Godzilla Resurrected
One of the new cars available in the Project Gotham Racing® 3 "Speed Pack" downloadable content is the Nissan Skyline. Find out what made this car a monstrous legend in it's own right...
A Cult Classic
Many Americans don’t know that there is a non-American-made muscle car to beat all muscle cars. In the late eighties, the Nissan Skyline GT-R took the racing community by storm. The all-wheel drive, turbo-charged 2.6 liter engine dominated Class A racing to the extent that it was banned from the category and had to have a category unto itself. This colossal brute inspired Wheels magazine to dub this monster of a car "Godzilla." Similar to its namesake, Godzilla grew to massive pop-culture proportions because of its size, power, and relative inaccessibility (Japan never officially exported this car to the U.S.).
A Not-So-Brief History
The original Nissan Skyline was built in 1957 by the Prince Motor Company with a 4-cylinder, 1.5 liter engine. Around this time, the Japanese Government suggested that automotive companies merge to remain competitive, and independent, in the automotive market. Hence, Prince and Datsun merged, and eventually decided to drop the Datsun name in favor of Nissan. In fact, the original Skylines were Prince Skylines, and in the late fifties some even carried the Datsun moniker.
From its debut, the Skyline has undergone several model iterations (including a five-door van) and numerous alphabet-inspired naming structures, such as ALSI 1, S50-E, and the 2000GT, just to name a few.
In 1964, the idea to bring the Skyline to the Grand Touring racetrack was brought to fruition with the Skyline 2000GT. Historically, the Grand Touring (GT) racecars were production cars that had little or no modifications before hitting the racetrack tarmac, whereas the Grand Touring 1 cars (GTS) were souped-up production line vehicles built specifically to perform on the track. Therefore, the Skyline 2000GT was built with racing in mind, but with the profitability and comfort of a family sedan taken into consideration.
In 1969, the first Nissan Skyline GT-R was released due to popular consumer demand for more power and speed. The GT-R boasted a 2-liter, 160 hp engine. In the early seventies, the 2-door version blew away the GT competition, including the Porsche 911, the Skyline’s former racing nemesis.
The Skyline GT-R probably would have continued to dominate touring class racing, but then the late seventies happened. As if saddling us with bad fashion, synthesized music, and roller disco weren’t enough, this bad hair day LP also besieged us with soaring gas and oil prices that were unrealistic for the large family station wagons and sedans popular for the times. Alas, the Skyline needed to be retooled yet again to accommodate emissions restrictions and the gas crises, so Nissan kissed the GT-R goodbye (the first time). Subsequent Skyline models were made, but the GT-R did not make a comeback until 1989, only to fade away once again in 2003.
Godzilla Reanimated
This brings us to the present date and Nissan has decided to redesign the Skyline GT-R one last time (so they say) as the Skyline GT-R Z-tune. Since the last Skyline GT-Rs were made in 2003, Nissan actually had NISMO, the performance branch of the company, track down and buy back 20 used Skyline R34 GT-Rs. The team set the highest standards for their search—each car had to have less than 18,000 miles on it and little or no body damage. Even so, the cars were stripped down to the bare bones metal and transformed into the limited edition Skyline GT-R Z-tune. The Z-tune comprises an RB 26DETT Modified Z2 500 hp engine, with fortified chassis suspension and drivetrain. For maximum handling effectiveness, the brakes are specially tuned to accompany the increase in engine power, and work in tandem with the all wheel drive system.
There you have it. Godzilla is indeed resurrected. If King Kong can make a comeback in the form of a Peter Jackson movie, Godzilla isn’t about to sit back and let the big ape have all the glory. If you have the means, you can pick up one of the limited edition Z-tunes to the tune of $170,000. Or, you can wait until 2007 and opt for the upcoming de-tuned GT-R for $80,000. With 480 hp twin-turbo 3.2-liter V6 engine, it’s a helluva deal.