When a Wisconsin DOT employee spotted a Nissan Skyline for sale on Facebook Marketplace, the Feds set up a sting operation. Why? Because the car was never legally imported to the United States. The operation’s goal? Procure and destroy the classic JDM coupe. And they didn’t care that it was the iconic movie car that appeared in the first Fast and Furious film.

The Nissan Skyline is an icon of the Fast and Furious franchise. Paul Walker’s Brian O’Conner drove one in almost every movie he appeared in. But the very first Skyline in the franchise actually was the bright yellow one another racer drives and Brian O’Conner just admires in the first film: 2001’s The Fast and The Furious.

Eagle-eyed fans may remember that Leon, a member of Dominic Toretto’s crew, drove a bright yellow 1995 Nissan Skyline GT-R R33 in the original movie. The car, never legally sold in the U.S., was emblematic of the outlaw street racing crew.

An outlaw Nissan GT-R found the perfect role in The Fast and The Furious

Many fans were brokenhearted the Skyline never appeared in a race. But because the film crew could only get their hands on one Skyline, they couldn’t afford to shoot any stunts with the car.

The outlaw status caught up with that exact Skyline. According to Autoblog, the government seized a 1995 and 1996 Skyline from enthusiast Justin Beno in 2010. One of them was “Big Bird” from the film. Today, those cars would be old enough to be imported as classics. But in 2010, the authorities were heartless.

Beno explained he’d spent years building up both cars. He was told “No exceptions.” He offered to find foreign buyers so the iconic cars—especially the Fast and Furious picture car—could survive. The Feds insisted on scrapping the vehicles anyway. You can learn more about the tragic fate of the “Big Bird” Skyline in the video embedded below: