The coolest old car? A look at the first Nismo-restored R32 Nissan Skyline GT-R

Sanjay · Mar 15, 2021 09:00 PM

At this point, it isn't even about rose-tinted glasses anymore - the 1980s and 1990s were good times for sports cars. Nissan seems to agree, if their fully-restored R32 Nissan Skyline GT-R is anything to go by.

Recently, Nismo (Nissan's sporting arm, Nissan Motorsports International) opened their Nismo 'Restored Car' division, with the first product on their catalogue being this 'Godzilla' R32 GT-R.

The coolest old car? A look at the first Nismo-restored R32 Nissan Skyline GT-R 01 — Various shots of the body frame - literally brand new

If you've somehow missed the whole hullabaloo about it, here's a quick low-down: the project essentially rebuilds the R32 (so far) to brand-new factory specifications, with improvements made along the way as well.

Also read: This R32 Nissan Skyline GT-R’s restoration by Nismo costs 5x the price of an R35

The coolest old car? A look at the first Nismo-restored R32 Nissan Skyline GT-R 02 — Absolutely not a hair out of place

And no, it's not just a fresh coat of paint on top of refreshed body panels either.

The coolest old car? A look at the first Nismo-restored R32 Nissan Skyline GT-R 03 — Electrodeposited coating just like any new car

It's complete nuts-and-bolts stuff, with things such as a 3D-measured and refreshed body frame, new wiring harnesses, and even a rebuilt engine.

The coolest old car? A look at the first Nismo-restored R32 Nissan Skyline GT-R 04 — The Heritage Parts programme makes parts for the R33 and R34 GT-R as well

Most of the parts come from Nissan's own 'Heritage Parts' programme, which currently has over 300 parts for classic Nissan cars, including the newly-released R32 GT-R wiring harness protector and rear panels.

The coolest old car? A look at the first Nismo-restored R32 Nissan Skyline GT-R 05 — Each car is subjected to tests a new Nissan GT-R goes through

Which is why the whole thing takes about 6 months from top to bottom, setting customers back around JPY 45 million to start. That's almost double what a 2021 Nissan GT-R Nismo costs (JPY 23 million).

The coolest old car? A look at the first Nismo-restored R32 Nissan Skyline GT-R 06 — A serialised plate for each completed car

But the end result? Stuff of dreams, 100 percent worth drooling over, as the video below shows. Enjoy.

Sanjay

Senior Writer

With humble beginnings collecting diecast models and spending hours virtually tuning dream cars on the computer, his love of cars has delightfully transformed into a career. Sanjay enjoys how the same passion for cars transcends boundaries and brings people together.