25 Years Ago : MotoRex Era Begins : First Bond Released car

McNasty. Aka Mean and Nasty. Ken named it although I don't think he remembers why anymore. 

November 15,1999.  Twenty five years ago.

That was the day that MotoRex got the first Bond release on a Nissan Skyline GT-R That bond release was the the paper that the NHTSA gave that really says nothing, but it says everything. They say more or less, we didn't check the car, but from everything we see, for the FMVSS items, we will allow you to legally have this car in the US. The odd part about this, was that VCP-17 hadn't even been approved yet, and it wouldn't be for several more months.  

Early MotoRex logo, type R style R. I had them change it to the GT-R "R" later

You probably have heard a lot of things about MotoRex. Most of it is bullshit. Most of it is third hand information parroted by a guy that knew a guy.  I know, I was there. I was the one that put that first petition together. I was the one that got that first release when I worked at MotoRex. 

This R32 GT-R got a bunch of HKS upgrades. Made around 500 hp then. 

The current owner of the car contacted me this week to talk about some things, and he mentioned that it was nearly 25 years since it was legalized. While I remember the chassis number of the car, I didn't remember the date. That date is November 15,1999.  Funny as today we are out in Texas for GT-R Festival. 

R32, TV2 R34, Black R32, The HKS R33 would become Big Bird

McNasty wasn't the first car imported, but it was the first car that went though the full compliance. After it went though compliance, it was sold to a customer in San Diego, and it still resides there with the second owner.  Check out some of the photos of my time at MotoRex.  I was there from April 1999 to April 2002. In that time, we imported/sold about 60 or so cars. Total was right around 120 cars over the seven years they existed.  Now at Toprank we do more cars than that per year. 

Nick, myself, Yaska, and Hiro. I still work with Yaska at Toprank

The MotoRex story itself is complex, but your overall takeaway should be that Hiro and MotoRex did try from the start to bring cars into compliance with NHTSA, EPA, and ARB . Many were, some were not. What the NHTSA knew, and what they allowed, was not what they said later. Afterall does anyone in the government ever actually tell the truth? More than 20 years on from MotoRex now, the R32 GT-R have been legal under Show or Display (Nismo) since 2012, the normal cars since 2014. More than 10 years we have had FMVSS exempt Nissan Skylines. The R33 GT-R since 2020. The R34 GT-R this year.  You can read a bit about the Cult of GT-R in a book by Ryan Zumallen

Some truths, and some false stories in this 0-60 article

One day, I may post some more stories, or videos of my time at MotoRex. Set some shit straight from my view, till then, you just get the half truths and videos from many people that think they knew. 

Grey Syclone, and Gunmetal Grey R32 GT-R

I am pretty sure the white one was Slim Shady. R32 with R33 sized wheels. 

Signal Auto Open House

Fast and Furious car auditions. We brought Big Bird on a trailer, because it was broke. 

Borrowed Signals truck and trailer to haul the broken R33 to Universal

My good friend Victor driving Big Bird at an IDRC event

Toshis R34 GT-R with Apex livery

Notice the Kak and the Cha Cha sticker. Cha Cha was a Japanese hostess club. 

MotoRex pornstar shirt, and my Kak

With Steve. Being good kids

Big Bird with the Cha Cha sticker too

Big Bird engine compartment

Big Bird at Willow Springs. With Meister wheels

Early Motorex website. Original address on Western. 

Blackbird at MotoRex

mph converted R32 speedometer

Justin purging NOS in Big Bird

Buy USA Legal R32, R33, and R34 Skylines at Toprank Importers!
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