The sad story of Leon's GTR.
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- čas přidán 31. 05. 2024
- This is the sad story of Leon's. Arguably the best and fastest car in the movie had a storied life but in the end, the Feds did this car dirty.
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Leon’s gtr was the most slept on car in the first movie. I never understood why it wasn’t more talked about
Because not alot of people new what a gtr was when people saw it on Fast and the Furious people who did not know anything about gtr start look it up Same goes for drifting
I mean it didn’t play much of a role and Leon never came back
@@CRXJDM88That and it was difficult to bring in enough to turn that car into more of a hero car.
@JoeyVilleneuve I'm shocked that didn't use a 300ZX I have one guy said that he didn't even know what the RX7 was which is kind of funny as the American Muscle Cars was always Camaro and Mustang but on the Japan side it was 300ZX 3000GT RX7 supra
@@CRXJDM88not knowing what an rx7 is would be his fault, rx7s were sold here
Imagine waking up every day and going to work to arrest people for owning a car. This country is so fucked.
“Land of the free” fucking joke. I’m glad I don’t live in cali or some strict state where even having your car lowered is a state ref.
F the EPA and the DMV
9.6l v8 that has 1 mpg is ok, but an import tuner is a massive threat to the environment.
Sabotage by our own tax dollars😮
@m200dreamer7 bro as a car enthusiast in cali you don't get popped for much. Especially if you're not being a dickhead.
I always just imagined Leon as a guy that knew his car would smoke anyone in his crew but just didn’t care……lol
His car definitely could’ve beat doms car and Johnny Tran 💯💯📝
@@tayeeinthacut9661nah, Johnny T had more than 100 grand under the hood of that car
@@tayeeinthacut9661It was a stock RB26 with stock turbos..
@@tayeeinthacut9661It wouldn't have been quicker than the twin turbo veilside RX7
@@thatcarguy6190 well the veil side would put up a good fight but it def would beat that charger (even tho it’s a beautiful car)
Feds spend decades locating 2 cars, completely ignore the trainloads of fentanyl and border hoppers.
It’s bc their not worried about actual crime. Only stuff where people can make some money for themselves and their families. They want to bully people around and take their wealth.
It's more fun ruining happiness for example
They aren't ignoring it. That takes money congress has to mandate. Until congress gets off their arse nothing changes. The idea that the government wants to take your wealth is preposterous. That idiot became someone they wanted to make an example out of to discourage others. Don't break the law and they will leave you alone. It's pretty simple
Amen
Exactly!!! Of all the bullshit the Feds should be worried about in this country, they have the time to worry about... cars....
Such a sad ending, still one of my favorite cars in the franchise!
Boggles the mind how truly un-free we are below the façade
It's crazy because in the UK you can pretty much build and/or import ANYTHING you like and legally drive it here. Never understood the heavy handed tactics in the likes of say the USA and Australia.
It's like that in nearly every country. However, the USA is still one of the freest as far as personal rights.
@@skylined5534bribery
My favourite model Skyline. Crushed for no good reason. This hurts my soul.
They could have auctioned it and would have made a great deal...use the money for the school or build a new playground.
They couldn't really aution it off since it wasn't road legal. But it would have made a cool police carl.
@@joelcruz9415they being who? Our own government couldn't auction off a vehicle in our own land??? That's a fucking joke.
@@pauleskridge7209You do understand that the car wasn't legal in the US right? Why would they auction off something that is illegal?
@@joelcruz9415 yes I'm aware of that. It's the government. They can make anything legal at any given time with approval and a few signatures.
It's such a shame that imported cars in situations like that don't get deported, especially the ones that actually hold some sort of value. It would have been really cool had it become a tuning test car back in Japan
We dont even deport illegal immigrants.
Rip big bird...you will be missed dearly 🙏
Even sadder is Leon seems to have vanished off the face of the earth. Where is Leon?
The bad guy behind it all in X part 2
What the hell is that?@@305Spartin
@@305SpartinThat would be wild… 😂
@@SethHollingsheadHe‘s joking.
Last I heard his actor owns a martial arts studio in New York he's also a studio musician
It always bugged me that the r33 was just essentially a background car.....
I really admire that idea he brought up that the yellow r33 would act kinda as decoy and lure cops away ... It would've made a good scene or 2
Well it did get feds attention for sure & ended up crushed.
