The Godzilla

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It all started back in 1984 when Nissan was a rock bottom. They had been struggling to sell cars for quite a while and were in dire need of a hit. It had all gone downhill since the gas crysis in the early 70s, when Japanese cars were seen as cheap and cheerful alternatives to the gas guzzling American cars. They had been adapting themselves to a changing market, but they had lost their way. They had been making cars that were uninspiring and bland. The Fairlady (or 280Z) was bloated and the Skyline was a shadow of its former self - unable to wear the GT-R badge anymore. There was nothing wrong with the cars, they just werent exciting enough to sell. Normally, a car company would respond to this by making a new car that would align with market trends, spend money on marketing and cut costs from exuberant things such as racing. But this story went down differently, because instead of following the stream, Nissan founded Nismo in 1984. A motorsport division that would focus on racing and performance. This was a bold move, see instead of cutting costs from racing, they doubled down on it. But in order to make racing a successful marketing strategy, you need to be cool and there is nothing more cool than winning. So Nismo was founded in order to produce a car that could win Nissan the reputation of being a cool car. A winners car. They were charged with the task of making world class race winning cars by 1990, an initiative they called the 901-movement. Not only were they deep in the hole, but for a brand new division to be given such a mandate was a tall order. But Nissan was desperate and Nismo was hungry. In 1986 Nissan debuted the R31, to the world of racing. It was a decent car, but it was not particularly special. It was the first car powered by the RB-series engine, the RB20DET, a 2.0L turbocharged inline-6 producing 212hp. The engine was good, but put in a rather basic boxy car, it proved to be a viable engine platform, but that the car itself needed change. Now they had what they needed, a foundation to build upon. Something good, but not great. It gave them a taste of blood and they went for the hunt. Over the following years they kept developing the RB engine platform, increasing displacement and power and in 1989 the first Nissan Skyline to wear the GT-R badge since 1973 was launched - the R32 GT-R. It featured the RB26DETT, a 2.6L twin-turbocharged inline-6 producing 320hp but limited to 276hp (the Japanese manufacturers gentleman's agreement limited power output to 276hp). The car itself was rather spartan in design and rather boxy in appearance which didnt exactly scream "supercar". The panels were made from aluminum to save weight and keep it within Group A homologation limits. But despite its modest looks (okay it did feature a rear wing, but nothing too crazy) the car was a force to be reckoned with. It featured the Attesa E-TS all-wheel-drive system and the Super-HICAS four-wheel steering system, which made it capable of distributing power to the wheels that had the most grip (not just front/rear, but left/right as well) and it made it incredibly agile in corners. The system was what set the car apart from its competition and along with the RB26DETT engine, it made the car a monster on the track. The This car set a lap time record at the Nürburgring Nordschleife of 8 minutes and 22 seconds at launch in 1989. It was a hint of what was to come. When the R32 GT-R entered Group A racing, it showed its true potential against cars such as the Ford Sierra RS500, the BMW M3 and the Mercedes 190E. The Sierra was both lighter and more powerful, but the GT-R proved to be in a different league. It won all 29 races it entered in the Japanese Touring Car Championship, taking the series title every year from 1990 to 1993. No matter where you went, the Skyline GT-R was unbeatable. A titan of racing almost ruining the sport and thus it earned the nickname "Godzilla" - the monster from Japan. Because of its dominance it was banned from Australian touring car racing, which formed the Aussie V8 supercar series instead. Nissan was far from done with the platform and kept evolving with the R33 in 1995 and the R34 in 1999. They improved the performance of the engine and fixed issues to improve reliability such as the oiling issue the R32 had - the surface where the crankshaft meets the oil pump was machined too small, which eventually lead to oil starvation and in turn engine failure if run for long at high RPM. They kept playing with the engine and its displacement, some as large as 3.0L, but with the Nismo 400R's release a 2.8L version was made producing 444 hp. The production of the R34 GT-R ended in 2002 and marked the end of the Godzilla era, but it had cemented its place in history and left a scar on the racing world that would never heal. Remember that Nissan built the Skyline GT-R (R32) to save the company from ruin. They were desperate and needed a win. Well, they got more than a win, they got a legend. A car that would go down in history as one of the greatest performance cars of all time. And of course as the motto goes "Win on Sunday, sell on Monday", the GT-R was a sales success as well.