Highend Makers isn’t exactly a household name in motorsports today, and, quite frankly, up until a year ago I wasn’t even aware of the outfit. The shop, located on the northern part of the island of Shikoku, has made a name for itself this past year at the Attack Suzuka events. Being located far from the epicenter of Japanese motor sport, the shop gets few opportunities to test their builds in comparison to shops in the Kanto, Kanagawa, and Kansai areas that we’re used to seeing. It’s a big production for them to have a good showing at time attack events, and a venue like Suzuka is well worth the trip.
The outfit has done an exceptional job at making this R33 both look great and perform amazingly. For whatever reason, the GTR33 has been constantly overlooked in exchange for it’s counterparts, the R32 and R34, when it comes to time attack racing. Actually, I could probably name more R33 drag builds in Japan than I could time attack cars. Nevertheless, Highend Makers is sure scoring some points for the 33 crowd with this build.
The drivers best time around Okayama Circuit was a 1’35.33, and it bested a 2’17 around Suzuka’s massive track, albeit in the wet. The 3300 pound, 600ps GTR can definitely hold its own around the circuit; I’d be curious to see how it would perform around the proving grounds of TC2000.
I gotta say, I love those photos! The pit shots are great!