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.
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.
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.
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 😃
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.
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.
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).
Amazing video! I absolutely love the R32 with the calsonic livery. One thing that always amazed me about this R32 is the amount of camber and how big the wheels seemed to be: I think it was all done to benefit their new 4 wheels steering system.
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.
they raced the r31 in the Australian Touring car championship, it was very quick however when the r32 turned up mid season, it was insane fast. So much so, they added 50kg to start with, then 100kg, then 150kg lol.
Plenty of others have mentioned it, but the Godzilla name originated in the Aussie media. Watching them maul the Sierras and V8 commodores at Bathurst was glorious to watch. The Aussie GT-Rs were the real Godzilla’s, bespoke builds from the Nismo versions
I did mention this towards the end of the video, and have since learned a lot about the differences between the NISMO and Gibson cars. Fascinating story!
@@automobilistic the 80s and 90s were a great time to watch Bathurst and the like, first it was the Sierra Cosworths dominating, so much than Holden Golden Boy Peter Brock switched to a Cosworth, much to the chagrin of Holden fans, and then the GT-Rs just blew those away
it didn't shock anyone in that race... 500/600 HP with awd verse m3s and 190es with 360hp and RWD...... everyone knew it would win and everyone was rightfully pissed. AC shinitzer team had the best touring car drivers of the time and was losing to the gentleman driver fucktard that was in r32.......
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.
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
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!
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.
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
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 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.
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. :-)
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
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
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 ! 😎👍
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.
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.
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.
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 😃
@@boatymcboatface666 me too. Good times. The Volvo V40 sounded best to the other week though.
Man Skaife in the Zilla was wild
Thanks for this!
I was aware the GTR is an icon, and one of my faves in GT games, but didn't know its history was so interesting. :)
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.
7:26 rewatching a classic here. I thought I was over this car but the science bits got me. The ripped apart a 959 for R/D, now thats something
something to note, Bathhurst 2023, Brad Sheriff's R32 was destroying everyone (until he crashed) - so the legend lives ON!
Dude, you're absolutely rocking with these videos, keep em coming. Great narration and perfect sound editing as well!
Thanks! Glad you like them!
Not as massive an achievement, but the 1983? Nissan bluebird turbo of the fury/gibson motorsport team is an awesome story also
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.
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.
Didn't help that Denny Hulme, good friend of JR, passed during the race.
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.
Love the footage of the GTR at the old Amaroo Park
Oh that background music love it.
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).
Absolutely cracking video, now watched them all and really enjoy seeing and hearing about the cars I remember from GT2 👌
There should be a Ford v Ferrari type of movie made about Godzilla and Nissan's historical comeback from near extinction. What a great story for sure.
R31 was no slouch, it just didnt have awd and all the engineering bespoke to the BNR32 chassis. Great video.
One of the best cars ever made imo, love R32,33,34 GTR's, another great video 👍
Amazing video! I absolutely love the R32 with the calsonic livery. One thing that always amazed me about this R32 is the amount of camber and how big the wheels seemed to be: I think it was all done to benefit their new 4 wheels steering system.
The long 6 cylinder engine with the front differential made the R32 overly front heavy, the camber was a way to help the steering in corners.
The four wheel steering system was deleted or locked out on most racing gtrs.
I remember the R32 kicking ars here in Australia in the day,loved it 👍👍
I'm binging your videos. Informarive yet enjoyable. Love it.
R32 > R34 and R35. Nissan will never top the R32 IMO.
this channel is a hidden gem
Please do more JDM videos on Toyota Honda Nissan Mitsubishi Subaru and Mazda
a new sub here, just stopped by after binge-watching your videos. you make hell of a job with your videos and storytelling man, keep it up!
Really glad you're enjoying the videos! Plenty more on the way...
Yeah, do the r33. That's another great one.
Nissan GTR: *GODZILLA ROAR*
The World: 😮💀
As a fellow Australian I'm glad to hear we came up with the name Godzilla and not the yanks 😂
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.
It's Porsche 917 K's turn:)))
they raced the r31 in the Australian Touring car championship, it was very quick however when the r32 turned up mid season, it was insane fast. So much so, they added 50kg to start with, then 100kg, then 150kg lol.
I got a nissan ad
LOL
I really miss my R33 GTR V Spec RB30/26 :(
Plenty of others have mentioned it, but the Godzilla name originated in the Aussie media. Watching them maul the Sierras and V8 commodores at Bathurst was glorious to watch. The Aussie GT-Rs were the real Godzilla’s, bespoke builds from the Nismo versions
I did mention this towards the end of the video, and have since learned a lot about the differences between the NISMO and Gibson cars. Fascinating story!
