Two rare Nissan muscle cars badgered into crusher: Motoramic Dash

This is the Motoramic Dash, a daily roundup of the most interesting news in the automotive world.

On Wednesday, Wisconsin officials will haul two rare Nissan Skyline GT-Rs valued at nearly $100,000 to a crusher, part of a plea deal with their owner who faced several felony charges for trying to sell them online. Welcome to the zero-tolerance world of gray-market Japanese sports cars.

As reported by the Green Bay Press-Gazette, car restorer Justin Beno restored two Skylines from a few chassis parts into full cars, including this 1996 yellow model nicknamed "Big Bird" that had graced the first "Fast and Furious" movie. Beno says he spent $75,000 restoring the 1996 and 1995 models -- and had the Wisconsin motor vehicle department issue a title for the older Skyline.

The trouble: That generation of Skyline was never officially imported by Nissan nor approved for driving on U.S. roads by federal officials. While a few have gone through an extensive certification process, federal authorities routinely seize Skylines without proper papers. After Wisconsin reversed course and ruled the 1995 would never be Badger State legal, Beno offered both for sale online, suggesting they could be titled in Florida then shipped back north. That drew charges of felony fraud from a local prosecutor -- and to avoid jail time, Beno agreed to surrender the cars to the jaws of death.