A symbol of Japanese ingenuity. As Japanese as a giant robot and possibly as iconic as the Mach5 itself
The Nissan GTR was one of the best supercars ever built. It was so formidable that it earned the nickname Godzilla
The GT-R had a history of racetrack dominance beginning with its 50 victories scored from 1968-1972, including 49 consecutive wins in the Japanese race circuit. Between 1989 to 1993 the GTR won all 29 races it entered and between 1991 to 1997 it took 50 races from 50 starts in the N1 Super Taikyu.
It inspired countless Manga and stories and was in part responsible for the popularization of Illegal Street racing in Japan in the hands of the notorious Mid Night Club. The GTR was a Supercar disguised as a road car.
Lets take a look into how this legendary car came about and what its latest evolution will be like.

It was the end of the Second World War. The Japanese war machine was dismantled and the country was in ruins after the atomic bombs were dropped.
The Japanese economy needed to recover so factories which were dedicated to producing weapons of war turned to manufacturing farm equipment trucks and cars.
One such company was the Tachikawa Aircraft Company which during the war manufactured the infamous Zero fighter. After the war ended the company went into manufacturing automobiles and in 1952 changed its name to The Prince Motor Company.
Prince turned out many successful designs but little did anyone know that it would be the beginning of a legend.
The prince motor company in 1957 introduced a midsized luxury sedan known as the Skyline.
In 1966 The Prince Motor Company merged with Nissan-Datsun and in 1969 The Nissan Skyline GTR was born.

February 4th 1969 was a historic day for it marked the release of the Nissan PGC 10 Skyline GTR.
It was based of a luxury sedan but under the hood it had a 2L 160hp power plant.
Known commonly as the hakosuka(hako is box and suka is short for skyline in Japanese) for its boxy four door design.
By the time the C-10 reached retirement, it had 33 victories under its belt in a period of less than 18 months.
With the release of the coupe this number reached 52 by 1972. Out of which 49 were consecutive wins.
This was the first Japanese car to truly defeat its European counterparts and come close to outperforming the legendary Porsche 911.

The next iteration of the GTR, the c110 came out in 1972 and was not much different than its predecessor and had the same engine. In fact it is rumoured that it was only produced to get rid of the leftover engines from the previous model.
Nissan never raced this model and 1973 was the last year of its production.
The world would not see a new skyline GTR for nearly 16 years.



After a 16 year hiatus the GTR returned in its most infamous incarnation yet.
The legendary R-32 GT-R.

Meant to replace the Skyline GTS-R the GTR sported an all wheel drive system with 10 inch tires
Powered by a 2350cc Straight 6 Turbocharged engine pumping out 313HP. However the most important aspect of the R series was that the chassis could handle an excess of a thousand horse power making it a favourite for aftermarket tuners. The GTR was formidable but in the hands of an expert tuner the car became legendary. It helped popularise street racing in Japan with the Mid Night Club, An illegal street racing gang which required members to possess cars capable of going way past the 300kph mark.
All this coupled with its track victories truly earned it the name Godzilla.

The R33 model lived on till 1995
In 1995 the GTR was upgraded to the skyline R33 which was almost identical to the R32 except for a few improvements to the engine oil pump and a few other minor changes
In 1997 a new variant called the 400R was released which pumped out 400HP.
The 400R only got 44 units built due to the closure of the assembly line in 1998 making it one of the rarest and most sought after GTRs.

1999 saw the last incarnation of the Skyline GTR. This was the R34. Featuring an upgraded design the R34 had more down force and had much better handling than its predecessors.
This was the ultimate skyline. Featuring a fully upgraded dash with LCD displays to monitor and download all aspects of the performance.
In 2002 Nissan released the Z-Tune variant which had the engine tuned to reach over 9000rpm churning out over 500 HP making it a true supercar in disguise.
This however would be the last car to bear the name Skyline GTR and this was the end of an era.


The end of an era maybe but not the end of the GTR story. At the turn of the millennium Carlos Ghosn the CEO of Nissan planned a new GTR. This car would no longer be in the guise of a roadster but would be a full fledged supercar.
It would no longer bear the skyline name but would still pay homage to its past with its design elements.
The Nissan GTR is powered by the VR38DETT 3.8L V6 engine churning out 480HP at 6400RPM.

One of the most innovative features in the GTR is a dual clutch system.
One clutch for even gears and one for odd gears. In effect ‘Pre-Loading’ the next gear before shifting
Giving it phenomenally low shifting times.
Its design is reminiscent of the previous skylines with its round tail lamps and intakes.
The designers took their inspiration for the design from the Giant robots of Japanese Manga comics which helped the original skyline reach its legendary status.

The new GTR is highly customisable like its predecessors. Custom tuning packages can increase its power output to over 600HP.





The Nissan GTR is back in full force and its going to take on the world.
With its Gundam like air intakes and sharp lines this car was not engineered. It was sculpted and is truly a work of automotive art and Japanese design at its best.
It was intended to outperform the Porsche 911 and it delivered. All of that at a fraction of the cost of the 911 placing Japan back on the supercar map.

Just wanted to pay tribute to this amazing car!

The car is amazing and a god among cars, however, it is definitely a major letdown. The US version is so detuned its rediculous, and these amazing tune packages are only available through specialized companies. If you try to put aftermarket parts on it, the things a giant computer, so it will make the car incapable. Also if you take this "track car" to the track, the GPS will sense it and youre warranty is null and void. Also one of my buddies from Nissan said that if you could flash the ECU and have someone who could reprogram it, stock the car could put out about 740 hp. But this is still a thing of beauty. Looks better than the new 370z.

It wouldnt be a change, its just factory detuned.

Absolutely amazing car, I could of bought a R34 from my friend for REALLY cheap.. too bad I lacked the money at the time. Unfortunately no opportunity has presented itself sense.

Apparently you need to detune the r34 if you import it too due to japanese regs being different from US regs. However theres a company that will take apart an r34, and send it over in pieces as a kit car and you can rebuild a true blue r34. So you can have your cake and eat it too

Does any one know if the gps speed limiter only turn on on registered racetracks? What if you drive in an area without enforced speed limits?

To my knowlege your warranty is only voided if you take it to a track. If youre on say the autobahn i think youre okay;.

I own a Skyline R32 model. Excellent handling, performance, and style. I prefer the R32 from all the other models because of the weight distribution. All other models are just too heavy, but still very powerful.

[edit on 10-5-2009 by DEM0N]

Yeah it has a crazy weight to power ratio, but I mean id take an r34 personally. ATM ill take a 370z.

If i had the chance i'd love a R34. I like the new gtr but the skyline name has gone and thats taken the charm away.

That does not mean i would not like to own the gtr :-)

The only thing I dont like about it is the paddle shifting. I vote a 6 speed manual version comes out

My first import car was the Godzilla R31, had it for about 18 months before I gave it to my ex when we broke up as part of the settlement and she wrote it off into 2 trees about 3 months later.

The second import I bought was a twin turbo Supra, built it from the ground up then sold that due to everytime I took it out I would get pulled up by the police.

Then I went into muscle cars found a 67 fast back mustang and did it up like a GT 500, 780 hp on the wheels, I took the guy that lived down the road from me for a drive and he S*%t himself and he owns a Ferrari.