Drift King Tsuchiya takes you for a blast of Nissan nostalgia with some of their 90s hits

Ahhh, the 90s. Some claim it to be the best of times… mostly if those some were petrolheads and became aroused by Japanese sports cars of the era. While certain parties may debate labelling some of the nostalgic Nissans here “sports” cars, they all possess a distinct pedigree of performance in their DNA that more than justifies the parallelism.

Plus, why can’t we all just enjoy a video that takes some honest examples of these cars and not blow some up their arses but instead make them out to be precisely what they were; affordable cars that could give you a boner behind the wheel.

Hosted by the Dorikin Keiichi Tsuchiya together with Takashi Oi, the almost hour-long video is a candid look at 6 examples of Nissans from the era that aren’t exactly mint condition but well maintained even with constant use.

The former needs no introduction while the latter is a renowned endurance racer. Takashi has participated in endurance racing and hill climb events, including the Sepang 12 Hours as well as Pikes Peak.

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It’s genuinely refreshing to see the 6 nostalgic Nissans here comprising the S13 Silvia, 300ZX, Skyline R32 GT-R, Skyline R32 Type M, Bluebird U12 SSS-R and Cefiro A31 Autech.

Each of them don’t even come close to resembling museum condition specimens but that’s the beauty of it; you can tell they’re instead well-maintained examples with plenty of miles on them and will continue to punch in thousands of kilometres to come.

We lament about car collectors that lock their prized cars away in climate-controlled garages so here’s the very anti-Christ of that.

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Starting with the Bluebird U12 SSS-R, they go on to highlight some of its unique points such as the CA18DET RR that made more power over the standard version. Coupled with the weight reduction, Attesa all-wheel drive system and 5-speed manual, it was essentially a perfect platform for rallying.

Next up was the 300ZX Z32. As Dorikin said, this was the car to pick up girls in. It was distinguished by the uniquely positioned buttons on the side of the instrument cluster and the grand tourer status.

Also Read: 6 reasons why the Nissan Cefiro A31 is more than just an affordable drift machine

Then came the legend of the early 90s, the Skyline R32 GT-R. Spawning the Godzilla name, Dorikin claimed it could hit 300kph with some minor boost up work on its RB26DETT powerplant.

Following that was the more domesticated version of the GT-R, the Skyline R32 GTS-t Type M. This sedan made for a very multipurpose platform that appealed to a wide demographic. Even Dorikin claimed that his wife used it as a daily while it could easily be transformed into a drift machine with some simple mods.

As the penultimate example, the Cefiro A31 Autech was made out to be the poor man’s R32 sedan. Using the suspension from a Silvia S13 and the RB-series engines from the Skyline, its initial purpose of a luxury sedan was lost on budding drifters. Here, the limited edition Autech version meant a factory installed 5-speed manual, Autech body kit and Autech rims.

Lastly came the Silvia S13. Against its contemporary Z32 positioned as grand tourer, the S13 was the proper affordable sports coupe of that era. It continues to hold relevance in the world of drifting and to a larger extent, motorsports in general.

Nissan made some fine sports cars in the 90s. They may have lost their way for a bit but if the new Nissan Z Coupe is anything to go by, redemption is around the corner. Nonetheless, once in a while, old will always be gold.