1994 Nissan Skyline-R R32 GTR V-Spec II

The Nissan Skyline's legacy traces its humble origins back to 1957, when the Prince Motor Company offered the 'Skyline' model as a small family saloon, prior to the eventual merger of Datsun and Nissan motor companies. The 2000 GT-B, introduced in 1964, brought notable success in the motor racing arena. Advancements in design and mechanical specification were quickly intertwined with the production cars, leading to the introduction of the first Skyline GT-R in 1968. Its 2.0-liter engine offered 160 horsepower and was backed by a five-speed manual gearbox. A second generation GT-R arrived in 1973, but due to the oil crisis it entered a market that shunned high-performance cars, thus sales were poor and just 197 examples were built before Nissan decided to retire the GT-R moniker.

The GT-R name lay dormant for sixteen years before it made a glorious return, with the introduction of the third generation of the model, the R32. Following in the footsteps of its forefathers, it came equipped with a 2.6-liter 6-cylinder DOHC engine enhanced with twin turbochargers and the most advanced electronic gadgetry available, along with a multi-link suspension, all-wheel steering, and four-wheel drive. The R32 quickly proved its competitive prowess by winning the Spa 24 hours, Bathurst 1000kms and in multiple Japanese Championships.

The third generation of the Nissan Skyline GT-R was produced from August 1989 through November 1994 with 43,937 examples produced. The 'R32' name was in reference to the E-BNR32 chassis which had been designed for Group A class racing. With its 2,60cc displacement size, the car competed in the 4,500cc class which allowed for 11-inch wide tires. In racing guise, the engine offered between 500 and 650 horsepower. The road-going version developed 276 horsepower at 6,800 and 260 lb-ft of torque at 4,400 RPM.

The Skyline GT-R Nismo was introduced on February 22nd of 1990 and built to homologate several performance features for Group A competition. Nissan built an additional 60 examples above the required 500 units, bringing the total to 560. Among the upgrades was the removal of ABS (which was not legal in Group A) and the rear wiper, aluminum hood and front panels, a hood lip spoiler, deeper rear spats, an additional boot lip spoiler, and two additional ducts in the front bumper. The protective honeycomb mesh was removed from the front to allow more air to flow into the intercooler. These changes reduced the weight of the GT-R Nismo by approximately 70 pounds over the standard GT-R. They received Bridgestone RE71 in 225/55R16 fitted to 16-inch alloy, and the standard Garrett T03 turbochargers were replaced with larger T04B models. The only color option was KH2 'Gun Grey Metallic' and a 'Nismo' logo was placed on the boot lip. Since the radio was optional, there were no radio tuning controls on the dashboard console. Other optional equipment included 17-inch alloy wheels, a rear spoiler with a built-in third brake light, 3-inch cat-back exhaust system, a 260 km/h speedometer, sports shock absorbers, and a front suspension tower brace.

In mid-July of 1991, the Nissan Skyline GT-R 'N1' model was introduced and was specifically designed for home-market N1 racing. Of the 245 examples produced, 118 of these were N1, 64 were V-Spec N1, and 63 were V-spec II N1. These versions lacked ABS, a rear wiper, and all versions except for the N1 lacked boot carpeting, a sound system, and air conditioning. All N1 cars wore a thin layer of color code 326 'Crystal White' paint and were powered by an R32-N1 specification engine.

The Skyline GT-R V-Spec (for 'Victory SPECification') was introduced on February 3rd of 1993. These came equipped with a retuned ATTESA E-TS system, Brembo disc brakes, 17-inch BBS wheels with 225/45R17 tires, and aluminum hood and bumpers from the 'Nismo'. Two versions were offered including the 'plain' and 'N1' versions.

The Skyline GT-R Spec II arrived on February 14th of 1994 and came with wider 245/45R17 tires. Nissan produced 1,396 examples of the V-Spec and 1,306 of the Spec II.

by Daniel Vaughan | Oct 2021