were actually Bond released in the end. One of the R34 GT-R (a Bayside Blue Vspec) & the R33 GTS. The others were probably found too late.
 
#10 · (Edited)
The chassis numbers of the confirmed stolen cars around the time of motorex falling apart are the following:
BNR34-403075 (Nür)
BNR34-400755 (Series 2 Non Vspec)
BNR34-005468* (Blue Vspec)
ECR33-027470 (blue GTS)
BCNR33-001603 (silver GTR Vspec)
BCNR33-041616. (97’ Series 3 Vspec)

Im not too sure about the GTS being found as I can’t find any pictures of it anywhere, BUT I can confirm that car was Federalized. The paperwork for BNR34-005468 had been filed in 2002 & was a motorex R&D/OBD2 test car, so that car was already long approved. BCNR33-001603 was an end release car. BCNR33-041616, BNR34-400755 & BNR34-403075 were all (probably) found too late and didn’t get Bond releases as the NHTSA could not have known the whereabouts of those cars or the state of compliance they were in.
 
#19 ·
Ahh right, I was going to say never heard of a Motorex MP R34 GTR. Surprised no one would have picked that colour when they were purchasing one through Motorex. It's actually fortunate they didn't bring M-Spec or Nur's in. As if people found out how they're the "top of the line" R34 GTR's they would be more on the car thieves radars than any other car. If they bought all the Zero-R's they would have been even more rich wow! The price is quite shocking to see, I mean the car was what around $40-50k depending if it was a Nur or not. They must've been making big money!
On paper it sounded good, But the opposite was true. Money was always getting moved around. Between Importation costs, EPA testing & compliance, NHTSA compliance, & all the other damn federal agencies they had to comply with. Hiro also seemed like he was spending more money than he had. According to Sean and a few others, Motorex only moved 2-3 cars a month in their first couple years. Even when the program started to gain traction, Not many cars were federalized/sold. 120 MotoRex cars (give or take) in 7 years of operation isnt a lot in the grand scheme of things, I remember Sean saying on a podcast with Donut Media, that TopRank USA HAS to sell Atleast 120 cars a year to stay afloat, for reasons I’ll probably never figure out; it was stated that MotoRex didn’t even intend to sell as many R34’s as they did. But yeah, if someone really wanted to buy a skyline in those colors or specs, MotoRex coulda done it, just never happened. (That anyone knows of that is, very unlikely though)

Regarding people discovering the cars, MotoRex & Craig Lieberman unintentionally played a big role in that (with the use of Blackbird & 4 stunt GTRs in 2Fast 2Furious) But Gran Turismo, NFS & Midnight club were out before those movies & all included the R34 GTR, I believe street racing syndicate (I think it was called) Included the Mspec R34. Plus those games arguably had a bigger influence in the cars popularity: me personally? I discovered GTRs through 2Fast. I’m kinda obsessed with the blackbird GTR 😅
 
#20 ·
On paper it sounded good, But the opposite was true. Money was always getting moved around. Between Importation costs, EPA testing & compliance, NHTSA compliance, & all the other damn federal agencies they had to comply with. Hiro also seemed like he was spending more money than he had. According to Sean and a few others, Motorex only moved 2-3 cars a month in their first couple years. Even when the program started to gain traction, Not many cars were federalized/sold. 120 MotoRex cars (give or take) in 7 years of operation isnt a lot in the grand scheme of things, I remember Sean saying on a podcast with Donut Media, that TopRank USA HAS to sell Atleast 120 cars a year to stay afloat, for reasons I’ll probably never figure out; it was stated that MotoRex didn’t even intend to sell as many R34’s as they did. But yeah, if someone really wanted to buy a skyline in those colors or specs, MotoRex coulda done it, just never happened. (That anyone knows of that is, very unlikely though)

Regarding people discovering the cars, MotoRex & Craig Lieberman unintentionally played a big role in that (with the use of Blackbird & 4 stunt GTRs in 2Fast 2Furious) But Gran Turismo, NFS & Midnight club were out before those movies & all included the R34 GTR, I believe street racing syndicate (I think it was called) Included the Mspec R34. Plus those games arguably had a bigger influence in the cars popularity: me personally? I discovered GTRs through 2Fast. I’m kinda obsessed with the blackbird GTR [emoji28]
Ah yes I remember listening to that podcast, was quite interesting!
They could have moved more cars if Hiro wasn’t blowing money on them bars as well as just partying 24/7.
Wonder where Hiro is now, wasn’t he arrested or something? I can’t even remember.

The Blackbird is quite a cool R34 GTR. Even though the 2Fast livery is iconic, i feel like black looks just as good
 
#31 · (Edited)
Vehicle Car Motor vehicle Automotive design Steering wheel

Wheel Car Tire Vehicle Land vehicle

Automotive parking light Tire Wheel Car Vehicle



I never worked at MotoRex, or had anything to do with it! I was born in May of 2002! My interest in Skylines (or tuner cars as a whole) started back in the 5th grade, after watching the first two Fast & Furious films! Back then I thought the yellow R33 was a SN95 Ford Mustang xD (because I was a dumb kid & thought the front ends looked very similar, haha) Anyway,

It was the use of Craig’s old Blackbird in 2Fast that got me into Skylines. In 8th grade, I really started learning about our (U.S) import laws and was disappointed that we legally couldn’t have skylines in the US before the 25 year mark.

That was until I came across a YouTube Channel called “Danox574” Who had a whole series a videos dedicated to showing off the quirks and features of his 1999 Motorex R34 GT-R Vspec in Bayside Blue: In one video he went in depth on its legality & how the car got here.

After that, I became hooked on the subject. I Met a lot of cool people, owners of these motorex cars & had the chance to even see Two original Motorex imports in person! A 96’ R33 LM Vspec, & a white 94’ Vspec II R32, which the owner was kind enough to let me sit in!

I started the registry of these cars for a few reasons. With how the program started, then fell, all the cars have a story to tell. From being owned by celebrities, to being badly damaged then repaired, being stolen, being garage kept in almost brand new condition, etc… I wanted to aid potential buyers with piecing together the stories the cars have.

I got in contact with Mark, of GTR registry, about 3 years ago; asking if he happened to know the chassis number to Paul Walkers White VspecII BNR34, he didn’t at the time but he expressed interest in adding a motorex registry to his site & went from there!

It’s been a very interesting experience! I actively look for the remaining missing cars, there are still a few unverified ones out there!

(Top photo is of me in the white Motorex R32, taken by the owner in October 2020. I’ve put a lot more weight on since then, haha) The photo of Blackbird was probably taken By Sean Morris, & the photo of the LM car was taken by me!
 
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