The world’s most ambitious garage-built hybrid supercar is officially complete, and its creator has finally revealed the staggering price tag behind the project that automotive enthusiasts have been obsessing over for months.
The “R69 GTR” — a Frankenstein masterpiece that fuses the iconic R34 Skyline body atop the modern R35 GT-R chassis — has been unveiled in a sweeping finale video that shows the machine tearing through countryside roads and prompting its builder to break down every single dollar spent. The verdict? Roughly $65,000 in parts and materials to create what many are calling the most unique Nissan ever assembled.
The project, chronicled in the latest episode of the wildly popular “B is for Build” series, represents a monumental engineering gamble that began back in February 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic reshaped the world. The mastermind behind the madness had a singular obsession: he wanted an R34 Skyline in his collection. But with R34s illegal to own in the United States, he needed a creative — and legal — solution.
Enter the R69 concept. The R35 GT-R would serve as the mechanical foundation, while the R34 body would provide the timeless silhouette. The problem?
The R35 chassis is 4. 75 inches longer in wheelbase and roughly six inches wider in track than the R34. Making the pieces fit would require cutting the vehicle in half — a gamble that had no guarantee of success.
The build began with the acquisition of an engine-less R34 GTT. The car cost $17,000, but the deal sweetened considerably with the inclusion of two GTR rear quarter panels valued at $2,500 each at the time — parts that have since doubled in worth. Factoring in those effectively free components, the builder calculates the R34 body cost a net of just $12,000.
Those quarter panels ultimately went unused, however, as the team chose to pursue an even more aggressive wide-body aesthetic.
For 18 months, the R34 sat in storage, awaiting its fate. The original plan cycled through a handful of wild alternatives — a carbureted big-block Chevy engine or even a rotary swap — before the decision was made to attempt the technically daunting R35/R34 marriage. The R35 donor car, a badly crashed example with a relatively low 50,000 miles on the odometer, set the project back $30,000.
While crashed GTRs can often be found for less, the low mileage and the need for intact interior components justified the premium price.
The wide-body transformation began with components sourced from a Russian manufacturer discovered on eBay. The team ordered wide front fenders, rear quarter panels, side skirts, splitters, and bumper extensions — everything needed to cover the R35’s massive track width. To achieve the signature two-tone look, carbon fiber hood, trunk, wing, and kick panels were all ordered.
The carbon fiber components alone added thousands to the tally, and the builder acknowledged that these parts are among the most expensive on the market.
Lighting was next. The original GTR’s lights were functional but unacceptable for a build of this caliber. Brand-new headlights shipped from Japan, new tail light housings, reverse lights, and daytime running lights were all sourced.
The rear bumper was swapped from the GTT unit to a proper GTR bumper. Side mirrors, interior mirror covers, and a host of additional trim pieces pushed the exterior cost even higher — with mirror covers alone costing $300 per set from Japan and requiring a duplicate order due to an accidental purchase.
One of the more unfortunate costs came from a genuine mishap. The builder had a windshield in storage, but while walking through the warehouse on a phone call, he tripped and smashed it in half. A replacement was eventually sourced from a friend for $1,000 — a relative steal given the astronomical shipping costs typically associated with sending glass from Japan.
The final tally on the R34 side is almost overwhelming. The team kept only the front bumper, doors, rear window glass, and the outer shell. Every other single component on the car was replaced.
The builder joked that he now has enough spare parts to assemble an entire second GTR if anyone has a shell to sell.
The interior story came with its own heavy cost. The airbag in the steering wheel — necessary to make the cabin look as though it had never deployed — cost a staggering $1,000 alone. The seat was successfully restored, but the interior remained one of the more expensive elements of the project relative to its visual impact.
On the performance side, a significant portion of the build was sponsored, but the builder tallied the retail equivalent of those parts for transparency. The BC Racing BR-type coilovers, Nitto Invo tires, and Konig Countergram wheels represent the suspension and rolling stock package. The exhaust system was custom-built from stainless steel to save money.
An intercooler from a previous build was chopped and modified to fit, saving thousands. Engine cooling came from a new radiator and fans, and a lump of miscellaneous costs — air conditioning, power steering lines, and all the new plumbing — added a substantial chunk of change.
The color decision was one of the smartest financial moves of the project. Departing from expensive paint, the team opted for a midnight purple vinyl wrap. Executed in-house by the crew, the wrap cost roughly $1,000 in materials thanks to a wholesale hookup, and it reportedly went on without a single restart.
A bulk of leftover material remains for future re-wrapping.
Perhaps the most critical engineering detail was the custom driveshafts. As an all-wheel-drive vehicle, the R69 requires a shaft running to the transaxle and another to the front wheels. The team sent their driveshafts to a fabricator in Utah, who shortened them exactly 4.
75 inches to account for the R35 chassis beneath the R34 body. The $400 cost — likely a steep discount — resulted in a vibration-free connection that has proven flawless in testing.
Factoring in roll cage materials, door cards, hardware, lighting, and countless small materials, the builder estimates $1,000 in miscellaneous costs. The grand total: approximately $65,000 for a street-legal, all-wheel-drive, 100 percent Nissan supercar that looks like a classic Skyline but performs like a modern track weapon.
The builder’s personal connection to the machine runs far deeper than money. Shortly after the project began, he was diagnosed with cancer. The R69 became his touchstone — the project he returned to after surgeries, healing, and treatments.
In his own words, the build taught him that he still loves building cars, and it affirmed that car building is what he’d choose to do with his time. The car, he says, is not for sale. It will never be for sale.
The R69 GTR is currently registered in the state of Oregon as an R35, neatly sidestepping the legal quagmire that plagues R34 ownership in the United States. The car’s name itself — R69 — was deliberately chosen to avoid the controversy of whether it’s a “real” R34. The builder doesn’t care.
It looks exactly how he wants it to look, and he describes it as driving even better than he could have imagined.
The creative team behind the project admitted the filming day didn’t go entirely smoothly. While waiting for the car to warm up to operating temperature, a wiring snafu prevented the radiator fans from triggering, causing the car to overheat on the side of the road. The crew lost sunlight, made repairs, and returned the next day to complete the drive.
A gas station run at 7-Eleven — a nod to JDM culture — and a detour to a vineyard restaurant that ended with the crew being asked to leave private property added comic relief to the proceedings.
The final drive to “Mexico” — a colloquialism among car enthusiasts for open roads — proved the build’s worth. The car is reportedly stable, quick, and immensely fun, with the team eager to get it to a drag strip for official performance testing. The R69 GTR represents one of the most creative and technically audacious builds in modern YouTube automotive history.
That it was accomplished for roughly the price of a new luxury sedan makes it all the more remarkable.
The episode also served as a teaser for what’s next. The description reveals that in two days, the team will purchase the next build — a mid-engine project that has already been teased. A new shop is also on the horizon.
For the B is for Build crew, the R69 was a triumph of persistence, creativity, and raw engineering nerve. For the automotive world, it may well mark the beginning of a new trend in chassis-swap builds — one that proves the impossible is merely expensive, not unattainable.
The R69 GTR is living proof that with $65,000, a cutting torch, and an unwavering vision, you can build the car that Nissan never dared to manufacture. The team has already promised continued coverage of the car with drag strip testing on the horizon. The R69 GTR is no longer a concept — it is a reality, running, driving, and pounding the pavement in Mexico, and its builder is holding the keys.
