Nissan Pulsar GTI-R | Spotted
The homologation hot hatch that time forgot, yours for £15k
Just when it seemed like both manufacturers and buyers had lost their enthusiasm for the homologation special, so emerged the GR Yaris. Toyota wanted to make the most of its rallying exploits and customers have been only too keen to embrace that. There's quite a wait to deal with now for those ordering a new one...
But, really, the enthusiasm shouldn't have been a surprise. The Group A homologation cars like the Impreza and Evo were loved over here because they were compact, fast, tough - and four-wheel drive suited British buyers down to the ground. With British roads no bigger (and the weather no drier) 25 years later, the enduring popularity makes total sense.
Inevitably the success of the almighty Yaris has refocused attention on those old cars; and, well, made us all realise how expensive they now are. Legendary though it may be, this Tommi Makinen Evo VI is for sale at £75,000. And there's no way you're going to drive an Evo like it's meant to be driven when it's worth that much. So, what's the point?
Help is at hand, however. Those after a hot hatch designed to excel in the heat of competition, one with motorsport provenance, prodigious turbocharged performance, a manual gearbox and a clever four-wheel-drive chassis should look to Nissan. Remember the Pulsar GTI-R? Like the Yaris now, it was derived from a very humdrum hatchback, yet boasted remarkable performance. Indeed, this 1990s Nissan is about as fast as the new Toyota; 230hp from the 2.0-litre SR20DET meant a claimed 0-62mph of 5.4 seconds and 144mph flat out. The GR is rated at 5.5 seconds and 143mph...
Sadly, the Pulsar didn't achieve the rallying success that Nissan had hoped for it, with a best result a third at Sweden in 1992. Moreover, the quirky little hatchback was odd-looking even by the standards of road-going rally cars - that bonnet really is how they all were - and expensive, too, costing £20k back in the early 1990s.
Finding a Sunny GTI-R (as they were called in the UK) is fiendishly difficult nowadays. But the odd Pulsar GTI-R from Japan does occasionally surface, and that's exactly what's on offer here. Just imported and somehow having only ever covered 63,000 miles with one owner (in almost 30 years) it looks a fantastic example. Or, to most people, a dodgy bodykit on a boring old Nissan, but what do most people know?
The Pulsar's - how to be polite - sub-icon status and dorky look does at least mean it's affordable for those after a homologation curio. This one is up for £15k, which doesn't seem a great deal for a rally rep in such immaculate condition. Certainly that won't buy you an Impreza, Evo, Escort Cossie or Delta Integrale that's quite so nice, and it's less than half what a Yaris costs. For something just as fast, don't forget; keeping up with everyone's favourite hot hatch (in a straight line, at least) with the weird old Nissan might just be worth the asking price alone.
SPECIFICATION | NISSAN PULSAR GTI-R
Engine: 1,998cc, 4-cyl turbo
Transmission: 5-speed manual, all-wheel drive
Power (hp): 230@6,400rpm
Torque (lb ft): 197@4,800rpm
MPG: N/A
CO2: 279g/km
First registered: 1993
Recorded mileage: 63,000
Price new: £20,552 (UK)
Yours for: £14,995
Fantastic fun though, I regret selling it. I found out through Facebook that years later it suffered a head gasket failure and rather than simply fix it the owner at the time scrapped it
Of course looking at it now I wonder how real that view was? I've never driven one and I rather suspect I would find it rather lovely, but the impact of group tests etc. could have a big impression on the value one would associate with vehicles decades later perhaps, rightly or wrongly.
I bet the road car was great fun.
that last driver now has a Yaris GR and loving it.
I've always loved these, and I really liked how quick they were for something that looked so ordinary. I had a bit of fun with a highly tuned up one when I had my S14a 200SX(running about 250bhp), he absolutely left me for dead in it...and that just made me want one even more!
I've always loved these, and I really liked how quick they were for something that looked so ordinary. I had a bit of fun with a highly tuned up one when I had my S14a 200SX(running about 250bhp), he absolutely left me for dead in it...and that just made me want one even more!
£20,552 in 1993 is the equivalent of about £43k in 2020, so the Sunny would sit above the usual raft of hot hatches today (Golf R, Type-R, A35, Yaris) and would be knocking on the door of the real top end stuff like the RS3.
I know, usual arguments about salaries not matching inflation etc., but I think people still forget that many of the old hatches from the 90s were really stupendously expensive at the time.
I vividly remember as a young 12-13 year old being dropped to football training by a friends dad who had one of these with around 400bhp.
We were 4 up in the car racing a superbike over a local flyover and the car was my first experience of being in something with that kind of power, it was rapid and we were stuck to the superbike like glue.
The car was tuned with HKS parts and looked completely stock from the outside bar the intercooler. He sold it to a lady many years ago and i have never seen one as clean as that since.
With only a small adjustment you could get 300bhp out of it which the standard ECU coped with. With that it was ballistic and very point and squirt.
The engine was fantastic with individual throttle butterflies and felt it felt unburstable. Mine didn't have any transmission problems, though the import ones did suffer rust on the rear arches. The wheels were naff and it looked so much better with decent wheels and tyres. Mine was red with white OZ wheels - loved it.
I regret selling and wish I still had it.
that last driver now has a Yaris GR and loving it.
I've always wanted a stock, unmolested one as a runabout. Alas, the days of them being 2-4k are gone.
Vents on the side of the front bumper look aftermarket though - don’t remember seeing them before.
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