About Us
How Icons Re-Imagined came to be
by Markus Trei / Founder
Everything started when I bought my Nissan Skyline GTR R33 V-spec in 2011. The car already had the Nismo 400R body kit when I bought it, but the LMGT1 wheels were the only thing separating it from a perfect 400R tribute car.
After buying the car, I didn't mind that much because the 600hp 2.8L HKS stroker engine was already offering plenty of excitement. But the more time went by, the more I thought about LMGT1 wheels, which were still missing from the car's appearance. My big dream was to build a Nismo 400R tribute car that was OEM plus add-ons (small but tasteful modifications that only a true enthusiast would notice).
Scrolling through the web and looking at the pictures, I came to a dilemma. I really liked the design of the LMGT1 rims, but since I wanted to do something even more special. I felt that the original 18" rims under the R33 GTR with the 400R body kit seemed "small" to me. I thought that maybe I could make my own version of the LMGT1 rims with the exact specs I liked at the time.
Given that the R33 GTR has the longest wheelbase of the Skyline family, I believed 19-inch wheels would create an optical illusion, making the car’s proportions appear more balanced. So I started to look for ways to move forward with this project, and to my surprise, I realized that it was no longer possible to buy LMGT1 wheels at a normal price. Back in 2011, I missed the memo on buying those wheels—now I’m stuck hitting myself in the head for it. Repeatedly."
After a bit of browsing around the forums and talking to people, I managed to find original LMGT1 18x10 ET20 wheels and had them 3D scanned (big thanks to a fellow GTR enthusiast from the UK).
Side note: I had previously worked for a company doing 3D scanning and reverse engineering (3dscan.ee). This experience contributed a lot to this project.
After 3D scanning the files, we created a 19" model inspired by the original 18" rim, staying true to how Nissan designers might have approached it back in the day. I took into account all known design nuances and technical requirements to make the rim concave and the spokes as similar as possible to the original.
Another issue that has been important to me from the beginning is the weight of the rims and all that goes with it. Now we try to make all the products either the same weight as the original rims or lighter. As there are many manufacturers of LMGT1 style rims today, weight is the one thing that is hard to match and we can differentiate ourselves with.
For me, lightweight wheels have always been a big selling point. All of our wheels are created using 6061 T6 forged aluminium (both for the wheel centres and the barrels), and all models created undergo FEA analysis to ensure that they meet VIA JWL standards.
Now, two years later, and at the strong request of the GTR community, we have reached a wide product range. The current range includes both 2- and 3-piece versions. We produce 18", 19", and 20" versions of the legendary brother models that have become icons.
Hence our name Icons Re-imagined
Markus Trei
Founder