Thursday 16th June 2016

Nissan Skyline GT-R (R32): Spotted

Tempted by an affordable old Skyline? You're too late now!

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Once upon a time, before the Ferraris on Sunday night TV, Chris Harris wrote a story for this website on an R32 Nissan Skyline GT-R. In it he pondered whether one particular, and quite nicely modified, R32 was worth the £11,950 being asked for it.

Yep, it's really this original

If current values are anything to by, it most certainly was. You should have bought one back then Chris! Modified but presentable cars are around £20K, and to get one around for £12K means getting a car with nearly 100,000 miles or one with some, er, dubious modifications (see the interior shot).

Then there's this car, a stunning 1989 GT-R. Yes, the car's reputation may have been largely built on its tuneability and mechanical strength, but you suspect that the unmodified cars are the ones now most in demand. This car is standard down to the seats, the steering wheel and the claimed - but always debated - 280hp. It's for sale at £29,995.

That will look a lot in the context of that original GT-R (and the NISMO we featured a couple of years ago), but there's an inevitability to the rise of R32 values. Think about it: the GT-R is one of the Gran Turismo icons, and those fans are now of a car buying age, it's eligible for export to the US (that never had any of the pre-R35 GT-Rs) and it's also a brilliant car. We're rather blasé about trick 4WD systems nowadays, but back in 1989 this must have felt other-worldly. And probably rather rapid too.

It's also the beginning of an incredibly successful legacy. Yes, there were Skylines before this car, but the R32 was the original turbocharged, 4WD madman that made a mockery of far more expensive cars, a reputation that continued through the R33, R34 and the current generation too. 'Giant killer' was made for cars like the Skyline and others of its ilk.

Who wants a 911 anyway?

Now while it's clear the Skyline has become more in demand recently, it can still be made to look reasonable value in the right context. Bear with... This Audi Quattro, for example, is £26,995 for a 97,000-mile example. Like the Skyline, it was one of the 4WD pioneers and enjoyed huge motorsport success. But the Nissan will be quicker, has been used a whole lot less and is just £3,000 more. Budget £30K for an E30 M3 and you'll end up with a 133,000-mile car. The equivalent NSX, a car with similarly iconic status as the Skyline, has 178,000 miles. Sure, these are UK supplied cars and therefore the comparison isn't entirely valid, but to have a 13,000-mile GT-R available for the same money seems almost like a bargain.

So dither no longer! If this £50K NISMO is a reliable indicator then R32s will continue to climb, which should mean your money is safe. But perhaps now is the time to begin identifying the next big Japanese classic. Is it RX-7s? Is it a fast Honda of some kind? The Lexus LS400? Alright, perhaps not the last one. But there has to be something once all the GT-Rs are out of reach!

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NISSAN SKYLINE GT-R (R32)
Engine: 2,568cc, 6-cyl turbo
Transmission: 5-speed manual, all-wheel drive
Power (hp): 280@6,800rpm
Torque (lb ft): 260@4,400rpm
MPG: N/A
CO2: N/A
First registered: 1989
Recorded mileage: 13,000 miles
Price new: N/A
Yours for: £29,995

See the original advert here

[davidcharles]

wish i had kept my old R33 GTR after the engine went pop....i daren't say what i sold it for!!!

[knight]

I sold my R32 GTR in 2008, I'd love to know if it has increased in value since then.

[C7 JFW]

Up up up.

[knight]

Probably! I always seem to sell just before the prices go up !

[Ollieb7]

Type RA V2 555 V-Limited Impreza or white Tommi Makinen EVO VI next..

[vtecyo]

As I understand it, one of the reasons that these cars go up in value so much is demand from the American market. Jap imports* are illegal over there until they here 25 (I think) years old. Once cars hit that age, prices absolutely skyrocket because of huge demand from the states.

You can expect to see the value of Supras go mental in the next few years for that reason.

• It could be all RHD imports, I'm not so sure.

ETA: A quick Google suggests it could be to do with crash testing and not meeting requirements. I'm sure someone with more knowledge can chime in. Once they hit a certain age, the restictions no longer apply.

Edited by vtecyo on Thursday 16th June 12:20

[Coatesy351]

Reminds me of this which i cant believe was 26 years ago in october.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vRDo4rchmc

[samoht]

The more surprising thing to me is that R33s are £12k+, having always been the unfancied Skyline.

As far as RX-7s go, I bought mine for £4.5k in late 2012, and the cheapest running car in PH classifieds now is at £9k. So they are also already edging up.

Note that Supras and RX-7s were sold new in the states, so that demand factor doesn't apply to them.


While recent prices are often described as a bubble, in the USA older performance cars have always held their value fairly well - often around double what we'd have paid in the old days with higher mileage too. So an alternative perspective could frame the recent rise in prices as the UK market coming more into line with world markets.

I'd say that if there's a top-line 90s performance car that you long to own, now is still a good time to seek out a late-model, good condition example of it. Yes prices have risen, but that's bringing mint ones onto the market, eg out of Japan, which are usually the best bets for long-term enjoyment anyway.

[Krikkit]

vtecyo said:

Once they hit a certain age, the restictions no longer apply.

Once they're 25 they become a historic vehicle and bypass the various bits of legislation that kept them out (usually emissions for more modern stuff).

[Poopipe]

Ollieb7 said:

Type RA V2 555 V-Limited Impreza or white Tommi Makinen EVO VI next..

Don't say that, my one of those Imprezas got nicked

[k-ink]

Too late for the 32 as USA have started importing them. So forget it. 33 is the next to get before they go up.