True man, that would've been awesome but I guess it gave Leon a bigger role on the movie and probably would've need some stunt cars for that and stuff, but in a perfect world were they listened to Craig ideas and had everything, that would've been great
@@alejo.182 the problem was that they only had one R33 so if they tried using that scene and the Car got dented or crash they were out of a car.
16:05 is enough to make a man cry
Check out whistlindiesel 😳
😊paul was a great guy in person.i knew him 15 years. I worked with him on VARSITY BLUES . We chatted lots bout cars. He enjoyed me talking bout the hakosuka my dad had when i was a kid in Japan. He enjoyed my turboed 240sx s14 as well on set. He had fun driving it as well. We chatted lots bout jdm cars,since i grew up around alot of the OG jdm cars in Japan.great video as always, Craig. ❤❤❤❤👍🏼👍🏼🤜🏼🤛🏼😁
Before Brian was the GT-R king. There was Leon.
Yes, well said, I loved that car. The colour was better and the graphics suited it better/were more appropriate. I liked Leon's GTR more than Brian's and I was hoping for a video on it❤
With a bit of imagination brian drove his r34 in 2fast becaus of leons car.
@@extec101 It's been 22 years and I never thought of it that way, but I believe and respect that.
@@extec101Yes! I've always liked to think that Leon was the one who introduced Brian into skylines.
@@victoria.beilstein996 im happy to see that multiple people thinking the same way as i did about leon inspired brian to gtrs.
When F&F came out I wasn't into imports cuz I was a 13 year old from a muscle car/truck family. The next year I picked up a '90 B12 Sentra fastback and my buddy I'd ride bikes to school with got an '89 CRX ex-show car. It was a decent combo, he had the bodykit, stereo and neon underglow while I stuck to bolt-ons, exhaust and suspension work.
If it wasn't for F&F I would probably still be dreaming of Dodge Vipers and Ford RS200's.
It still took me about 10 years to figure out what kinda of imports I like, turns out it's early Datsuns and 80's Nissans mostly, although I do really miss my is300 being the best daily.
Someday I'll get something that really represents the 90's tuner culture. My current project is a Z31 300zx, I've always loved their body lines but this one is a turd I got for free from my friends brother when he got evicted and couldn't take the Z with him. I'm gonna give it my best shot over the next few years and we'll see what happens. 8pt cage going in soon and will probably be expanded apon later.
This is all your fault, Craig! Lol
Dang bro a 300zx is a great choice. Good taste dude. They are so good looking.
for me its 70's datsun/nissan. s30,620 and sunny truck
The viper is cooler than all the cars you mentioned, but whatever floats your boat mate...
I heard about the r33 story back in 2011 still can't believe it gone
Its sad that its faith made it in to feds hands, would be awsome if it still where around with the tfaf grafix as it got alot of followers after the movie.
@@extec101you can kinda blame the owner the for that
@@streetwatcher_ yes i feel that the owner of the car made some real stupid shit and is responsibe for destroying two real nice and valuable cars.
When I first saw this GT-R an MoteRx I knew they were trouble. I read all the stories and didn’t believe a word. I imported my Fairlady back in ‘92 in the military and knew it was hell. My car was here and didn’t have a problem getting Federalized parts. That grey market stuff was all about gone.
Such a shame for a car and for the Leon that didnt come back in f&f sequels.I hope he comes back.
I hope F&F never some back. When Paul left us, it should have stopped.
@@StephenBrewer89 i meant for the last one.
It doesn't feel the same after Leon and Jesse just disappeared
@@ritarossweisse_ They can bring Jesse back. Characters survived explosions, a burning car and a fall out of an airplane - few gun shots are childsplay compared to that 🤣
Hell he wasn’t even referenced
To be honest I find Craig's stories about this series more interesting than the actual movies. It was so frustrating watching a legend be treated like an unpaid extra. Its good to finally know why.
Like many of the time, my introduction to the GT-R Skylike R33 was on Gran Turismo on the PlayStation. When I saw and heard about that car I looked and scoured the what little internet I could find only to have my hopes crushed (no pun intended) that it was not viable to bring to the USA due to DMV and DOT regulations. Seeing it in the first F&F movie was the closest I could get to one at the time. I eventually heard stories about it being crushed but never got the full story until I saw the previous story that was posted. Sad story but unfortunately that's the rules and laws when it comes to trying to import vehicles.
Always loved Leon's GTR
30k for a R33... Now a cool poster of it costs that much
They used to be genuinely underrated. Then the internet wouldn't shut up about those cars being underrated and now they cost as much as an R32, sometimes more. Hype hurts car enthusiasts more than they want to admit.
