We know the Bible is not at all copacetic with worship of the graven image. Yet we can’t help but think heretical thoughts every time we lay eyes on this Nissan GT-R that Japanese tuner Kuhl Racing and Artisizawa Project created for the Tokyo Auto Salon. As with many idols, it’s not exactly pretty, but it is spectacular.
Its official name is Engraved Goldmetal Paint Godzilla, the first step in its creation being the installation of a Kuhl widebody kit made from high-grade fiberglass reinforced plastic. Then Artis stepped in, one of its artists covering every body panel in abstract compositions more ornate than Late Jomon ceramic pottery. After that, two more artists spent two lifetimes hand-engraving the designs into the fiberglass. Using a paint that mimics a metal finish, Artis sprayed the panels in chrome-look, then covered that with a spray of brilliant gold. The craftsmen first showed off their skills last year with a less involved GT-R dubbed 3D Ultimate Engraving Metal Paint that stopped at the chrome stage.
If this were a normal situation, under the hood you’d find a 545-horsepower, 3.8-liter V6 with a metallic red head cover. Because this situation is the antidote to normal, you’ll find a completely chromed—real chrome, not paint—3.8-liter V6 breathing through two new turbos large enough to spin out 820 hp. All that mirror-finish anger blows through a titanium exhaust fitted with four titanium mufflers and three yawning, centrally mounted exhaust tips.
It can be yours, but Kuhl hasn’t divulged the price. A standard high-grade widebody kit runs about $15,500 at current exchange rates, but that’s before you put men on their knees for hundreds of hours working the electric chisels.
If you happen to see this car outside of the Tokyo Auto Salon, be careful. It occurs to us that those Four Horsemen of Revelations might show up riding something other than actual horses.