Car History Vol 1: The Story Behind “Godzilla” (Original Work)

Any petrolhead worth one’s salt knows the infamous Nissan R32 GTR, the cult-icon car that gave the automotive world a serious fright in the early 90’s. Perhaps you played with an incredibly pixelated version in an early console game? Maybe you saw one on TV, beating everything under the sun around a racetrack? Whatever the backstory, the R32 GTR is no doubt etched in your memory somewhere. But how did the legendary “Godzilla” come to be? Lets find out!

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To give this story a bit of context, we need to rewind back to 1986 and take a look at the car before the R32 - the R31 (below). This car was, by all means, a bit lackluster. The top engine choice maxed out power at 210hp in the GTS-R and GTS Autech models, both housing a RB20DET-R motor. It also looked like something an accountant would draw while not paying attention in a board meeting. Fairly boring then. Models were sold mostly in Japan, with a few also being sold in the Australian and South African markets.

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Come May 1989, it was time to shake things up a little, and the R32 Skyline officially rolled out from the factory. While there were various trim and body style options available, we’re only interested in one here - the might GTR, designed to take down the best German offerings at the time, such as the Porsche 959 and 944. Who did Nissan think they were, going up against one of the world’s most famous sports car makers? Well, the results may surprise you…

With a twin-turbo RB26DETT engine now propelling the car along, it was capable of doing the quarter mile in 12.8 seconds, and performing the 0-100 km/h sprint in only 4.7 seconds - which is still pretty fast, even by todays standards. Note: these times varied by publication, but regardless, fast is fast. An incredibly smart AWD system (for the time) allowed the car to exit corners like a slingshot, eating up seconds on even the most demanding circuits. A testament can be found in the fact that the humble Nissan clocked an unofficial lap time record around the “green hell” - the Nurburgring, causing a shockwave to spread amongst local German automakers. As with all cars produced during this era in Japan, Nissan claimed their new sports car “only” made a mere 276-horsepower, thanks to a gentlemens agreement at the time between various Japanese manufacturers. However, with a few minor changes, the car was capable of producing much, much more.

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Within no time, the beast from the east was laying waste to all competitors in Group A racing. Racking up 29 wins in the Japanese Touring Car Championship was just considered a warm up, as Nissan had plans to take their new creation down under. After winning the Group A Championship three times, and placing first in the Bathurst 1000 (twice), the local Australian media were certainly taking notice of Japans latest offering. As such, the name “Godzilla” was assigned to the GTR - you know, the giant mythical monster who destroys all in his wake. These victories shook the scene up so much, that the ATCC (Australian Touring Car Championship) governing body was forced to split the series up into a two-make championship, consisting of GM-Holden and Ford - both local Aussie favourites. This meant that the reign of the GTR had come to an end for the ATCC, but the story doesn’t end there. The car had made such an impact, that it became one of the “it” cars in the original Gran Turismo games, boosted on by the popularity of a younger generation who wanted to side with the underdog. To this day, you’ll still find the R32 GTR featured in many mainstream racing games. The legend of Godzilla is clearly indestructible…

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Originally designed for a production run of only 5,000 units, the demand was so great that Nissan ended up producing over 43,000 units. Nissan also started making original replacement parts for their first Godzilla a few years ago, in a bid to keep customers cars on the road for longer. And the dividends are certainly paying off, helping the R32 attain a new cult icon status. It’s also worth mentioning that the Godzilla moniker has - by default - transferred across to every new generation of GTR. But I’m sure we can all agree, there will only be one true Godzilla - the R32 GTR.

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As of August 2014, our friends over in the USA have been able to legally import R32 GTR’s, bringing a huge rise in value that is still clear to this day. With the R33 being eligible for importation soon, and the R34 being legal in early 2024, we can only expect values to keep shooting up.

My personal advice: buy one while you still can.

DISCLAIMER: All of the above is my own, personal writing. Research sources credited below. If you like the idea behind this series, suggest more cars and I’ll happily write about them.

SOURCES:

http://www.rbmotoring.com/blog/does-the-stock-r32-gtr-really-only-make-276-horsepower

http://www.roadandtrack.com/motorsports/news/a27737/nissan-skyline-gt-r-godzilla-history/

https://classicregister.com/id-guides/how-identify-1987-nissan-skyline-r31-gts-r

http://gtrnissanskyline.com/r32-gtr/

https://discord.gg/PhqmBdD