Not many people know this but in Spain there was also an R32 racing on the Spanish Touring Series. Probably as iconic (or even more) as it ran with the Repsol livery. The driver was the ex Formula 1 local driver Luis Perez Sala.
It can't be underestimated how important the Australian racing GT-Rs were in the early 90s, because while they're probably not the most well known, the Aussie versions were next level compared to the Japanese versions. Just some fun facts, the team boss of the team running them in Australia had said one time that the Japanese versions would've never won in Australia, so they completely re-engineered basically almost the whole car to become the real godzilla we know today (suspension, wheels, gearbox, clutch, engine, even the cylinder blocks) and could make 700bhp in quali mode. Apparently Nismo got annoyed that the Australian team weren't using their parts, but the Australian manufactured versions were much cheaper and way better in comparison. Also to add to how much better the Aussie GT-R was than the Japanese version, when they received offers to compete in the Fuji 500 and the Macau GP’s touring car race, Nismo vetoed the idea because they knew their version was inferior. A Japanese team that were able to enter even looked into buying an Aussie GT-R to use, but Nismo once again blocked that. Truly a revolutionary bit of machinery was godzilla....
Pretty sure the Nismo boss left Australia with a container full of bits and definitely had holingers phone number written down lol . It must have been a huge kick in the guts for Gary Rogers being blackmailed into not taking the cars overseas . Jim Richards had one of the gtrs at speed on Tweed once , he told me they were good for 780hp in qualifying mode . That's insane for the time . Another interesting thing about that time in the atcc was that more than a few people regarded Dicks Sierra's to be the fastest in the world. The lengths they went to , to beat those Commodores haha
Aussie media name it as such.. Godzilla.. gibson motorsport did a fantastic job.. not nismo… there’s rumours of nismo packed oem stuff.. but was custom made..
Was present at 91 round at Pukekohe NZ...Had Beta Cam with time coded audio pack with mate on boom mic. We must of looked the part as got into pits, got footage under, in Richards/Skaife GTR during pitstops..Saw one at last ever round few weeks ago..best sounding out of all the older tourers 😃
I always imagined Nissan looked at the Porsche 959 while developing the GT-R R32. In the same way the 959 became Porsche's benchmark for future 911s, the R32 became the halo car Nissan so badly needed to revive the Skyline. Funny how in 1989, Porsche also released the 911 Carrera 4, bringing their AWD system to the 911. This is a small world, when you think about it! Also congrats on 9k! You're doing justice to these cars man.
The GTR might not look like a traditional supercar, but the 959 really was the closest (road car) to it on track. As you say its not surprising there was a link. Also, thanks!
Good video. As an aside, the Australian Group A GT-R's were largely re-engineered by Gibson Motorsport who ran the Nissan Motorsport team here in Australia; its was NISMO in unofficial name only. So much work was done that the cars were putting out over 700bhp in qualifying trim, and the ATTESA and HICAS systems were largely ditched. Instead, the AWD system was switchable from the drivers cockpit. The Gibson cars were so fast, the legend goes that Nissan politely asked them not to go to Japan to compete at the Fuji 500, out of worry that the local teams would be soundly beaten. I actually remember watching the Group A races of the era; the R31 raced alongside the R32 for a couple of meetings before both drivers got R32's; Jim Richards and Mark Skaife (who did the development) started destroying the Ford Sierras, BMW M3's and Holden Commodores. The uproar from the press and other drivers was stark; the GT-R virtually killed Group A in Australia and directly led to the V8 Supercars era.
The decision to move to a new formula to replace Group A in Australia was made before the GTR had won its first race. Although at the time it was not clear what that formula might be. Also worth noting that the RS500 had a greater starts to win percentage in the ATCC (from '88 to '92) than the GTR did from '90 to '92.
How can you race an AWD vehicle with two wheel drive in the same class. I love the GTR but it’s AWD was the key factor in its wins against the Cosworth Sierras and the Commodores in the Australian group A racing.
@@zoranm6432 Back in the nineties four-wheel drive v two-wheel drive was quite common, whether it be the ATCC, DTM BTCC (SuperTouring) or IMSA. The easiest way to balance any advantage is to give the AWD car more weight. For example, the Audi A4 under Super Touring regulations.
@@robossuperchannel9434 Understood, but not enough of a penalty in my opinion, especially in the wet! Not to mention how much better an AWD car is at preserving its tyres compared to a 2 wheel drive car. I remember the Cosworth Sierras were every bit as fast in a straight line as the GTRs.
