Jalopnik: 1991 Skyline GT-R

Godzillas, Geishas And Organized Crime: 0-60 Delves Into Motorex

Wes Siler — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 16:30:00 EDT

Before there was the 2009 Nissan GT-R there was the Skyline, and if you wanted one in this country you had to go through an importer called Motorex. The problem was, the company didn't do what it was supposed to: import cars, convert them to DOT spec and then deliver them to customers. Sure, some cars got delivered, some cars even got converted, but most failed to do either. Until now, the full details of the Skyline's disastrous entry into the US market were the stuff of Internet legend. Now, thanks to 0-60, we know the facts behind the Motorex's myth, the government investigation and the repossessed cars. Check out the feature in the magazine's summer issue, available now. [0-60]

Project Car Hell: R33 Skyline GT-R or Aston Martin Lagonda?

Murilee Martin — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:20:00 EDT

Perhaps it was the terrifying rust coupled with warrior heritage, but somehow an American Hell Project managed to beat an obscure Warsaw Pact convertible in yesterday's Choose Your Eternity poll. Actually, it was a near-tie, but still a triumph for the red-white-and-blue over the, uh, blue-white-and-red. Today we're going to up the price of admission to the Gates Of Project Car Hell, though we've found a couple of high-buck cars available at (what ought to be) reasonable prices. Will you go with Late Malaise British super-luxury or Mangled Super Tokyo Hoonage? It's up to you: buy now, repent at agonizing leisure!

You want a genuine right-hand-drive, straight-from-Japan R33 Skyline GT-R, don't you? Of course you do! A 250-horse twin-turbocharged 2.6 six (which is eager to be boosted up to ridiculous power numbers using off-the-shelf components and well-known tuning tricks), all-wheel-drive, and JDM-only prestige that will leave jaws dropping in your wake. You could take your rapidly-eroding dollars and attempt to put together enough yen to get one shipped over from Japan... or you could buy this 1996 Skyline GT-R (go here if the ad disappears) right here in California! No, you're not allowed to buy it just for the RB25DETT engine (although we'd certainly approve of a Honey Bee B210 with such a powerplant)- you need to fix this car! We don't know how much the seller wants for it, but you can tell by his tone ("Don't waste my time. Serious buyers only!") that he or she means business. It's only got 10,000 kilometers on the clock, so the question is: was it hooned to death and wrecked in Japan, or was it hooned to death and wrecked over here? You'll have plenty of time to contemplate that question as you deal with layer after layer of state and federal bureaucrats, all of whom will disapprove strongly of the idea of you registering your Skyline for street use in North America, and all of whom will treat the car's sketchy lien-sale paperwork as being moderately radioactive. Oh yeah, the seller can't say whether it runs or not! Thanks to Jonee for the tip.

The last time we saw a Lagonda in this series, it stomped an Alfa Romeo Giulietta into a heap of rusty scrap metal in the poll. We thought maybe we'd save this '83 Lagonda to do battle with a Citroën, but then figured the horror of registering the Skyline, coupled with undeniable coolness, likely puts it on the same level as the Aston Martin. The best thing about this Lagonda is that it has the full-on electronic dash, which makes ordinary Lucas Electrics look downright bulletproof. And you know how much its price tag was in 1983? $150,000, which seems utter lunacy even before you convert it to the 2008 inflation-adjusted figure of $323,529. This car's auction has no reserve and is currently bid up to just $4,000; we may be looking at the ultimate in car-value depreciation here... which is bad news for the seller, but great news for you! Now, those of you who don't know Malaise Era British cars may be scoffing at the idea of this beautiful, fully-functional Aston Martin as a "project" car, but we guarantee it was a Hell Project the moment it left the assembly line (if not before then). You'll be lucky to get it up your driveway and soon-to-be sulfurous garage under its own power (four carburetors on a British DOHC smog V8- cue evil laughter). Thanks to UDMan for yet another great tip!

Taking A Spin In A JDM Nissan Skyline

Mark Arnold — Fri, 09 May 2008 12:30:00 EDT

The new Nissan GT-R may be stirring up a lot of hype, but before the R35, Skyline lovers on this continent had to have their cars independently imported. The problem is, since the gray-market heyday of the '80s, the American import laws have been pretty dang strict. So, we decided to make our way up to Toronto, to check out how hoons in great white north do things. This particular operation, ONI JDM, has brought in everything from kei cars to fully-modded RX-7s, Supras, and of course Skylines. They offered to take us for a ride in their drift-spec R32 Nissan Skyline, so we bolted down the video camera and strapped ourselves in.

