RE: Spotted: Nissan Skyline GT-R (R32)
Discussion
I do feel that R32 GTRs will creep up over the next decade, having been hanging around £10k for most of the last decade. However there are a lot of them out there, so I would expect any appreciation to be slow, and not marked enough to fully outweigh Godzilla running costs.
As far as modified vs stock goes, I think it's more about well maintained vs badly maintained. A car that has been roughly hacked around, dubious wiring, wheelarches rolled with a scaffolding bar, matt back paint with a brush, etc, will be worth a lot less than stock.
OTOH if a car's been modified by a reputable tuner, using all good-spec, new, Japanese-brand parts, drives well and is maintained in a good condition, then I think people will see that as desirable. They won't pay much of a premium over a mint condition stock car, certainly not enough to cover the cost of doing the work, but I wouldn't expect it to be less valuable. Even with classic cars, if they have period mods like a hotter cam or bigger carbs, that doesn't noticeably decrease their value.
As far as modified vs stock goes, I think it's more about well maintained vs badly maintained. A car that has been roughly hacked around, dubious wiring, wheelarches rolled with a scaffolding bar, matt back paint with a brush, etc, will be worth a lot less than stock.
OTOH if a car's been modified by a reputable tuner, using all good-spec, new, Japanese-brand parts, drives well and is maintained in a good condition, then I think people will see that as desirable. They won't pay much of a premium over a mint condition stock car, certainly not enough to cover the cost of doing the work, but I wouldn't expect it to be less valuable. Even with classic cars, if they have period mods like a hotter cam or bigger carbs, that doesn't noticeably decrease their value.
I blame it all on tamyia.
Some 20 odd years ago, I stumbled upon a nissan skyline R32 axia by tamiya which had the most amazing paint job on it. While I was a dab hand at putting these together, the decal job looked like it would destroy me. Fortunately my mates dad (Terry Pastor, did some David Bowie artwork or so I'm told) stepped into the breach, and my car looked exactly as it did on the box.
How I would cringe in any mid corner tangle with my chums as the car was launched onto it's roof......
And all long before the event of the playstation.
Fast forward ten years, and my wife gets made redundant from tesco and is handsomly paid off for her time there. We end up with a nearly new MGF, but not after a number of conversations where I've said 'a GTR 32 would keep it's money alot better....' Needless to say, I lost what would become an arguement, and the mgf was a steaming dog turd that would litter my wifes car CV.
A couple of years later, on the back of a fledgling videogames import business, I thought I'd have a punt on bringing cars over. I searched long and hard for a mint skyline, but the 1 million yen price tag was enough to put me off, and I plumped for an un-molested evo 2. As great as that car was, I couldn't sell it for trying, and I didn't try very hard as I took far too much enjoyment from driving it around like an utter a
hole. Great car. But I still hankered for the skyline.
As I came to the end of my videogame importing activity, I recall a sega saturn game landing in my lap called 'nissan GTR overdriving' which came with a free keyring of the engine block. I still have that copy of the game, and the keyring. I'll marry that keyring to a key one day and have the car to go with it if it kills me. I'm not sure I'd £11k for a GTR that had been fiddled with though....
As for the tamiya model:
Glorious.
Some 20 odd years ago, I stumbled upon a nissan skyline R32 axia by tamiya which had the most amazing paint job on it. While I was a dab hand at putting these together, the decal job looked like it would destroy me. Fortunately my mates dad (Terry Pastor, did some David Bowie artwork or so I'm told) stepped into the breach, and my car looked exactly as it did on the box.
How I would cringe in any mid corner tangle with my chums as the car was launched onto it's roof......
And all long before the event of the playstation.
Fast forward ten years, and my wife gets made redundant from tesco and is handsomly paid off for her time there. We end up with a nearly new MGF, but not after a number of conversations where I've said 'a GTR 32 would keep it's money alot better....' Needless to say, I lost what would become an arguement, and the mgf was a steaming dog turd that would litter my wifes car CV.
