There comes once in everyone's lifetime where you come across something which just screams out "Perfection", such as that gorgeous girl sitting at the back of the bus or that beautiful house you could only ever dream of owning. Then there are the cars that have had so much money and effort poured into it and the end result is so jaw-droppingly good that it makes you weep tears of joy when you set eyes on it.

As I sat about twenty feet from the car during the photo shoot, I couldn't help but stare at the car's exquisite lines. I never had the opportunity to get this close to a R34 GT-R, so this was quite a treat for me. While Victor and Kenny, the uber cameramen of immeasurable power, were struggling with their tripod and cameras, I walked around the car, absorbing and taking in every minute detail.

From a distance, the R34 GT-R is a muscular beast; chiseled, broad-shouldered, intimidating but almost clumsy and ungainly from some angles. It's only when you get the opportunity to sit down and just admire it from the comfort of your chair, while smoking a cigarette that you begin to notice that the R34 isn't really all that bulky. As I snuffed out my third cigarette, I began to notice certain details on the car that I never knew were there, such as how the roofline extends very slightly to the trunk, leaving a very slight hump on the trunk cover.

The square-jawed front, with all its gaping air intakes, makes the R34 look like a pockmarked thug from the Bronx in the 1940s, especially when compared to past generations of the GT-R, like the R32 for example. That square façade softens after a while, and the R34's face begins to look prettier and prettier, much like Scarlett Johansson; she's not pretty at first glance, but an hour into watching The Island, many males around the world began to fall in love.

This car is like a work of art on display in a museum, like the Mona Lisa in The Louvre. You stand there and stare at it for hours, just admiring the beauty of it all. For every two minutes I spent staring at the car I discovered something new. Details are key when creating a show car, and what a show car this is.

The owner of this car – who shall remain unnamed, and henceforth be known as Mr. X – built this car with one thing in mind: to create a world class show car and for it to be the best show car in South East Asia, if not all of Asia. No expense was spared in building this car, and it really shows in the list of parts installed. Big brand names in the tuning industry litter the spec list, such as Tomei, HKS, ZEAL, Grippen, Koyo and many, many others. The sound system in this car is also very, very impressive. It is, by far, the best audio install I have seen in this country, but more on the audio later.

Links Dyno Tune was given a clean slate with this car. It was a stock Bayside Blue Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec II and as you can see for yourself it's a completely different beast now. Mr. X walked in the shop one fine day and laid down exactly what he wanted out of the car. It took two weeks just to plan what was going to be done with the Skyline, but Mr. X made it absolutely clear that he wanted only the best parts available for his latest project.

I had a chat with Kee, boss of Links Dyno Tune, and he said this car is one of - if not the - most labour intensive project he has ever undertaken. The Skyline had seen less than 20,000 kms and it was already getting a full rebuild. The car was completely stripped down; the windscreens, the drivetrain, the engine, the interior, EVERYTHING was removed from the car. It was then given a new coat of silver paint and the quality of the paintjob is just amazing. You'd be forgiven for thinking that it was a factory paintjob. Every nook and cranny was repainted and you'd be hard pressed to find a spot of blue on this car now.

As I mentioned earlier, a good show car is all about the details. Almost every single nut, bracket and mount was sent to be chromed. The radiator mounts are chromed and I didn't notice it until Kee pointed it out. Although a minor detail, it's these subtleties that separate a good show car from the show winner. The wires in the engine bay were also relocated and hidden from view to give the engine bay a clean and neat look.

Nesting snugly in the engine bay is the world renowned, nuclear bomb of an engine, the legendary RB26DETT. No expense was spared in rebuilding the engine; I think it's safe to say none of the factory parts (save for the cylinder head) remain. The cylinder head was ported and polished, followed by a combustion chamber balancing job. A combustion chamber balancing job is when the compression of each combustion chamber is made equal, which results in better turbine spool up times and power figures.

Tomei hi-lift cams with a 280˚ degree duration replace the factory items and operate Tomei valves, which are held in place with Tomei Type B valve springs and retainers. The Tomei camshafts are held down with APEX'i cam studs and keeping the cylinder head bolted to the Nismo N1 block are reinforced Tomei head studs and washers. A Tomei competition head gasket keeps things under pressure and ensuring everything keeps rotating in harmony is a GReddy timing belt and Tomei adjustable cam sprockets, covered by a transparent GReddy timing belt cover.

(The rest of the article can be found in Hypertune Vol. 61)
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