Nissan GT-R NISMO

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Lore & Background

The Skyline GT-R has become an iconic sports car as a grey import vehicle in the Western world, including the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Ireland, Canada, and the United States. It has become notable through pop culture such as The Fast and the Furious, Initial D, Wangan Midnight, Need for Speed, Forza, and Gran Turismo. The NISMO badge denotes a level of tuning from Nissan's performance division, which introduced various special editions containing additional performance-enhancing modifications throughout the car's lifetime. In 2019, Nismo announced that it would resume production of spare parts for all generations of the Skyline GT-R, including body panels and engines. The car is popular for import drag racing, circuit track, time attack and events hosted by tuning magazines.

In Their Own Story

The R34 GT-R, which Wheels nicknamed "Godzilla Returns," was described as "The best handling car we have ever driven." In tests conducted by automotive publications, the R34 GT-R covered a quarter of a mile (402 metres) in 12.2 seconds from a standing start time and accelerated from 0–100 km/h (0–62 mph) in 4.4 seconds. The first cars named "Skyline GT-R" were produced between 1969 and 1972 under the model code KPGC10, and were successful in Japanese touring car racing events. Group A specification versions of the R32 GT-R were used to win the Japanese Touring Car Championship for four years in a row. The R32 GT-R also had success in the Australian Touring Car Championship, with Jim Richards using it to win the championship in 1991 and Mark Skaife doing the same in 1992, until a regulation change excluded the GT-R in 1993.

Reader's Guide

The Skyline GT-R was never manufactured outside Japan, and the sole export markets were Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand, in 1991, and the UK (in 1997, due to the Single Vehicle Approval scheme). They are also popular across the world as used Japanese imports. The GT-R abbreviation stands for Gran Turismo–Racing while the GT-B stands for Gran Turismo–Berlinetta. The Japanese chose to use Italian naming conventions when naming the car – as most cars that were made in Japan at that time used Western abbreviations – to further enhance sales. The earliest predecessor of the GT-R, the S54 2000 GT-B, came second in its first race in the 1964 Japanese GP to the purpose-built Porsche 904 GTS. The four-door PGC10 2000 GT-R scored 33 victories in the one and a half years it raced, and by the time it attempted its 50th consecutive win, its run was ended by a Mazda Savanna RX-3. The car took 1,000 victories by the time it was discontinued in 1972.

Did You Know?

• The GT-R abbreviation stands for Gran Turismo–Racing, using Italian naming conventions to enhance sales.
• The R32 GT-R was nicknamed 'Godzilla' by Australian motoring publication Wheels in its July 1989 edition.
• The R34 GT-R covered a quarter mile in 12.2 seconds and accelerated from 0–100 km/h in 4.4 seconds in tests.
• The first Skyline GT-R (KPGC10) was produced between 1969 and 1972, with only 1,197 coupé versions built.
• In 2019, Nismo announced it would resume production of spare parts for all generations of the Skyline GT-R.