[Dafuq]

Reading articles like this make me shudder for the treatment I gave me series McCrae Imprezza back when I was an 'orrible yoof. Spanked it from brand new and, err, passed it on to the next 'careful' owner after 40,000 torturous miles.

If only I had kept it cosy in bubble wrap and only driven it on dry Sundays it might be worth a bob or two by now, but then I would be a complete dullard who missed out on pant wetting fun, involuntary hysterical giggling, and much b-road twisty marauding.

Je ne regrette rien!

Cars like this should be thoroughly used and enjoyed.

[Guvernator]

While it's nice enough this is an early model. It's not a Nismo, N1, Vspec or Vspec II so it's way overpriced. R32's have also been eligible to import into the US since August 2014. They made 43,000 of these R32's in total so apart from the special editions mentioned above they aren't actually that rare. Either this importer is chancing their arm or this is just another example of the insane car bubble.

[big_rob_sydney]

22B

[Xaero]

I think it's the age of car related to people who want to buy them too. The Playstation generation (now entering their 30s if not already) are coming into money and can afford performance cars want their teenage dream car, which isn't a Ferrari because that wasn't available in Gran Turismo. All the halo Japanese cars will go this way in the very short future I feel. I imagine an unmolested Supra twin turbo in manual will end up highest because of the Fast the the Furious movie too.

[marshall100]

• sigh*

That car for me is the sole object I require parked on my driveway. It goes all the way back to obtaining a Nissan skyline R32 in the picture below:



I would have been about 15 or 16 at the time, so I pre-date the GT generation as I recall endless days playing Mario kart on the snes in between charging batteries for our Tamiya RC cars. My mates dad had to do the paintwork as it was mental tricky, lucky for me he was Terry Pastor (google it, means a lot more to me now than it did at the time!), and I would frequently wince if the car became embroiled in any on track battles.

Fast forward a few years, and I'm searching for a new car for the wife, she's dead set on an MGF and I have to give in, though an R32 is muted and not completely dismissed citing that the R32 would only go up in value. I was right about the MG being worth buttons used, and the R32 going up as an asset, I'll park that in the armoury for a rainy day I think...
Anyway, few years later and I'm looking to import a car from Japan myself, and the 32 is once more just outside of my budget, so I settle on a very clean Evo 2 (which I had to almost give away in the end) but the skyline remains my ultimate prize. I was importing videogames from Japan and Hong Kong at the time, and in one of the boxes is a copy of Nissan Over Drivin GTR for the sega Saturn. Comes complete with a key ring in the shape of the head of the straight six engine:



I stopped trading years ago, however one of the few things I kept was that game and that key ring with the aim of uniting it with a key fob in the future.

Unless the value of a good used kidney is around £30k I'll just have to cling onto a lottery stub, weeping....

[PHMatt]

Massive historical value and cool kudo's etc etc etc etc.

However, on paper and on british roads, these would get spanked by far less exotic metal these days.

Even my X3 diesel is almost as powerful and with more torque.
Imagine what a Clio 200 Cup would do.

[Bladedancer]

PHMatt said:

Massive historical value and cool kudo's etc etc etc etc.

However, on paper and on british roads, these would get spanked by far less exotic metal these days.

Even my X3 diesel is almost as powerful and with more torque.
Imagine what a Clio 200 Cup would do.

Surely you're not serious?
X3 doesn't handle anywhere near like a GTR. Plus the x35d you inevitably refer to weights 1860kg, not to mention has a far higher center of gravity. In a straight line you might be able to hold your own against a GTR. As soon as a bend happens, you're gone.
Clio Cup 200 you say. Now if you said something sensible like Golf R or Focus RS and you might have been on the money.
But Clio 200? With 0-60 of what, almost 7 seconds? Nah.

Besides, you're comparing cars from the start of 90s with modern metal. With that reasoning Porsches and Fezzar would get spanked by far less exotic metal.
And that, like your comparison, proves nothing.

[marshall100]

PHMatt said:

Massive historical value and cool kudo's etc etc etc etc.

However, on paper and on british roads, these would get spanked by far less exotic metal these days.

Even my X3 diesel is almost as powerful and with more torque.
Imagine what a Clio 200 Cup would do.

Point completely missed, which is great as it helps to drive the values down.

One can at least hope so. Still, enjoy that X3 yeah?

[PHMatt]

Bladedancer said:

PHMatt said:

Massive historical value and cool kudo's etc etc etc etc.

However, on paper and on british roads, these would get spanked by far less exotic metal these days.

Even my X3 diesel is almost as powerful and with more torque.
Imagine what a Clio 200 Cup would do.

Surely you're not serious?
X3 doesn't handle anywhere near like a GTR. Plus the x35d you inevitably refer to weights 1860kg, not to mention has a far higher center of gravity. In a straight line you might be able to hold your own against a GTR. As soon as a bend happens, you're gone.
Clio Cup 200 you say. Now if you said something sensible like Golf R or Focus RS and you might have been on the money.
But Clio 200? With 0-60 of what, almost 7 seconds? Nah.

Besides, you're comparing cars from the start of 90s with modern metal. With that reasoning Porsches and Fezzar would get spanked by far less exotic metal.
And that, like your comparison, proves nothing.

I said the X3 was "almost as powerful"
I didn't say it was as fast nor did I say it would out handle it. FYI 30D (258bhp) 0-60 6.2s 35D (313bhp) 0-60 in mid 5's
435D - 0-60 is 4.7s
And a 435D would give a GTR a run for it's money - they're 4WD too now.