The Nissan GT-R is legendary as a sports car, and it reached heights all by itself, way before the F&F madness happened. And while its birth comes from the Skyline, so there is an association between the Skyline and the GT-R terms, the two are not interchangeable or synonymous.
The Nissan GT-R Skyline debuted in 1969 after Datsun sponged in Prince Motors and its sedate saloon/sedan, the Skyline. The Skyline itself arose in the '50s and was not something you wanted to bring home to mom. But in 1969, Nissan decided it was time to make something more than just the Z cars, and decided to launch the Nissan Skyline GT-R, with a 2.0-liter inline-six that made 160 horsepower and 133 lb-ft torque on a nifty rear-wheel-drive. This was all Japanese and more powerful than the American 240Z that everyone was raving about, hence the entire JDM craze.
In 2007, the Nissan GT-R kicked away the Skyline association and emerged as a whole new breed of sports cars that had nothing in common with the Skyline, save the four, round taillights. The Nissan GT-R continues to evolve today, even as it skipped the 2022 model year in North America, and moved straight to the 2023 one. So here’s why the Nissan GT-R remains a forever icon and deserves the Godzilla title.
The Nissan GT-R Skyline Gave Us The Godzilla
In 2007, the Nissan GT-R stepped out of the Skyline boots, and by 2008, North America finally got its own version of a car they could only dream about, or buy as a 25-year-old JDM model. At the time Nissan called it a supercar.
That said, the GT-R could not have debuted without the Skyline, and first came to play as a JDM in 1969 as a more powerful version. In fact, in Japan, they called it the “Hakosuka”, an amalgamation of the Japanese terms for Skyline and box. Beginning with its debut year itself, the Nissan Skyline GT-R took the Japanese racing circuit by storm, racking 52 racing wins from 1969 to 1972. Notably, in 1970, the Nissan GT-R came dressed as a 2-door coupe, and this was the blueprint for all further GT-R models.
By 1973, a spiraling economy and the gas crisis made Nissan discontinue the GT-R, after just two generations: the R30 and R31. After a long hiatus, the next generation of the Nissan Skyline GT-R came to play, dubbed the R32. It now had AWD, 4-wheel steering, and made 276 horsepower with 260 lb-ft of torque from a turbocharged inline-6 engine. From 1989 to 1993, the R32 ruled Japan’s racing tracks with 29 consecutive victories, and so it got a new moniker, the Godzilla.
With Increased Prices, The Nissan GT-R Remains A Giant Killer
From 1969 to now, the Nissan GT-R has come a long way from its only-Japanese origins. For years, it was a JDM but from 2008, the Nissan GT-R sold in the North American markets, with more powerful iterations. Naturally, the price of the GT-R has shot up, and how!
To be fair, Nissan keeps refining the GT-R but at heart, its winnable formula remains the same. Today, the Nissan GT-R bears a 3.8-liter V6 mill with dual turbochargers. The ATTESA E-TS AWD is also a definite advantage, first introduced in the R-35. With ATTESA (Advanced Total Traction Engineering System for All-Terrain) the Nissan GT-R will let you split the 2:98 front-to-back torque to a maximum of 50:50, on a tri-axis G-sensor that also lets you pitch traction from front-to-back and side-to-side. Think getaway car launches!
From about $70,000 back when the Nissan GT-R debuted in North America, in 2007, to a starting price of $117,000-plus today, the Nissan GT-R is now an expensive buy. But with 565 horsepower and 467 lb-feet of torque, and a 0-to-60 mph spin of under 3.0 seconds, it is still a giant killer, giving sleepless nights to the likes of the far-more-expensive Porsches and more. If you have the pockets, the Nissan GT-R NISMO model offers a tuned-up engine with 600 horsepower and 481 pound-feet of torque, but be warned, the price is astronomical.
The Nissan GT-R JDM Is Still Quite The Prize
The modern Nissan GT-R, the R35 is falling behind the times when it comes to interior and comfort, given that it’s the same 2009 generation being stretched out a little thin. That said, you cannot fault the performance or the visceral experience of driving one, which is why the Nissan GT-R remains a legend.
One reason for its immortality is the fact that now, JDM fans can get their hands on GT-R till the 1998 model, given the 25-year-old import law in North America. Not only do these JDM models carry a certain aura around them, at least in the eyes of the fans, but they also come fairly affordable, short of the Godzilla, the Nissan R32.
They come with plenty of power and life in them, and, fans are more than welcome to tune them up to near F&F performance. Then there’s always Paul Walker who further cemented the Nissan GT-R as a forever icon for motorheads.
Source: Nissan