@@CyanRooperYeah, exactly. About 6,7 years ago, RWD R33s were about 7-8k € here in the continental EU. Even cheaper in the UK. Then the hype train on social media started... Now they start around 20k €
An R33 NFT.
I remember when a R33 GTR in Australia was less then 15k back in th early 2000s... non GTRs were around $1000.. I paid $1700 for my old R33
Love these videos Craig! Keep them coming !
Imo, the r33 and the fd rx7 are the most JDM cars of the 90s, its something about the body lines and the stance that do it for me.
I'd argue the Impreza and Evo were the quintessential definition of 90s JDM cars.
@skylined5534 for the sedan side, I agree. 👍 My daughter wants a Evo.
Leon's GTR was my favorite car out of Toretto's crew. A shame it didn't get more screentime, but at least it was a nice introduction to the Skyline-family, and a forefront for the R-34 in the later movies.
Good atuffgood stuff Craig- I always look foward to your stories👍
Cars that were never sold in the states should automatically be eligible for import, the whole reason for the import laws was to stop importing cars from other countries for cheaper than they were being sold for here, which doesn't apply to cars that aren't even sold here.
We can blame Mercedes for that.
Love this old intro, Craig❤
These videos are so cool, please don't stop making them
I remember seeing the movie for the first time thinking the steering wheel is on the wrong side, having absolutely no knowledge of these cars. Back then we understood Civics, Eclipses, and to some degree RX7s. But the only “import tuner” cars we could afford were Eagle Talons lol.
Ok Craig, every time I watch these videos and you reference the low budget, I think of how I think not having totally over the top supercars is what helped the audience relate and make this movie successful.
Very informative information. I am a fast and furious fan that love all content about the franchise.
If anyone should make a tribute car it should definitely be this one. Truly sad ending to the real one. RIP Big Bird.
Such a cool story about these cars!! This GTR is a horrible story of government overreach
I always wondered why Leon had the best car with no screen time
The R33 is my favorite Skyline. They get the least amount of love but I love 'em.
My friend worked at this junkyard I still have the news magazine, this was big story in Green Bay
Wow, thanks for sharing!!!
I literally cried at the end. I hate how much control the government of a supposedly free country has over us.
Stop voting for democrats and disband the FBI
@@FiendishlyDelightedSefto Ronald Reagan, a republican president, made the import law effective
The GTR won every race in the Australian racing tournament, and the US government doesn't like that
If the GTR was an American car the US Government could have celebrated 🤔
The US fucks in every direction
This was always my favorite car in the movie. Still hoping to own 1 one day in midnight purple
Love your videos Mr liberman
I think Leon was probably one of the smartest characters in F&F he was a hangout and saw how the story played out and said F this Im out 😂
Yeah 😂
he opted from being in the rest of the movies to pursue his music career. on an interview he said that Leon's character's story had come to a conclusion.
Been following you for a while now and when i heard about this i was quite sad
Id love to see Leon have his own side story, from his own beginnings, to being in doms crew, to after the crew split after the last heist they did. It would be nice to know what happened to his character after the first original fast and furious movie and it would be a good way to show more of the r33 gtr and bring the franchise back to its original roots of street racing.
Was in the marines on a westpac in 2000. Been doing great on GT2 with a GTR. Had a port stop in Singapore…..crossing the street, at the crosswalk sat my first in the flesh GTR. Clean silver.
Always loved this R33!
It was a cool and interesting inclusion in the movie, even though it was a bit out of place as that car wasn’t even officially sold in the US and also had the steering wheel on the right side...
Like an outcast in the middle of the 240 SX, Maxima, Jetta, RX-7, Eclipse etc.
All cars that were part of the tuner scene in the US market.
I feel so old seeing the vhs clips of this car. I remember the day me & my ex went & saw this movie in theaters. It was kinda funny seeing people afterwards in the movie parking lot wanting to be like the movie. Kids an others were revving up there old cars, trucks & mom & dads cars. Seeing people trying to burn out in minivans & pickup trucks was hilarious.
Didn't like the R33 that much, but now you're making me all sad and emotional. 😭
Your dad is proud of you buddy. Keep going, we love you & your girl. And oh my god Oskar!
He shouldve stayed in the franchise ! Make another movie and bring him back!
