Ahh yes, the legendary Nissan GT-R, the car we Americans have been praying for over the last few decades. Finally Nissan has answered those prayers and shipped to our shores one of the most potent sports cars of all time. Super car performance at luxury car prices with Japanese style, it doesn't get much better than that. Of course, I wouldn't really know since I missed the GT-R that Charles, Jon and Terence got to rip on. But those that can afford the new GT-R like James Chen, they are getting more than their money's worth.
The yellow monster you see today was originally a standard GT-R. But now it's the most yellow R35 in the entire world! No, not really. I can't back that up... but it is very yellow. Ditching the stock scheme for something a little more sinister, Chen had the good folks over at Wet Works Garage in Costa Mesa, whip up something. Enter the there's-no-way-in-hell-you-could-possibly-miss-me Lamborghini yellow paint with pearlescent highlights. With a paint job this gnarly, the GT-R appears to be tearing-ass all over the place, even while sitting still. Just the kind of paint job well-suited for a beast of a vehicle packing 473hp right off of the showroom floor.
To kick up the badass-o-meter a couple of notches further, James decided to throw on some carbon-fiber pieces to accent the yellow submarine. Problem was finding parts for a brand-spanking-new car. While working with Password:JDM, Chen lent the car over to fabricate some prototype dry carbon- fiber pieces. Thanks to this very GT-R, you can now purchase the same dry carbon hood, dry carbon trunk and dry carbon rear diffuser plates directly from Password's site.
For those of you unfamiliar with dry carbon the name has nothing to do with the finish or look of the piece, but rather how it's made. Instead of being laid out in a mold where resin is applied separately like "wet" carbon, dry carbon (aka pre-preg) is pre-impregnated with a frozen resin. Once the piece is vacuumed and heated, the resin flows and is evenly distributed. Dry carbon is stronger, lighter and significantly more expensive. But when you're pushing a R35 with Lambo paint, money ain't a thang!
Wet carbon can also be found on the exterior, most likely due to the lack of parts availability rather than insufficient funds. An APR front lip, front canards and rear wing have all been bolted to the banana-rama mobile. All of these pieces help the GT-R cut through the smoggy night air while keeping firmly planted to the earth... which is undoubtedly scorching. Not to mention the added aggressive looks help to boost street cred. Sure, you might have a R35, but do you have the world's most yellow R35 packed with carbon? Didn't think so. When asked what the most unique part of the vehicle was, Chen was quick to reply, "It's yellow!", as if we, and everyone else in the world, didn't already notice that.
But there are a few other yellow pieces that maybe one could overlook. For starters there is the yellow pinstripe and center cap finishing off the twenty- inch Axis rims. And if you can manage to poke your little peepers past the rolling stock, you'd certainly find a pair of Brembo calipers done up in Porsche PCCB yellow paint. The yellow Axis banner is perched high atop the windshield to bear down on the rear- view mirror of any road go-er in his way. It's displayed proudly as if to say to unsuspecting citizens, "I'm driving one of the greatest sports cars ever to be assembled, and you are preventing me from blistering this strip of tarmac, so kindly switch lanes or get an assfull of dry carbon!" To complete the theme, it's very fitting that James adorned a yellow tee shirt for the shoot that can be seen on the front cover.