Nobody needs reminding of how painfully expensive R34 Nissan Skyline GT-Rs have become. Values have been heading upwards for quite some time now, and now the R34’s eligible for import in the US, hitting its all-important 25th birthday last year, meaning there’s little chance the RB26-powered GT-R will become more attainable any time soon.
There are, however, lots of ways to get your hands on an R34 by going down the ‘Gozilla-lite’ path, namely with the single-turbo’d GT-T, although a good chunk of them have been hacked into GT-R replicas with varying degrees of success. You’ll also find a few curiosities outside of the GT-R club, including the very rare R34 saloon that can be had with the same RB25 running gear as the aforementioned GT-T. A Skyline estate never came to be, but the car we have here, the Nissan Stagea RS Four, is the closest you’ll get to one.
Okay, granted: the Stagea wasn’t technically an R34 with a bigger boot, rather it shared most of its underpinnings with the previous R33 Skyline. However, all-wheel drive versions like this one gain the multi-link rear suspension from the R34, so it’s not as if it’s totally unrelated. Besides, the main reason why it’s considered the unofficial R34 wagon is simply because it shares a similar look to the tenth-generation Skyline. Slap on the bumpers and lights from that era’s GT-R, as many have, and you get an R34 estate that looks as if it’s come straight from the factory.
It even came with a decent crop of engines, too, all of which were straight sixes. The RS Four here was one of the more powerful offerings, packing the same 2.5-litre RB25DET shared with the Skyline GTT and matching the 280hp limit agreed on by Japanese car manufacturers at the time. While it’s not the full-fat GTR motor, which was available in the much rarer Autech version, the RB25 is still a hugely tuneable engine with only a handful of mods unlocking an extra couple of horsepower. It’ll also be compatible with a bunch of parts from the R33 and R34 GT-Rs, not to mention all the high-end gear available from the Japanese aftermarket.
Or, you know, you could leave it be, as the previous owners of this Stagea have. This particular car is the facelifted ‘S2’ model, the main differences being tweaked bumpers and lights, as well as the introduction of a four-speed automatic, which this car comes fitted with. Yes, a five-speed manual was offered and that’ll be a sticking point for some, but this is a big old family estate at the end of the day. It’ll go like a GT-R in a straight line, but is probably better suited to a slightly more sedate life.
That said, it’s still going strong after two decades and 101,000 miles of use. Originally sold in Japan (we never got them here, annoyingly), this Stagea made its way over to the UK in 2016 with plenty of invoices documenting its nine years in the country, including a recent full service. So it’s ready to roll, and will certainly be a novel sight at all manner of car shows and meets - even the JDM ones. We’ll find out how much it’s worth when the hammer falls in a couple of weeks time, but if that’s too long a wait you could always make an offer to the seller. Given how rare and popular these big Japanese wagons are, you can be sure the bids will come flooding in when the auction opens next week. Wallet’s at the ready, folks.
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