Nice! I have the tuner mag with the big bird r33 on the cover. Didn't know it was the same car
The R33 is my favorite car in The Fast and Furious. Always loved it. Btw when was the front bumper/splitter changed as shown at 7:23? It has the N1 if I'm not mistaken, with the square ducts. In the movie it doesn't.
I remember Meet you at the casting call for the 2nd F&F movie! (I was that lowered Primer Black Cavalier with the full body kit that you had looked at, sadly my car didn't have that look you were going after for the 2bd movie)
I see you have a Bretiling @Craig Lieberman! Nice!
I was talking about this car non-stop after seeing the movie asking why it wasn’t Paul Walker’s car.
Seriously you should be able to import just about any car you want, and just pay extra taxes or something like that. I mean how many people are actually going to do this? Not many. I get “safety” is a concern, but there should be some sort of qualification for a car to be considered an “exotic”
The truth is there's a lot of cars that were build here with trash safety regulations (plus motorcycles) so I don't know why they latched on to that as an issue. (I also heard emissions, but again some cars have trash emissions, and both are in the minority) I agree with you, at the least just add on 'taxes' and in the end if the person can pay for it, win win. Person has their car and Gov't has deeper pockets. Plus the person will probably just drive it on weekends or maybe even trailer it everywhere so it's not gonna be an issue.
Truth of the matter is lots of people see cars as just a utility and don't care for them beyond that, and I honestly think they seeth a little when they see people have love for them. Jealousy? Ignorance? Bitterness? Whatever the reason, they want to stifle others' joy and stifle their freedom. That's my personal take anyway.
To add to your arguement why fuck and state ref cars that are more safe with roll cages and all that jazz driving in the streets and not your great grandpappy's rusted and clapped out chevy caprice?😂 Never understood that logic?
Thanks to Mercedes for lobbying govt to ban importing cars because they were losing money.
I drove a 2024 Ford Mustang Mach-E for a short errand! it was a bumpy experience and honestly, my 2001 Maxima drove better! I'll stick with my Maxima
What a shame. Aside from the fact that GTR would be worth a butt ton now, it was also an awesome piece of JDM history, especially on the State side. Thank you for the peak behind the curtain, and thank you for what you've done for the gear heads in the film industry.
I totally forgot about Super Street, Import Tuner, and Euro Tuner. I miss collecting physical magazines. 😢
I remember them I had Gran Turismo 2 & 4 in the day. Now days it's Gran Turismo VS Forza I have Forza H 5 now days. All good memories
I am an older guy... grew up in the 70s street racing with muscle cars in a small town. Back then, if the cops couldn't catch you, you got a way free. Think "American Graffiti" with late 60s and early 70s cars... anyway Fast and Furious was my first introduction to performance Japanese cars. I knew they existed, just didn't know anything about them. I now own two "car toys": a 2014 CTS-V coupe with some mods and a 1999 Mazda Protege with (mostly suspension) mods. Of the two, the Mazda is a lot more fun to drive... and a LOT cheaper to fix when something goes wrong. The V is a beast but it costs a lot to own and operate and you always worry about banging it up or shredding the supercharger or rear end whereas the Mazda handles like it is glued to the road (due to the mods) and even though the horsepower isn't there the 5 speed manual makes it feel like a 1960s sports car. If I tear something up it is easy and cheap to put back but honestly, it rarely breaks. A lot to be said for cars from the Land of Nippon.
11:53
That isn’t the cover of the "January 1999" issue though.
That’s the "April 2003" issue.
That R33 also appeared in the SPORT COMPACT CAR "November 1999" issue.
(It can be seen on the cover, which also has a blue all-original GT-R R34.)
🙂
Nice video , quick question tho... towards the end of the video , you mentioned the last owner of big bird , justin beno ... have you had a chance to also interview him ?
I feel , there is a huge gap in these videos on the big bird build after he took ownership.
Yessssss !!!! This is why I love you bro 🤟🤟🤟🤟🤟🤟🤟
Since the backstory of Leon and the Big Bird is kind of blank, allow me to fill it with a theory.
Leon is the fastest racer the franchise has ever seen.
Constantly on the run from police because of his role of distracting and tracking police for racing.
He is only seen when he has to be seen.
Good theory!
Think he still has big bird?
Leon goes on to become the NFS Underground/Most Wanted protagonist. lol Same hairdo... and loves jipping the cops.
he opted from being in the rest of the movies to pursue his music career. on an interview he said that Leon's character's story had come to a conclusion.
@@tekkamanviper2783 yeah we know latrinedveen was creating a fictional backstory to the FF franchise Leon not the real life actor.... just stop being a troll and keyboard warrior by posting the same comment on everyone else's comments you are making yourself look like a childish man child in your mothers basement.
I remember seeing the Motorex GTRs on the freeways in LA. Back then the freeways weren’t as full.
Rest in peace Big Bird 😥
could you give us any information on the Mr2 spyders from 2 fast 2 furious . they sound so amazing
It's pretty sad the government is more worried about seizing and destroying cars than criminals. Owning a Skyline or any car isn't hurting anyone. Our country is screwed up. Rest in peace Big Bird and the purple R33 GTR.
Amazing Video.........❤❤❤
Too bad the R33 ended life the way it did, was awesome back in 2001 to see it on screen. Another great video Craig, thanks for sharing 👍🏼
Very interesting, that's footage of the GTR doing a drag race looks a lot like LACR in Little Rock California
In 2009 I saw some GTR engine parts on Ebay and asked the seller (Justin) if he had more, dude says "sure come on by". Grabbed 2 buddies and drove the 30 miles up to Green Bay, had no clue we would get to see his purple R33 in a modest 2 car garage in the middle of Green Bay, much less Big Bird sitting sideways in the back of the garage, no motor in it at the time. Was still yellow though with the blue cage. Was a surreal night for a few dsm guys lol, really sucks how things turned out.
i was stationed at yokota ab japan for 3 years 2016-2019, i have activated the windshield wipers on my 2002 Toyota Altezza Hatchback more times than i care to admit! lol
Then i first saw this car in a movie i know nothig about JDM cars, but something tell me that this unknown car is real deal, it was love at first sight.
U the whole reason and inspiration I want to create fast and furious original game u made these car come to life🥰😍 incredible
Try playing Tokyo extreme racer
@@bondovwvw yeah that’s good game too👍
Its soo unfortunate,the R33 was pretty underrated,i love leon's R33,i was sad when i heard the news
I loved that r33 and wish it had more screen time.
Heeeey cool! I worked on one of the stunt Supras back in the day. I believe it was the one that hit the sign in fnf II.
The Fast And The Furious has the best cars from the whole franchies.
Favorite from the movies that I saw
With the blue cage iconic
And we want to hear stories about Paul. Most people dont even understand was the first movie did for the car scene. All the cops sitting outside the movie theaters after it. The tuner scene blew up so big. These were the good days of cars. I miss those days. I wish the FF series would go back to racing or drifting or both or something
I hate what the movie did to the scene. Just like everything else, people jumped on the bandwagon and ruined it.
Man this could almost be a piece of historic value. If only the value of both those cars was realised back then today.
heartbreaking...
I remember back in the early 1980`s when I was a kid growing up in Johannesburg, the South African Police had 3 litre, 6 cylinder Nissan Skyline`s, painted yellow with a single blue light on the roof, you still see the odd 1980`s Skyline running around over there, all be it in very bad shape...
Not only did most people not know what the car was, but they weren't going to be legal for another 20 years in the US anyway.
One of my favorite cars in the movie
Leon was the smartest one of the squad. He made that U-turn on the highway and never looked back 😂
There was a GTX Kenmari ('76 iirc) on ebay back in 2005 that I was trying to buy but things went south with the sale. I'd be curious to know if anyone still has that Skyline. It was rust bucket but had tons of potential.
I loved my r32 gtr, sold it to my friend. I got mine in 2006. Canada's 15-year import rule is awesome.. I had an r33 gtr but found it too heavy.
I was really sad to hear that it was seized and crushed
That’s sad , the feds would go through all of that to track a car, meanwhile they would leave the borders wide open, and say , “ nothing to see here folks!
my buddy angel worked at motorex , i saw bigbird stored in the back of the shop in the corner .. Angel did the epoxy floor there with the logo embedded.
Seeing these "never seen before in the USA cars" back in the day was breathtaking for me as a kid! We normie US Americans only knew Nissan, Toyota, Honda, etc, to be affordable economy cars at that time. I've only been interested in Japanese cars since then.
Damn based on the history not just with F&F but all the press/magazines afterwards this 33 would fetch a crazy price now. Such a shame it was crushed.
That's heartbreaking to me.
Whatever happened to Leon's character and why didn't he come back to the franchise? Awesome but sad video thx! 😳🙏🍾🍾🍾
Are there any pics or videos of it crushed?
Thanks Craig!
Craig Liebermann is the GOAT
The first Fast & Furious always had the most "true to import scene" cars.