A couple of years later, on the back of a fledgling videogames import business, I thought I'd have a punt on bringing cars over. I searched long and hard for a mint skyline, but the 1 million yen price tag was enough to put me off, and I plumped for an un-molested evo 2. As great as that car was, I couldn't sell it for trying, and I didn't try very hard as I took far too much enjoyment from driving it around like an utter a
hole. Great car. But I still hankered for the skyline.As I came to the end of my videogame importing activity, I recall a sega saturn game landing in my lap called 'nissan GTR overdriving' which came with a free keyring of the engine block. I still have that copy of the game, and the keyring. I'll marry that keyring to a key one day and have the car to go with it if it kills me. I'm not sure I'd £11k for a GTR that had been fiddled with though....
As for the tamiya model:
Glorious.
samoht said:
I do feel that R32 GTRs will creep up over the next decade, having been hanging around £10k for most of the last decade. However there are a lot of them out there, so I would expect any appreciation to be slow, and not marked enough to fully outweigh Godzilla running costs.
As far as modified vs stock goes, I think it's more about well maintained vs badly maintained. A car that has been roughly hacked around, dubious wiring, wheelarches rolled with a scaffolding bar, matt back paint with a brush, etc, will be worth a lot less than stock.
OTOH if a car's been modified by a reputable tuner, using all good-spec, new, Japanese-brand parts, drives well and is maintained in a good condition, then I think people will see that as desirable. They won't pay much of a premium over a mint condition stock car, certainly not enough to cover the cost of doing the work, but I wouldn't expect it to be less valuable. Even with classic cars, if they have period mods like a hotter cam or bigger carbs, that doesn't noticeably decrease their value.
Agreed, a well looked after car done by one of the well recognised tuning companies like Mine's etc might be worth a bit more than a stock car. Alternatively a car upgraded with OE Nismo bits will also probably be worth a bit more. However those types of cars, especially on something which is 20 years old tend to be few and far between.As far as modified vs stock goes, I think it's more about well maintained vs badly maintained. A car that has been roughly hacked around, dubious wiring, wheelarches rolled with a scaffolding bar, matt back paint with a brush, etc, will be worth a lot less than stock.
OTOH if a car's been modified by a reputable tuner, using all good-spec, new, Japanese-brand parts, drives well and is maintained in a good condition, then I think people will see that as desirable. They won't pay much of a premium over a mint condition stock car, certainly not enough to cover the cost of doing the work, but I wouldn't expect it to be less valuable. Even with classic cars, if they have period mods like a hotter cam or bigger carbs, that doesn't noticeably decrease their value.
As for those mentioning the NSX, I think the GT-R and the R34 especially is as iconic as the NSX, it's just that the NSX seems to have had absolute adulation poured on it for the last 5 years whereas the GT-R's have been largely overlooked by the motoring press till now, possibly due to the fact that an NSX is a "purer" car (N\A, mid engined) but IMO the GT-R is due it's time to shine at some point too.
Couple of years ago someone I worked with bought an R32 'off the docks' in Japan.
It was built from a Group N shell (e.g. had never been road registered in Japan) with every exotic component you could imagine (including about half of a normal interior - race dash etc.). Paperwork showed £60K spent and it had done 450miles (judging by the state of the tyres - entirely sideways)
He paid - all-in once it got to the UK and actually got it registered which was a massive ballache and took 3 months - £24K
He sold it at the end of last year for "not far from what he paid" is the best he'd admit to - I'm guessing high teens (it was worth that in bits, frankly).
Why sell when it was his dream car? Well, insuring it had been hilariously expensive - it was £4500 to insure in limited terms and his daily driver, a 997 Turbo, was £850 - and I think he'd realised that there were other things he could spend that money on - like ENTIRE CARS!!
Lovely thing tho - everything on it screamed 'racecar' and it was hilariously fast. The original seller had claimed 600hp - he'd assumed that was just bks and expected 400s but it benched in the mid 500s and despite that, didn't blow-up in 2 years of (mostly to/from/ontrack) use.
