Friday 10th October 2014

Calsonic R32 Skyline GT-R: Pic Of The Week

Godzilla! That most iconic of GT-Rs, spruced and framed for your desktop's benefit

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You may have seen across social media this week PH has a MY2014 Nissan GT-R on test. It seemed like the ideal time to try the R35 once more; with the NISMO's arrival it frees up a little room for the 'standard' car to be come a little less extreme. Just how the latest range of facelift tweaks manifest themselves on the road will be discovered soon.

And the latest in the dynasty

But any mention of a Nissan GT-R presents an opportunity to delve into the archives for something R32, 33 or 34 related. And where better to venture then back to the beginning of turbo'd GT-Rs?

Even Nissan refers to the Calsonic Skyline R32 GT-R as Godzilla. It was phenomenally successful, taking 29 wins from 29 starts in Japanese touring cars. For Western gamers it's of course a Gran Turismo icon as well.

Typically studio shots can be a little staid but such is the aura of this car it doesn't need a fancy backdrop. See those wheels rammed right up in the arches, the Bridgestone slicks showing just a bit of wear on the sidewall. The big side exit pipes with the heat shield to protect the sill from escaping flames. The cage, the solitary Recaro and the red harnesses beckoning the driver in. All wrapped in what has become a completely iconic livery.

The R35 is a different car to the R32 GT-R but the unrelenting focus and sense of purpose has remained throughout the generations. Long may it continue.

Traditional (4:3)
Computer widescreen (16:10)
TV widescreen (16:9)
Portrait (smartphone, etc)

[soad]

Group A Monster!

[CrisW]

Excellent pics thanks!

[soad]

[Cable]

[jamespink]

29 wins out of 29 starts! Set the pace then... I love that you can get involved in all this turbo boost loveliness for £3k or so. A work colleague has just bought a '95 R33 turning out 350+ bhp... Quite fun!

[PZR]

jamespink said:

29 wins out of 29 starts!

That's for the Gr.A R32s in Japan during the 1990/1/2/3 JTC seasons, rather than just the Calsonic/IMPUL sponsored car(s).

[Matt Bird]

PZR said:

That's for the Gr.A R32s in Japan during the 1990/1/2/3 JTC seasons, rather than just the Calsonic/IMPUL sponsored car(s).

My apologies, I didn't know that. Just went straight from the Nissan video. Cheeky monkeys...


Matt

[PZR]

Matt Bird said:

My apologies, I didn't know that. Just went straight from the Nissan video. Cheeky monkeys...


Matt

Ah yes, I see how that could be misleading. Never trust the publicity department! The person who wrote that probably wasn't even born in 1990...

What they mean is that it was 29 for 29 for the type (the Gr.A BNR32) in the '90~'93 JTC, and not just for the Calsonic/IMPUL cars. The Calsonic/IMPUL cars were dominant (Works favouritism...) but didn't win every round.

And for the record, I never heard or read the Japanese calling the Gr.A BNR32 'Godzilla' in period. I was at many of those '90~'93 JTC races, and never heard the term used. It was an Australian thing referring to the Australian Gr.A cars, and coined by the press of the period as far as I'm aware.

[anonymous-user]

jamespink said:

29 wins out of 29 starts! Set the pace then... I love that you can get involved in all this turbo boost loveliness for £3k or so. A work colleague has just bought a '95 R33 turning out 350+ bhp... Quite fun!

Not really. Sure, 3k or would get you a usable R32 GTS-T what would look similar and would be turbocharged but that's about it.

Good, non rusty GTRs seem to be easy £8k+ territory, and will be going up as they become legal in the US market.

[soad]

R32 GT-R (NISMO edition), makes me want one of those.

[dvs_dave]

Have a bit of an itch to scratch with these. The 500 homologation versions (GT-R Nismo) produced for these racers are fairly affordable and definite collector cars. They'll also soon be able to be imported into the US without restrictions once they hit 25 years old.

[soad]

dvs_dave said:

Have a bit of an itch to scratch with these. The 500 homologation versions (GT-R Nismo) produced for these racers are fairly affordable and definite collector cars. They'll also soon be able to be imported into the US without restrictions once they hit 25 years old.

Prices are bound to shoot up skywards.

[Matt Bird]

soad said:

dvs_dave said:

Have a bit of an itch to scratch with these. The 500 homologation versions (GT-R Nismo) produced for these racers are fairly affordable and definite collector cars. They'll also soon be able to be imported into the US without restrictions once they hit 25 years old.

Prices are bound to shoot up skywards.

You mean like this one?

http://www.pistonheads.com/news/default.asp?storyI...

Have to agree, they're surely only going one way. Love it!

[Andy616]

Epic car. Love the way it sits with all that camber on the front.

[soad]

Matt Bird said:

You mean like this one?

http://www.pistonheads.com/news/default.asp?storyI...

Have to agree, they're surely only going one way. Love it!

Yes, that's the one.

[big_rob_sydney]

Growing up in Aus, I saw this smash everything into the weeds. Dominant, dominant platform.

I would dearly love to park a Winfield Racing liveried car in my dream garage.

Beautiful. Purposeful.

[daytona365]

Would love even the cooking version of one of these, but which one ? They made such a bewildering array of models and sub models, and that's not even considering if it's been modified or not, seems most have, but how would you know for sure ?!

[daytona365]

There's a super looking Calsonic replica with 510bhp on ebay right now for 10,250gbp.

[soad]

daytona365 said:

There's a super looking Calsonic replica with 510bhp on ebay right now for 10,250gbp.

Good job I'm not drunk yet.

[blearyeyedboy]

Matt Bird said:

PZR said:

That's for the Gr.A R32s in Japan during the 1990/1/2/3 JTC seasons, rather than just the Calsonic/IMPUL sponsored car(s).

My apologies, I didn't know that. Just went straight from the Nissan video. Cheeky monkeys...

Tsk. You need to read the Car Information screens on GT6 more often.