When you think of motorsport success in the modern age, names like Mclaren, Ferrari, Mercedes and BMW often spring to mind. But wind the clock back a few years to the 1990’s, Nissan developed a car so quick that it won every single All Japan Touring Car Championship (JTCC) race from 1990 to 1993. The R32 Skyline GT-R was, when new, a car that hadn’t been seen before in the ever growing market of sports cars. An all-wheel-drive, 2-door saloon with a twin-turbocharged 2.6 litre inline 6 cylinder engine, was a layout that had not really been explored in the automotive industry before. In the 80’s, rear-wheel-drive, small engine cars were all the rage. The Nissan Silvia, the Mazda RX-7, the Toyota MR-2 and the Corolla were all extremely successful cars in the 1980’s, marketed as a lightweight, cheap way to be quick on track, and have fun on the road. So, naturally, when a 1430kg, all-wheel-drive, “sports car”, came along in 1989, people were skeptical on how fun this car could be, and at an MSRP of about $45,000 brand new (equating to about $110,000 in 2024), it would take Nissan some convincing to win over their customers.
What ensued was arguably the most dominant performance of any race car ever, with the R32 GT-R winning the JTCC undefeated from 1990 to 1993, the Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) in 1991 and 1992, and the Bathurst 1000 in 1991 and 1992. It was the car’s success in Australia that earned its nickname, ‘Godzilla’. A metaphor for this Japanese monster, destroying everything in its path. The car was so dominant, Group A administrators changed the rules in 1993, essentially preventing the car from further competition, allowing Ford and GM to return to their everlasting rivalry at the top of the Australian Touring car food chain. This dominance, however, turned the car into an overwhelming success for Nissan, selling nearly 44,000 cars across a 5 year production period. Initially, the car wasn’t very popular in Australia, with only 106 cars making it to Australian shores (possibly due to it managing to piss off both Holden and Ford fans for 2 years straight). It wasn’t until a few years later, in the early 2000’s, at the advent of ‘tuner culture’, people realised the seemingly infinite capabilities of this car, and imports began in surplus.
People realised that this car could essentially do anything. Circuit racing, drag racing, impressing members of the opposite gender, impressing members of the same gender, all while remaining as a reasonably practical, 'dailyable' car. Krish, the current owner of an R32 GT-R, explains the significance of owning a car like the R32 GT-R. “You grow up researching about the JTCC, grow up watching the history of Bathurst, its just the ideology and the heritage that the GT-R comes with, and its probably the most analog version of the modern day GT-R.”. The car does an effortlessly good job at putting you in the drivers seat of the racecar that was so dominant in the early 90s. You are driving that car. The analog, manual, human experience transcends time when you sit in it. You are wearing the shoes of Jim Richards, the gloves of Mark Skaife, the helmet of Masahiro Hasemi. “This particular GT-R is my sixth R32, and when you jump in you feel like you belong in one, and when you have that feeling its hard to go past.” explains Krish.
The R32 GT-R has retained its value remarkably well, asking very similar prices as a 30 year old car today, as it did brand new in 1989. But in my eyes, its worth it. This car is phenomenal, even by todays standards. The drivetrain is extremely balanced, it handles corners with ease, and still has the ability to turn your underwear brown from a dig. “Being a GT car, you jump on the motorway and I can drive that car down the coast, up the coast in comfort and be fine, but if someone pulls up next to you, you drop it down to third, and sayonara.” Its aesthetics have stood the test of time as well. It’s design is simple, yet still turns heads, especially with the aftermarket support for cosmetics, an OEM+ styled R32 GT-R claims respect from nearly every car enthusiast in the world. “If you want to experience a car that has so much love, heritage and prescence to some degree, but also if you want to build a circuit car, drag car, a GT car or even a show car, it’ll do it all.” Krish elaborates.
Nissan exceeded all expectations of this car, and it proved to be the basis for the 4 sequential GT-R’s, which all found similar levels of success. The chokehold this car had over Australian and Japanese motorsport is something that may never be seen again, and the embrace it has found in the modern day automotive community is universal. This car is close to perfect. Its pedigree, its style, its engineering, its hard to find a flaw in this car. It is a symbol for the significance of motorsport to the car market, and for car enthusiasts to associate with.
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