Re-Imagining a Legend: Team Nichiei's Nissan Skyline GT-R (R32) 'GT Zero'.

The concept of restoring and modifying iconic cars is not an entirely new idea, its something that has been done by the likes of NISMO and HKS, even manufactuers have taken this onboard and developed their own performance subrands such as AMG and the M-Division. More recently, Singer in California have been ‘resto-modding’ classic 911’s and making them some of the most sought after cars, another example of this concept is Eagle from the UK who have reimagined the Jaguar E-Type creating the E-Type Speedster, a car that was described by Jeremy Clarkson as ‘The most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen’.

So, as you can see there are an abundance of companies that restore and modify iconic cars. The R32 GT-R is a car that has somewhat been left out, well that is until now. Team Nichiei’s recreation of the R32 has recently been unveiled, only 10 of these cars will be made and the price is a staggering £102,040 which is $133,000 and ¥15,000,000. So to find out why it costs around the same as a brand new BMW i8 or a fully loaded Z06, let’s get down into the depths of the GT Zero.

The Looks.

As much as I love Skylines (And you guys know I love Skylines) I’d be the first to say that the Skyline was never really a ‘pretty’ car. The classic’s such as the Prince Skyline Sport, the Hakosuka and the Kenmeri were certainly the Skylines better days. The R30 onwards weren’t really draw droppingly gorgeous. Out of the more ‘modern’ Skylines the R32 is probably one of the best looking, if not the best looking ‘modern’ Skyline, purely based upon its styling simplicity.

Now, obviously when you modify a car the visuals are a very personal affair, not everyone is going to like what you’ve done. Team Nichiei’s attempt at making the R32 is somewhat disappointing and too mainstream for a £100,000 car, reading through the comments of SpeedHunters article on this car, I found so many negative comments about the Pandem bodykit on this R32. For those wishing to correct me on the branding of this kit stating that it’s a Rocket Bunny, I’ m afraid to say that Rocket Bunny is dead, due to a licensing issue and will continue under the Pandem name.

The Pandem bodykit would’ve gotten a much better reception if this car was just another build made by another Skyline enthusiast, but its not, its something very different from that. The GT Zero should have had a hand built widebody/bodykit, to make it really stand out from the other 2,702 R32 GT-R’s. Nonetheless, you cannot deny that the Pandem kit does look remarkable on this car and its other nine siblings. The wheels are what really top off the looks for me, they’re not to big and not too small, as Goldilocks once said ‘Them rims are just right’. The 18” Enkei made wheels are wrapped in Goodride tyres measuring at 285’s at all four corners. Lurking behind those wheels are floating and drilled rotors with six pot calipers, complete with GT Zero branding.

The spoiler is perhaps one of my favourite features of this car, as it is of course a modern day interpretation of the original R32 GT-R, yet it still manages to retain that 90’s look to it. Furthermore, the sizing of said spoiler uses around the same measurements as the original meaning it doesn’t, pardon the pun, spoil the look of the car. Other neat touches include a nice LED light strip incorporated into the headlight itself and LED indicators. Little details like that is what gets me giddy about modified cars.

Staying True To The Original.

No matter how good any Skyline looks, it should always be about the cars performance. Especially, the R32 since it was the most successful GT-R to go racing. However, there really is no need to worry about the stats on the GT-Zero as Team Nichiei really nailed that part.

There’s only one major ‘Top Trump’ stat I can find on the GT Zero, and that is its HP output, the stock R32 GT-R produced around ‘276HP’ thanks to a gentleman’s agreement between all Japanese manufacturers, the true figure is around 320HP. The GT Zero creates a perhaps anti-climatic 600HP, which is still alot of power. The modifications for this figure are as follows. All 10 of the RB26’s found in the 10 GT Zero’s are rebuilt and then bumped up to 2.8L rather than 2.6L, also the twin-turbo’s are ditched for a single ‘big turbo’ replacement, thanks to Trust. Further Trust products are used with a Trust front mount intercooler and matching piping and GReddy breaking up the similarities with a intake manifold. A Link ECU can be found managing fuel flow and ignition and the battery and fuse box has been re-located to the boot.

All 600 horses are sent to the fabulous ATTESA E-TS AWD system through a six-speed manual courtesy of the R32’s younger sibling the R34. A modification which is common among R32 enthusiasts, despite the ridiculous costs of buying a R34 transmission from either Nissan or NISMO.

An Inside View.

Step into the GT Zero and you’ll find that Team Nichiei have been busy, a regular R32 interior would’ve been considered, dare I say it, ‘high tech’ around 30 years ago. However, living in an age where it is customary to have a screen the size of a iPad in front of you the GT Zero is no exception. The GT Zero utilises modern technology with an iPad which is used to control the infotainment system, wrapped in light grey Alcantara. The A/C controls have found a new home under the centre armrest.

The seats themselves have been stolen from a 997.1 Porsche 911 GT3 and then re-upholstered in ‘Persian Gold’ and light grey Alcantara. The rather ferocious looking roll cage adds rigidity to the GT Zero since the base R32 was stripped back to bare metal. Another modern feature for the GT Zero is it’s colour coordinated roll cage something that Porsche has been doing recently with the likes of the 991.2 GT 2RS. If you look close enough into the interior of the GT Zero you’ll see no interior gauges, this is because the gauge cluster has been replaced with a AiM LCD unit, which I much prefer to a Racepak.

Should Team Nichiei Have Not Awoken Godzilla?

From my point of view, I think that the GT Zero is an exceptional package, then again I am obviously biased to any form of Skyline for blatantly obvious reasons. Therefore, I’ll leave you to make up your own mind. But I’ll leave you with this the GT Zero is quite possibly the ultimate ‘ factory style tuner made car’ if that makes any sense whatsoever.

Thank You For Reading, If Indeed You Still Are.

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