NISMO celebrates 40 memorable years

Nissan Motorsport was first established in September 1984 - it's been quite a ride

If off the radar a little for the past few years, NISMO still ranks as one of the all-time great Japanese performance offshoots. So it’s only right that with yesterday marking the big 4-0 - Nissan Motorsport International Co. Limited was established on September 17th, 1984 - Nissan is indulging in a little bit of anniversary reminiscing. NISMO’s good old days really were pretty great.

Nissan says the division has been ‘the driving force behind some of Nissan’s most exhilarating vehicles and motorsport pursuits’. There's no doubting that. NISMO at the end of the '80s and beginning of the '90s could seemingly do no wrong, the Skyline GT-R road and race models totally resetting the bar for all-wheel drive on and off the track. And while the Group C era didn’t yield a Le Mans win, the cars - from R85 in 1986 to R92 in 1992 - remain much loved to this day, and racked up plenty of notable race wins during the period. Arguably when you think of NISMO’s heyday, it’s those wildly powerful sportscars and Godzilla that’s thought of.

But as far as public awareness goes, the latter part of the decade and the early years of the 21st century were hugely significant for NISMO. Because while the R390 GT1 programme is interesting and moderately successful, the big development is Gran Turismo - opening up a world of Japanese specials to gamers across the globe.

And when NISMO did road cars back then, there were no half measures employed: the 270R was the holy grail of S14 Silvias and is hugely collectible, boosting power to 270hp with increased compression, new cams and better injectors, as well as chassis revisions. The 400R did the same for the R33 Skyline GT-R at a similar time, with the hallowed 2.8-litre RB-X straight six turbo - the final one sold for £700,000 in 2023. The 1994 270R and 1995 400R were in the game before the decade was out, and must have helped play a part in their cult appeal.

We can’t talk about NISMO road cars without mentioning the Z Tune, either. At the time, it seemed like this R34 GT-R-based model might be the last of its kind, because the Skyline’s future was unknown in the early '00s. Appropriately enough it marked the 20th anniversary of NISMO, requiring low mileage R34s to be bought by (or donated to) NISMO because production had already ended by 2004. They then spent a stupendous amount upgrading it to Z-Tune spec, with 500hp, a carbon prop, Sachs dampers, reinforced chassis and Rays wheels, among other things. UK media scoffed at the £85k price back then; now it’s heading towards a million.

While subsequent NISMO Nissans have been less exotic and more numerous, those offered to the UK have not been without their appeal (if we discount the Juke). The 370Z was certainly enlivened with some extra power and a chassis overhaul, while the flagship R35 GT-R remains one of the most exciting all-wheel drive fast cars ever made. Anyone who’s ever suggested those cars do everything for you certainly wasn’t behind the wheel of a 600hp NISMO.

That’s the long story cut very, very short - safe to say NISMO has created some superb cars for road and track over the past 40 years. To mark the occasion, there’s a collection of greatest hits on display at Nissan’s Global HQ in Yokohama, including an R390 GT1 that was on the Le Mans podium, the R91CP that triumphed at Daytona, both the 270R and 400R plus an all-conquering Group A GT-R. What a distraction from work they’re going to be. Expect this year’s NISMO festival at Fuji to be extra special, too.

Takao Katagiri, Nissan’s head of global motorsport, added: “Our aim is to deliver exhilaration for fans at the circuit and embed the learnings from the racetrack, into products customers can buy. Our long-term goal is to progressively expand our business globally, delivering more exciting NISMO models to customers around the world.” That begins with cars like the Ariya NISMO; perhaps not as exciting as some of its illustrious predecessors, but nobody needs reminding of how important the fast SUV is these days.

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