That's a lie, if you had half a clue you'd know that Group A was dead before the GTR won its first race and ultimately had nothing to do with the culmination of Group 3A touring cars. Look how many full time competitors there were in Group A ATCC versus Group 3A, tells you all you need to know but the state of Australian touring car racing at the time and the mismanagement of Group A.
There is alot more information out there on the r32 in the ATCC. The aussie team ended up fabricating their own parts after racking up a $1,000,000 Bill with nissan. They won the 90, 91 and 92 ATCC with I believe only 3 non 1st finishes that were still podium finishes. It was the Aussies also that gave it the name godzilla after it upended their touring car championship. Edit: see guy in comments for the proper stats
Not sure where you get you stats from :) but the GTR won 50% of their ATCC starts from Mallala in 1990 to Oran Park in 1992. Off the top of my head they had 13 non 1st finishes during those years.
Great video! Should be worth noting - Gibson Motorsport (the Australian team) test drivers found HICAS massively destablised the rear end under hard cornering and opted to develop the race trim without it. The 1991 Gibson R32 was arguably the fastest car in all of Group A, setting a class speed record of 293km/h down Conrod Straight during qualifying for that year’s Bathurst round.
9:04 not really, Gibson Motorsports built their cars locally as Nismo was asking absurd prices for parts. Gibson invited Nismo to bring their Japanese R32s to Australia to compete against their R32s, Nismo refused ;). Also, Group A racing got out of hand money wise, and the BNR32 was the final nail in the coffin for that category of racing. It did open up the 'Super Tourers' of the 90's (video idea perhaps? Primera, S40/850 wagon, A4, Accord, Vectra, 406, 155, Mondeo etc. etc.)
I think the R32's front end looks a little too much like the Altima's of that era. Never was a fan of that look. I think the R33 looks the classiest. The R34 is my favorite Skyline. My dream car. But, it's really a young guys car. A bit too flashy for the older crowd.
@@shane8915 I kinda don't like R33 and up because they look too bulky, to fat, I like slim, sleek looking cars, like the R32, the RX-7, the Silvia (The S15 is my fav) or the Opel Speedster (or any of it's variant) to cite a western car. Other than the bulkyness of the new Rs, I like their looks, were they slim like the R32, I would like them for sure.
Couldn’t agree more. George Fury really drove the wheels off it. George’s Bluebird qualifying lap record in 1984 Bathurst 1000 stood for a long time (actually still stands, strictly speaking), as it was still the fastest lap when Bathurst was reconfigured to add Caltex Chase. I loved that car even though I’ve been a one-eyed Ford guy all my life.
True story. The Australian built Nissan GT-R that won the 1991 Bathurst 1000 was supposed to then be taken to Fuji for the 500 later that year. However, the boss of NISMO was at Bathurst to see the speed of the Gibson built cars first hand. After what he saw, he "requested" (told) Aussie team boss Fred Gibson keep his cars at home because he feared their speed (with Jim Richards and Mark Skaife doing the driving) would not only wipe the floor with the customer Nissan's in Japan ... but the factory NISMO ones too!!! And that he rightly maintained, was not good for business, even though Gibson's team was actually factory backed as well.
Australian Dick Johnson's team had the reputation of having the fastest Group A Ford Sierra RRS500's in the world. Fred Gibson's team (Gibson Motorsport) easily built the fastest Group A Nissan GT-R R32's in the world. Australia had the fastest Group A touring cars in the world from 1988-92.
Nismo had very little to do with the Australian race version to the point they requested that the Gibson cars not be brought over during an exhibition race as they were so much faster
There were also plans for the R32 to be in the BTCC, but rules had changed in 1989 so it never saw a British race, sadly. The R31 was in BTCC in 1988 though, but wasn’t quite as competitive.
Fun note, I’m pretty sure Nismo were thinking about even rallying the R32. However, it’s weight was seen as too great a factor so the team went with the Pulsar GTI-R
The aussie nickname for the R32 Skyline was not meant to be funny, it was a genuine compliment to the cars Japanese heritage and unstoppable dominance. I'm sure no joke was intended in calling it Gozilla, nothing but respect.
I think a follow up focusing on Nissan’s rise to dominance in IMSA during this period would be good to explore. With the Group C GTP-ZX, 300ZXTT, and 240SX dominating their respective classes in the early 90s.