As you can see, the Skyline was far from stock. It started life as an R32 GTS-T, but now it's powered by a RB26 from an R33 GT-R. The ride feels brutal at first, but you quickly adjust your mindset as your expectations realize that this is a full-on stripped-out racer capable of running in the highest level of drift competition. You may think it sounds loud in the video, but that was with the silencer on, something that comes off when it hits the track.

While the shop at ONI JDM isn't particularly big, you get the sense that the business is an extension of the guys' passion. Take the guy that gave me a drive in the R32, he worked as a mechanic during the week, but was a racer and drifter on the weekends. Now, I know that many of us here at Jalopnik aren't necessarily into the tuner scene, but you've gotta admire that dual-purpose spirit of racing on Sunday then wrenching on Monday.

So, despite the free health care, we've discovered the first real reason to move to Canada: awesome JDM rides.

[Check out their website at: ONIJDM.com]

2009 Nissan GT-R Spotted Prowling For Wolverines

Ben Wojdyla — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 16:20:00 EDT

Despite the fabulous camera phone quality of these photos, the visage of Zingerman's Roadhouse behind this 2009 Nissan GT-R is undeniable proof Godzilla is stalking the streets of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Nissan has a development facility in the area, so it's not entirely surprising to see the beast from the far east there, but nonetheless, it's the first we've seen on the road in the mitten state. The only other reason for it to be in the area we can think of is to impress all those University of Michigan engineering students. Right, students. (Thanks for the pics Skyler)

New Screenshots Appear of Midnight Club: Los Angeles

Travis Hudson — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 13:30:00 EDT

We heard about the release date yesterday, but today we've stumbled upon some of the screenshots from the latest addition to the Midnight Club series. These screenshots feature the likes of the Nissan R34 Skyline GT-R, Saleen S302 Extreme and S7, Dodge Challenger SRT8, 2010 Chevy Camaro and a 2008 Cadillac CTS even appears blurry in the background. Wow, that's quite the repertoire of drivable vehicles in the open-world racing game.

[via Rockstar Games]

Thief Fingered By Canadian Car Forum Still Needs One More

John Krewson — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 01:14:27 EDT

Take note: You do not mess with the motorheads at Beyond.ca unless you want 46,000 righteously angry, resourceful, and tech-savvy Canadians on the lookout for you. This is especially true if you're an easily recognizable eight-fingered stoner who's too stupid to stash one of the more visible and distinctive cars in Calgary. Before long you'll have an unflattering new nickname and a target on your back that — thanks to Google Maps — is almost literally visible from orbit.

Seems the car thief in question showed up to test-drive Shaun Ironside's car, a right-hand-drive 1991 JDM Skyline GT-R — not exactly a low-profile ride — and never came back. Now it so happens that Ironside, in addition to being a clever enough fellow to get a JDM Skyline into Calgary, was plenty observant enough to notice that the Albertan Einstein in question had only eight fingers, and resourceful enough to post his description on the Beyond.ca forums. After that, it was only a matter of time until his eventual capture, which while merely the dénouement of the epic, is still very satisfying. [Wired, YouTube]

JDM Nissan R35 GT-R Can Be Yours For $96,000

Mark Arnold — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 13:45:00 EDT

Want a new Nissan GT-R, but you don't want to wait around to take delivery of an "officially" imported model? Well you're in luck, because we've found a 2007 JDM model for sale that's ready to be exported from Japan to your local shipping yard. The asking price? 9,585,000 yen; the equivalent of about $96,000. Now if you're in the good ol' USofA, that's alot of money for a right-hand-drive car that you can't legally register for the street. Sure, you might be able to use it as a trackday toy, but the point of the big Nissan is that it offers incredible performance in a package you can use as everyday transportation. So unless you're an aftermarket tuning company looking for a test vehicle, this just isn't a logical purchase.

But who cares about logic? We want this. We want it so we can tease the drooling fanboys. We want it so we can pull up to the McDonald's window in reverse. We want it so we can give out rides to confused old folks from the retirement home. We want it so we can get pulled over by a local officer who has no idea that the car is illegal. We want to drift it, race it, and jump it. We want it because it'd be stupid to buy one.
[J's Garage Export]

Nissan GT-R R35 is Huge Compared To R34

Ben Wojdyla — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 15:45:00 EST

We knew the new Nissan GT-R (R35) was big, but putting it next to the last generation Nissan Skyline GT-R (R34) makes it look like a hulking behemoth. One would think the magic of perspective would slim it down so as to not look so porky, but the distance only seems to inflate the size. This is like one of those impossible reality drawings that make our brains hurt. From this angle it almost looks like one Godzilla is preparing to eat the other Godzilla.