Tyres didn't last long tho - I mean really not long at all - I mean like 2000 miles would have been a surprise
It was built from a Group N shell (e.g. had never been road registered in Japan) with every exotic component you could imagine (including about half of a normal interior - race dash etc.). Paperwork showed £60K spent and it had done 450miles (judging by the state of the tyres - entirely sideways)
He paid - all-in once it got to the UK and actually got it registered which was a massive ballache and took 3 months - £24K
He sold it at the end of last year for "not far from what he paid" is the best he'd admit to - I'm guessing high teens (it was worth that in bits, frankly).
Why sell when it was his dream car? Well, insuring it had been hilariously expensive - it was £4500 to insure in limited terms and his daily driver, a 997 Turbo, was £850 - and I think he'd realised that there were other things he could spend that money on - like ENTIRE CARS!!
Lovely thing tho - everything on it screamed 'racecar' and it was hilariously fast. The original seller had claimed 600hp - he'd assumed that was just b
ks and expected 400s but it benched in the mid 500s and despite that, didn't blow-up in 2 years of (mostly to/from/ontrack) use.Tyres didn't last long tho - I mean really not long at all - I mean like 2000 miles would have been a surprise
Still miss my R32 GTR which I sold in 2008 for about 10k. It was on a 'K' plate and had in the region of 60,000 miles on the clock when I got rid of it. It also had 530bhp which was done under my ownership, cost more than the car was worth to get it all done but was so worth it (I think
)
)"But the fact is, a car – any car – is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it at the moment they transact."
So true, I've come under attack for my car which I'm unfortunately selling at the minute, most people are thinking its overpriced but at the end of the day I can't put a value on the car but I know its worth whatever anyone is willing to pay for it. I've got it advertised at such a high price to keep away the drifters etc as it is a collectors item and I don't want it falling to the wrong hands. Its a ultra rare E36 M3 AC Schnitzer CLS Widebody Conversion (converted when new). Not the full-fat german CLS but still a rare and awesome car.
So true, I've come under attack for my car which I'm unfortunately selling at the minute, most people are thinking its overpriced but at the end of the day I can't put a value on the car but I know its worth whatever anyone is willing to pay for it. I've got it advertised at such a high price to keep away the drifters etc as it is a collectors item and I don't want it falling to the wrong hands. Its a ultra rare E36 M3 AC Schnitzer CLS Widebody Conversion (converted when new). Not the full-fat german CLS but still a rare and awesome car.
Chris Harris said:
The only real unknown is how these modified GT-Rs will fare over time compared to the very few unaltered cars out there. Experience tells you that tampering reduces long-term value, but the R32’s legend is based almost entirely on it being boosted at every possible opportunity. So to me it’s one of the few cars that, assuming the mods are good, can sustain them in the marketplace.
Just look at Seirra and Escort Cosworths. These are also cars that were renowned for the ability to be modified and it's the standard unmolested cars that are, and will continually be, going for big money.For this reason, for me its the same with Nissan's GT-R, those looking to buy for increased value later down the line should be hunting down the unmolested cars.
For those wanting to enjoy all that modified GT-R's have to offer then this sort of car is certainly a tempting proposition I would have thought.
NotNormal said:
it's the standard unmolested cars that are, and will continually be, going for big money.
For this reason, for me its the same with Nissan's GT-R, those looking to buy for increased value later down the line should be hunting down the unmolested cars.
It also opens up the European market as they are unable (or very very difficult for them) to register non standard cars.For this reason, for me its the same with Nissan's GT-R, those looking to buy for increased value later down the line should be hunting down the unmolested cars.
sisu said:
I always find it funny how the British always refer to it as a Datsun when they want to be derogitory about a Nissan.
the funny thing is Datsun's were always more reliable and much better cars than the Ford and Opel products (in the 70's and 80's). They were just frowned upon as most were pig ugly and they were deemed to be cheap copies. Bit like the current snooty attitude towards Korean cars. What did Clarkson call them? Dog powered? regardless the Skyline GTR has always and will always be a very special car. Got no time for the GTS single turbo jobbie.. but a full on GTR.. YES PLEASE!
