This issue we feature what must unquestionably be the mother of all Skylines built to date: The Mine's R34 GT-R. Its perfect balance as a tuner car has helped it amass a greater stateside following than the rest of the great Skylines tuned in Japan combined. But like all great Skylines, even it will soon be rendered obsolete by the next generation of the breed. Called the GT-R (no Skyline designation this time), the R36 is just a month away from its October release at the Tokyo Motor Show. What's more, the new car will be more improved over the R34 than that car was over the R33. If I've lost you, what I'm referring to is the massive rate of technological advancement in automobiles.
Yet despite the long legacy that the new GT-R will carry to America, it will be interesting to see how many Nissan actually sells in America. Not because the new GT-R won't be a great car; it of course will be. But the Skyline enthusiast in America is different than the Skyline enthusiast in Japan. In Japan, the Skyline represents home team victory-kind of like the Corvette does here in America. It's this heritage that has allowed the car to fetch progressively higher premiums over the years.
And this time around, that premium is higher than it has ever been before-an expected $70,000. One can't help but wonder if the people that love Skylines are lucky if they're on G35 budgets (that's us)-and the people that can actually afford the new GT-R aren't considering dropping $70k on something that isn't built in Stuttgart or Modena. Take the Corvette Z06, a bargain world-beater by any measurement. Here in America, Chevrolet can't keep them in showrooms, but in the rest of the world... well, it's a $70,000 American car. You do the math.
As far as I can tell, the GT-R will sell in very limited numbers. Surely there are a few Skyline enthusiasts out there with the money. And there must be some of the wealthy, unfamiliar with the Skyline's rich history and lineage that will buy it based on the simple fact that it offers 911 Turbo performance for a fraction of the price-an almost $50,000 discount, to be exact. Not to mention the seven-speed sequential gearbox or the rock-solid Nissan reliability. Never fear though, because if there's a modified R36, it'll be in these pages for the rest of us to lust after.
Jason Mulroney