It took two months for the police in Japan to track down a Nissan Skyline GT-R R34 stolen from Omoshiro Rent-a-Car. According to The Drive, the sports car that Lewis Hamilton rented and broke during the Grand Prix Japan was recovered at the last moment.
Unidentified carjackers stole the GT-R from a hotel parking lot on January 31, 2024. On the same day, it was seen driven dangerously on a highway with number plates swapped. The trail went cold afterwards, but the customs authorities of Yokohama Port suddenly discovered a car matching the description in a cargo container bound for overseas shipping.
The Drive believes that whoever stole the GT-R had intended to sell it to a foreign client from the start. The prices keep growing with each passing year, and some of the better-kept examples can easily fetch hundreds of thousands of USD these days. While this GT-R stayed with the thieves, it had lost a number of precious original components. Omoshiro said that it would eventually make it back to the rental fleet, but it wouldn’t be anytime soon due to the sheer scale of repairs needed.
The same car originally made headlines in November 2022 when F1 champion Lewis Hamilton posted a video about it on his social pages. After a few drift attempts, he noticed that the transmission broke down: smoke literally started coming out from under the gear lever. Omoshiro said it would protest this “irresponsible driving”, but whether Hamilton was ever fined or otherwise sanctioned by the company remains unknown.
