Just how have GT-R-badged Nissans remained at the very top of the tuning pile for all these years? We took two of the very finest examples from over the car’s many generations to try to find out…
‘G’ ‘T’ and ‘R’: three letters that’ve had more of an impact on the modified car world over the past 30 years than perhaps any other. Symbolising a new dawn of ceiling-raising, supercar-worrying and computer-packed Nissan Skylines, the GT-R moniker alone is enough to bring those in the know out in a cold sweat, while comfortably flying under the radar for everyone else.
The badge was actually first seen as early as the late ’60s, adorning the now-super-rare Hakosuka and Kenmeri-shaped Skylines that are almost extinct species in the UK today. But it was when the name was re-introduced, in 1989, that the world really stood back and took note of the GT-R; the string of world-beating machinery that’s emerged since swiftly developing a rather formidable name for itself on both road and track that it still effortlessly manages to hold to this very day.
Of course, we’re talking about the R32, R33, R34 and R35 shaped models; a quartet of brutal super-coupés that over their three-decade lifespan have won countless races, featured in multiple Hollywood films and proven themselves as some of the most tuneable road cars on the entire planet. Much has changed through the generations, but that core DNA of a screaming, twin-turbocharged six-cylinder engine with 4WD and more computers than NASA to keep you pointing in the right direction, have always remained a firm constant.
To celebrate just how much Nissan’s GT-R – fondly named Godzilla – has managed to achieve over the years, we’ve put two of the very finest examples in the country together, one old, one new, to highlight that although plenty has changed over the years, this car’s infamous ability to be modified through the eyeballs has never waned…
Want to see more? Check out the full feature in Fast Car magazine issue 400 on sale now in all good shops, the Fast Car online shop or alternatively download Fast Car magazine 400 now.