I wish this video didn't run with the false narrative that the GTR was "banned" to "spare the Fords and Holdens". Group A was already on it's deathbed when the GTR came along - this was just the final nail. And I don't just mean in the Australian Touring Car Championship, but worldwide, with other championships altering or abandoning the ruleset long before the GTR first hit the track. Saying that the ATCC moved away from Group A because Ford and Holden were sick of loosing to the GTR is divisive and disrespectful to Australian race fans (It isn't just you that says this, it's a tired narrative that has been re-hashed many a time over). The ATCC moved on from Group A for the same reason everyone else did - cost, not brand favouritism. Even the Japanese series faced the same fate. Having said that, great video, really well done and I did enjoy it. Will have a look through your others and look forward to more in the future.
Probably will get buried, but let’s do the IMSA Rx7’s domination. Even more then the 24 hours of Le Mans, the IMSA reign Mazda held was their greatest achievement in racing history
I hated them as a kid... They ruined Aussie touring car racing for me as a 7 year old. I'm over it now, turns out Aussie touring car racing wouldn't be worth saving in the end.
I was only 7 when the r32 came out, yet it still looks great, still has good specs and in stock form is proven reliable. I don't think that modern cars will prove to the same in 30 years time.
Something that surely helped the R32 was that it didn’t look like it was made in a box factory. That styling still excites people today. I remember watching the Godzillas dominating Bathurst when I was a kid. The locals were fed up with the Commodores and Falcons being beaten, and the infamous 1992 race is now part of motor racing folklore. Sitting on the couch, 10 years old, and watching the fallout from the red-flagged race conclusion, and Jim Richards gives the crowd a piece of his mind. It certainly caught my attention.
I was actually there at Bathurst that year. The crowd reaction wasn't because of the brand of the car. Plenty on non Fords and Holdens had won Bathurst before. The crowd were pissed off because the car that "won" was a wreck lying on the side of the track with a wheel torn off. And the Johnson Sierra had gone past it on the track. So most of the crowd which turned up at the presentation were expecting Dick Johnson to be announced the winner. Anyway the GT-R certainly became the "category killer", being basically a purpose built race car racing against performance versions of family cars.
I remember when someone ask "why that car is everywhere?". I told her: "Do you know Mustang? yes? well! this is the same but for Japan. And they love it too, me as well." The R32 was basically the car someone with racing passion can afford, tune and racing on weekend. And even if doesn't race, still an imposing car, a car who scream RAW power, who scream: "i will eat you alive and there is nothing you can do about it". A car who put Nissan back in the map in the 90s. A car people might see underwhelming compared with others, but a car who at the time was affordable and now days is literally invaluable (no, seriously, any variant of an R32, specially GT R, in prestine condition is very expensive).
We Americans did not get the GT-R until the present R35, but the Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo (the Z32) was a pretty good substitute. Although it lacked the GT-R's ATTESA ET-S AWD system, it had Super HICAS steering and its 300-horsepower VG30DETT V6 packed a punch that was close to that of the GT-R's RB26DETT inline-six.
I believe that you've been particularly harsh with the first 4cyl only Skyline model (DR30) since 1961 which strongly indicates to me that you've not driven the FJ20ET with intercooler. In fact, the 'boxy' Skylines were selling annually half a million cars a year whereas the total R32 sales were 313,000 of which a massive 44k were GT-Rs and where we agree - win on Sunday - sell on Monday ! However the DR30 rallied also and its' engine poweed rthe hugely successful 240RS......so worth a bit of honour imho - it was an important step between the 1960s Hakos and Godzilla. :-)
Funny thing is that before test driving this beast, the drivers said that an awd system doesn't belong in touring car races. (At least according to Gran Turismo PSP). After driving it they were convinced that it would be unbeatable. And it proved to be such
Attessa e-tc in infiniti fx37 was and is absolutely a beast! Everyone on a passenger seat shit bricks when ask me for a fast drive on a corners to show “why infiniti?”. I really like combination of fun and confidence on a trajectory of such a huge and powerful car. RWD can be fun too, but amount of confidence that attesa brings is astonishing! Also a friend of mine drove a tuned 2012 GT-R and it was so much fun how people on a road with their “expensive sport style sedans” with GT logos underrate capabilities of GT-R 😂😂😂 usually they think it is some kind of Nissan Almera or something 🤣🤣🤣🤣 A guy in BMW m5 with carbon all over the place was really pissed when we kinda teleported from him when he tried to tailgate to my friend’s GT-R 😂😂😂😂😂 it was the time when I shat bricks after infiniti 🤣 Also Porsche Panamera drivers hate him so much (they also hate me in a cheap fx37 😂). Their cars are really great but GT-R and its legacy is really something special.