@@automobilistic the 80s and 90s were a great time to watch Bathurst and the like, first it was the Sierra Cosworths dominating, so much than Holden Golden Boy Peter Brock switched to a Cosworth, much to the chagrin of Holden fans, and then the GT-Rs just blew those away
The R32 also shocked the Macau Guia Race in 1990.
it didn't shock anyone in that race... 500/600 HP with awd verse m3s and 190es with 360hp and RWD...... everyone knew it would win and everyone was rightfully pissed. AC shinitzer team had the best touring car drivers of the time and was losing to the gentleman driver fucktard that was in r32.......
In fact it was not too fast, it was too good. Other cars had same power.
I asked and I shall receive 🙌
Another banger video
Nismo could use a Godzilla now.
@automobilistic make a video about the legendary lan evo of group b rally
What a beast !
Please please please please do a video like this for the R33 😭🙏🏽
I will! It's one I'm looking forward to making, so stay tuned...
Hi there. Have you done a vid on the Toyota 88C-V yet?
Not yet. Its on the list though 👍
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.
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
@@automobilistic this is like Mercedes using Party Mode & DAS in F1.
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
@@automobilistic ah yup my comment is specific to Australia indeed
The Gran Turismo soundtrack was perfection.
Bathurst killer.
Easy Peasy Japanese.
Insane ❤
Bathurst is pronounced Bath-urst not Ba-thurst.
R33 please
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!
Today, no longer. The Porsche of today is the Porsche that made the Carrera GT, with all the pros and cons that come with it.
29 wins in 29 starts, legendary.
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.
@@robossuperchannel9434 even still, thats not many.
either way though, it still crushed the competition to the point they banned it
The R32 got its nickname via the wheels magazine in Australia which termed it as Godzilla in its review.
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.
Glad i found your channel. Your content is always really good and straight to the point
You should do a video about the monstrous Renault Espace F1, one of the most strange car Renault dare to build
Oooh interesting suggestion! I'll add that to the list
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.)
Man your motorsport videos are quite well made and entertaining, you deserve more than just 9k subs, so you gained another with me.
R32 is the prettiest skyline, with the best story, it's actually the only Skyline I like, this car is absolutely gorgeous.
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.
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
Yup , they were completely re-engineered and were quicker than what Nismo were doing. Kinda like how DJR built the quickest Sierra’s.
the GTR really proved that "Win races on sunday, sell cars on monday" worked.
Great stuff….awesome car….do the R33 too please 👍🏻
Very cool video, recently found your channel and Im loving the content. Keep up the good work!
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
Oh really? That would have made Tomi become another famous r32 driver lol
That Reebok livery looks so cool. Crazy to think the number blue #12 Calsonic liveried car is still in Super GT, although on a Z car this year.
Please do more videos for the R33 and R34!
I wish touring car racing were more existent in the US.
There's lots, just look for it.
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.
Yeah, the 300ZX ran by Cunningham Racing kicked ass. It even won the Daytona 24 hours overall in '94.
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
R33 Skyline Follow-up PLEASE!! That’s my favorite gen of the Skyline 🙌🏾‼️
The only thing I remember about this car is the amazing brakes in GT4 😂
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.
Loving all the refreshed interest in the Group A R32's lately, great video :)
Awesome car. Fantastic video series you are making. Keep up the good work.
Very funny to see a driver named Suzuki, driving a Nissan 😂
This could be a series on the whole GT-R lineup
It's insane that they won international racing and then just didn't export the r32 themselves
Exported to Australia new in limited numbers and high cost for a Nissan.
the r32 probably felt so alien and futuristic compared to the competition at the time
I was lucky enough to see the Gibson motorsport one race in Wellington New Zealand. My favorite group A car.
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 love the Gran Turismo music
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. :-)
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
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
It was dubbed the Godzilla Down Under 🇦🇺🇳🇿🫡
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.
Start video.... Immediately recognize the Gran Turismo 2 music in the background
I would like to see a video on the Subaru Impreza 22B and why it was so successful and awe-inspiring as well
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.
The R31 GTS-R with the RB20DET is fanfuckingtastic! I'd take one over an R32GTR any day.
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 ! 😎👍
1986 is where i was trying to educate V8 heads their days were numbered, well it took a few years but it did happen
Ha! So the Country that gave us "that's a Knife" came up with the "Godzilla" slogan. Cool!
Gran Turisimo was my first experience with this car. I pretty much used it for everything until a point in the game where you had to get a faster car.
I had Gran Turismo when it came out and this was the poster car.
Is the R32 the GOAT Japanese performance car? Who knows
I had a Datsun 200 SX. 5 speed manual. Nice car. But my all time favorite was my Toyota Celica.