I have loved both the R33 GTR's I have owned. Hillariously fast, epic noise, surprisingly practical and very reliable.
The thing which got me however (apart from the wife making me sell it) was that they are so competent, that in order to have fun you had to be going at speeds at which I simply wasn't confident in my ability to gather things up.
In terms of devastating pace, there's not a whole lot to touch them.
In terms of fun, I enjoyed my old MR2 Turbo more.
The thing which got me however (apart from the wife making me sell it) was that they are so competent, that in order to have fun you had to be going at speeds at which I simply wasn't confident in my ability to gather things up.
In terms of devastating pace, there's not a whole lot to touch them.
In terms of fun, I enjoyed my old MR2 Turbo more.
(Scratches chin and ponders)
Would the car market be a different place today if Nissan had bought the Skyline - and/or something else very special to Europe under the Infiniti brand - or another stand alone brand - would they have intercepted the BMW challenge with style.
Or am i showing far too much lack of love for BMW.
Regardless - youve got to admire a car that was so good in racing
- the only way the rivals could compete was to take the ball away - go running home to Mama 
and have the rules changed.
Sir Fergie
Would the car market be a different place today if Nissan had bought the Skyline - and/or something else very special to Europe under the Infiniti brand - or another stand alone brand - would they have intercepted the BMW challenge with style.
Or am i showing far too much lack of love for BMW.
Regardless - youve got to admire a car that was so good in racing
- the only way the rivals could compete was to take the ball away - go running home to Mama and have the rules changed.Sir Fergie
The more I think about the more I realise that each iteration of the GT-R has been an iconic performance car of its time. Racing success, yep, outstanding performance yep, packed to the rafter with the latest technology of it's time, yep. It's like the Japanese equivalent of the M3, just not as revered because it's Japanese and got the "wrong badge". This was also the problem with the NSX for years but it seems people have finally managed to see past that now and prices are increasing dramatically.
It's also interesting to note that the earliest GT-R's built in the late 60's\70's based on the KPGC110 are worth an absolute fortune now.
It's also interesting to note that the earliest GT-R's built in the late 60's\70's based on the KPGC110 are worth an absolute fortune now.
Cactussed said:
I have loved both the R33 GTR's I have owned. Hillariously fast, epic noise, surprisingly practical and very reliable.
The thing which got me however (apart from the wife making me sell it) was that they are so competent, that in order to have fun you had to be going at speeds at which I simply wasn't confident in my ability to gather things up.
In terms of devastating pace, there's not a whole lot to touch them.
In terms of fun, I enjoyed my old MR2 Turbo more.
It was also the impression I got when going from a 106gti to an evo 2. I would run out of ability long before the car would run out of grip and the resulting accident would be enormous. Should have got a skyline....The thing which got me however (apart from the wife making me sell it) was that they are so competent, that in order to have fun you had to be going at speeds at which I simply wasn't confident in my ability to gather things up.
In terms of devastating pace, there's not a whole lot to touch them.
In terms of fun, I enjoyed my old MR2 Turbo more.
"Because it isn’t. If the assertion was “I think it’s worth more than that”, then I wouldn’t take any issue, because everyone has a right to an opinion. Forget what any guide, expert or journalist says, the machinery is only worth the amount the potential buyer is willing to pay for it. It goes without saying that the vendor always can always reserve the right not to sell for that price."
Had to chuckle at that. Why is it that so many people feel the need to post that a car cost y 2 months ago yet is up for 1.5y today? The scoundrel, trying to make some profit from a purchase ...
TX.
Had to chuckle at that. Why is it that so many people feel the need to post that a car cost y 2 months ago yet is up for 1.5y today? The scoundrel, trying to make some profit from a purchase ...
TX.
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