No, no, no... please recognition where needed the Skyline GTR's that ran in Australia were factory backed but ran and developed by Fred Gibson Motorsports not Nismo. Rumour has that Gibson was invited to compete in Japan but this was protested by Nismo in fear they would be out shined by the cars developed by Fred Gibson Motorsports. Qouted from an article on the R32 GTR developed by Gibson Motorsports. "So well developed were the Australian GT-Rs that when Gibson received offers to compete in the Fuji 500 in Japan and the Macau Grand Prix’s Guia touring car race, Nismo vetoed the idea for fear of being upstaged."
Wonderful documentary of triumph against all adversity, will always remember their win against the mighty Ford's and Holden's at Bathurst with rain master Jim Richards at the helm and Skaif of the original Godzilla .🌴🇫🇯🌹🇦🇺👍😎
When boxy cars go beastmode, the racing catches my attention. The GTR, the original Quattro Group B, Alfa Romeo 155 DTM, ... I just hate the rich man's rounded poshy so called supercars, they reek of too much money.
Godzilla stomped on the Aussie cars so much that we eventually got nothing but Ford and Holden racing for decades. Boring AF compared to the days when Ford, Holden, Nissan, Jaguar, BMW, Toyota and others were all circulating around the track.
Bring them back ! And any other brands that might add some excitement to the sport ! Sorry but I can only take so much Ford vs Holden...boring ! Drop to 3litre limit and catch up with the 21st century ! 😎👍
Was the R32 faster than others just because of the ATTESA ETS or did any other factors like a great chassis, engine, etc also contribute to its pace? How much faster around a lap was the car compared to the Sierras & BMWs?
The R32 had about the same power output as the Sierras, weighed slightly more, and yet qualified ~3 seconds faster at Bathurst in 1991. Because of the number of years of competition and the different iterations of all cars competing in the class, its difficult to make concrete assertions, however ATTESA ET-S and HICAS were the most obvious differences between the R32 (which was winning) and it's competition edit: a few people have mentioned that the HICAS system wasn't really used in the cars built for competition in Australia, and so ATTESA ET-S is pretty widely regarded as the innovation that really helped the R32 dominate
Incorrect about the Sierras, the GTR actually had quite a bit more power, but the teams kept that a secret until many years after the fact and HICAS was removed (the rear steering components were completely removed)
@@RaindancerAU That may be true for the ATCC, but in JTCC I believe the power outputs / power to weight ratios were much closer, forcing the R32 to win on handling alone
Shame it wasn't mentioned that the entire reason the GTR exists is because Nissan acquired Prince-- the s20 and the Skyline name plate were from Prince.
Do recall watching the last Bathurst the GTR was allowed in. They added a massive weight penalty to the car. Can’t recall how many kg of lead. The GTR went faster and won. The crowd boo’ed. Banned
I've never heard of a Nissan Skyline because I'm an American 80's baby so I was into Muscle cars and when I got Gran Turismo as a Christmas gift back in 1998 I would get furious when I lost to the Skylines while driving the Z28 Camaro. But as I started getting more history on the Skyline I fell in love with the BNR32 Skylines and till this day I would love to own one in stock trim ( wishful thinking 😞 )
5:08 , the r31 gts-r skyline only made its racing debut in 1987, in the final round in the wtcc at fuji, where it still placed behind a dr30 RS turbo skyline (new cars take time to get used to🤷♂️). The dr30 was no slouch either, it was competitive in the jtcc, atcc and wtcc. It took both the manufacturer and individual win in the jtcc, 1986. Second in 1986 and 1987 atcc (almost winning 1987 however Jim Richards bested young Glenn Seton in the rain at the final race). Yes the r31 was a more refined car but the r30 was by no means slow.
and it has to be said that the R31 and R32 were night and day; The former was quite honestly a bit of a pig as a standard car, the latter as real driver's car (I've owned both).
@@racketman2u thats funny cause Jim Richards describes the HR31 that he raced as his favourite car he's ever raced (including Godzilla) "...like a bigger, more powerful BMW M3." But what you say doesn't surprise me as the r31 wasn't fully race bred like the r32. However the r31 was still a definent improvement over the r30 in terms of racing. The r30 had a steering box rather than rack and pinion😵💫