I'm not really sure why I wanted to buy a GT-R. I've never really been a guy that likes a lot of attention, but I couldn't get over the fact that in my opinion there was always a Japanese car out there that could outperform the Supra. I had already gone 10.32 @ 141 in my Supra. I just wanted to be faster than that, period. I guess I felt like if I wanted to be faster at the drag strip I needed to be able to get out of the hole faster. My thought process led me to the epiphany that an AWD Supra would be the ultimate car. I guess I figured the GT-R to basically be an AWD Supra. I had heard all the stories of how strong the blocks were and how they could make the same power as the Supras with less mods, the basic stuff you read on the internet or in magazines. So I went on the hunt for one." - Jake Diehl
If I had a nickel for every time someone came out with the phrase "I am going to buy a Skyline, and make it 1000hp", I would have my own 1000hp Skyline by now. The Skyline has been one of the most sought after import automobiles in this country since the day it first appeared in the pages of a U.S. magazine. The 1000hp Skyline is the fabled creature you hear about, you read about, you dream about but never see unless you download the car guys' spank films put on the Internet by Top Secret Japan.
The rumor came to me one day while in conversation with Erik at ATI Procharger about a trip we were planning for a few feature cars I had to shoot in Kansas City. While we were ironing out the logistics of the trip, Erik mentioned he had an associate through his private company that was the proud owner of an 1100hp Skyline, and at first it was disbelief.
At first I thought to myself: "The car doesn't exist stateside." Then the true reality of it all hit me: KANSAS? What the hell is a car like that doing in Kansas of all places? Do Dorothy and Toto really need an 1100 hp Skyline to get to Oz? And how do you drive a car that heavy on a yellow brick road with HKS Hipermax Drag coils? And who is the mad scientist hiding behind the dark curtain in this fantasy world? After all, isn't Kansas supposed to be Mustang, Mopar, and Camaro country? This monster can't exist in a place like Kansas. Even the day I got off the plane I still didn't believe it until I touched it with my own two hands. From that day forward I have believed in unicorns and leprechauns.
However, Jake Diehl, owner of Dieman Motorsports and our fabled Skyline, is not as much of a believer in fairy tales, as his road to completion with the R33 project was bumpier than any yellow brick road, filled with more fairy tales than Disney's archives, and riddled with personal anguish.
If you were ever thinking of buying a Skyline you may want to make sure you enjoy being beaten in your wallet by a sledgehammer over and over again. Problems include: there's no warranty for these cars, it's nearly impossible to get parts for in the United States, and it's a pain in the ass to get by DMV and emissions testing.
As if just getting your new Skyline registered isn't enough, there is always the "what if." Remember Murphy's law? Anything that can go wrong will. Our very own Dorothy, Jake was carried off to California one day by a United-owned, Boeing-powered Tornado and dropped into the driver's seat of his new/used R33 Skyline to drive over the river and through the desert all the way back to Kansas City, but wait... Murphy's law... What do you do when you try to get home in your new car and spin a bearing just 2 miles from where you purchased it? In Jake's case you push it back to the dealer, get on a plane home the following morning and wait for the phone to ring. The dealer agreed to fix the bearing problem and to deliver the Skyline to Jake in Kansas City as soon as it was ready. Approximately one year later, the car was delivered from its California crypt to Kansas City only to provide another fantastic surprise: Jake made it another, you guessed it, 2 miles before the familiar noise of mashed bearing crawled into the cabin from under the hood yet again. At this point the car was tucked into a corner of Dieman Motorsports to collect dust while Jake pondered what to do with his shiny new, $50,000 paperweight that he had driven a total of four painful miles in the last year. At this point Jake decided to make some phone calls looking for a built motor, only to be met with the challenge of a lifetime.