R32: 1995-98
One day I was in town for an appointment and noticed this beautiful but unfamiliar coupe parked next to me. I couldn’t place it; that was annoying. I walked around, looking for some clue. Ah! A new Skyline. Somehow I hadn’t known there was a new generation out. I’ve still no idea what a current-model Skyline coupe (which I don’t think was a GT-R) was doing on the streets of Geelong in the late nineties. Evaluation, perhaps?
Naturally, I went looking for a kit. One led to another. Interestingly there don’t seem to be any kits of this generation available at the moment. Plenty of ‘32s and ‘34s in a variety of forms, but nary an R33;
The R33 followed the same basic layout as the giant-killing R32, but was larger; another 100mm in wheelbase (2720), 130mm in length (4675), 25mm in width (1780). Some feel this was too large; perhaps the 110kg added weight dulled the performance some. In the years since I’ve seen quite a few of these on the road. As with many Nissans of this era, there’s a certain rightness about the style;
I used to prefer these to the R32, but having seen more of both on the road, my preference is tending the other way;
R34 1998-2002
This one I read about before seeing. While it certainly looked muscular, to me it lost the elegance of the previous generation in favour of a more brutish look;
The R34 was the last of the ‘traditional’ Skylines, before the sedans and coupes went onto the FM platform and the GTR was spun off as, I feel, a bona fide supercar. The R34 only had a four-year production run, but really gained fame outside Japan as one of the star cars in the early Fast and the Furious movies. I remember taking my then-teenage son to see the first one…
But they weren’t all GTRs of course. Here’s a regular 25 GT turbo sedan. I keep hoping to grab a pic of the R34 in my town; I think it’s one of these…
The R34 lost some size and weight. Once again, these were only sold in Japan, so I guess this downsizing was in response to Japanese demand. It virtually split the difference in size between the R32 and R33, but wound up some 20kg heavier.
There was a bewildering variety of versions. Here’s the NISMO;
The Nur – guess what that’s short for, anyone?
And the Z-tune. Nissan actually bought back used GTRs and rebuilt them to this ultimate specification. Wild!
The Japanese aftermarket responded with delight. Advan;
C West;
Top Secret;
Had enough of modified Skylines? Okay. Here’s a palate-cleanser;
So much for the sedan and the coupe. In one of those inscrutable product moves the Japanese seem so adept at making, what had been a Skyline wagon had disappeared for a time, to be replaced by the Stagea, a wagon with no sedan equivalent. Same platform, different body – sheetmetal, glass, the works. It was available with most of the good stuff underneath – AWD, turbo six, etc. Nissan fans found the Skyline front panels could be fitted to these. Nissan’s tuning arm Autech did a 260RS version, with its own bodykit. One day I’ll do one of those, meanwhile here’s my standard one;
The name continued, but…
The V35 generation came along in 2002, but it was a totally different car on Nissan’s FM platform, with a V6. Infiniti G35 in the US, I believe. Nice that they export them. Worthy cars no doubt, but they just don’t do anything for me. Or other modelers it seems; few seem to have built them and there are few kits. This one’s a NISMO version. In a rare moment of conformity, I’ve painted it Blah Silver.
So that’s it for Skylines. This series has come to a close. Back to more random unpredictableness next time. See you then!
What a gorgeous series! And an education for me in the progression of the marque. You’ve outdone yourself. Kudos, sir.
Thank you. It’s been fun writing these – and something of an awakening as I realised how many Skylines I’ve built over the years!
I agree with F-85 – Peter, this was an excellent starting point for me to learn more about the Nissan Skyline. And we got to see your excellent handiwork in the process. Well done, Sir!
Thank you Joseph.
Next time will be something more familiar – but what? 🙂
“As with many Nissans of this era, there’s a certain rightness about the style;”
Well said. I totally agree with this sentiment. It’s subtle and I don’t know if I could specifically identify just what made Nissans of that era more pleasing than those before or after, but “a certain rightness” expresses it well.
I had no idea that there was a wagon version of the Skyline!
It’s very subtle indeed, and a welcome step back into the mainstream after the uber-boxy R31. And, as Scott says, the R34 reprised the boxy theme one last time before they made a complete break from boxy with the V35, never to return (hopefully). Although Nissan styling seemed to go all over the shop from the sixties through the noughties, it’s worth noting that Shinichiro Sakurai was the Skyline designer until these generations, and Wikipedia says “he remained a chief influence of the car until his death in 2011.” Considering the varieties of design language he worked with over those decades, that says to me he was one hell of a designer. There were sometimes a few questionble over-fussy details, but the basic proportions were always right.
Ah, the R33, my favourite, thank you Peter! The R33 and R32 fight to be my joint favourites when it comes to Skyline styling generations. The R32 looks lean and lithe, and has plenty of delicious detailing; the R33 loses the leanness and the detailing became a tad more subtle, but the overall aesthetics are quite gorgeous and just tip the ’33 for the win for my affections!
The R34 (available new in NZ in GTT and GTR form) is a tad chunky and heavy-handed, looking more like an updated R31 than an updated R33. Not many pre-V35 Skylines left here now; those that remain are getting seriously expensive. I looked up my old R33 sedan the other day, it’s still registered, 14 years after I sold it, so I might see it again one day. But until then your beautiful models are quite the heart-warming sight!
Happy to oblige, Scott, I have a soft spot for these too.
Your comment about the R34 being more like an updated R31 is interesting. You’re right; I hadn’t thought of it like that. With that gentle rounding of contours around the window frames and front end but straight lines eldewhere, it could have fitted very well in the timeline between the R31 and R32, couldn’t it? 🙂 I’ll admit I was disappointed when I saw what was replacing the R33; while I admire the car for its abilities, I think I’d always be happier with an R33. Unless driven to its uttermost limits, I think the earlier car would be just as good, and roomier too.
After years of magazines, movies and video games I am finally starting to see more of these on the road. I have always been confused by the hype and supercar talk on the one hand, and what always seemed to me a rather mundane sedan on the other. Although certainly distinctive enough to be noticeable, that disjunction remains, in the flesh as it were. Of course I know it’s really about things you can’t see that make them great. As always, the attention to detail as well as the exploration of the ways those details can be combined to create distinctive and coherent variants of the same car are a delight to study. I greatly admire that.
To an Aussie like me, the combination of mundane sedan and supercar performance is nothing new, but these latter Skylines really took it to a new dimension in GTR form. They showed the world you don’t need a V8, which I think is why the mob at Bathurst booed when a Skyline beat the Holdens. I think that’s part of why I find these so appealing. Smart engineering rather than brute force.
The major Japanese kit makers, Tamiya, Aoshima, and Fujimi, all offered plenty of variety in these models, bot factory aand aftermarket (especially Aoshima) and there are several – perhaps many – I don’t have. There have been some particularly awkward aftermarket bodykits, which I in all conscience would not want to have on my shelf – and doubtless many others that mercifully weren’t kitted!
Plenty of R33/4s getting around in NZ, and I keep seeing Stageas they range from decrepit last WOF cars to mint,
Only the good cars seem to have been kept, the rough ones are parts cars,
Im not sure about the later models the lack of a straight six seems wrong somehow
Yeah, much as those later ones carry on the model name, everything else is different; the chassis, the engines, and there’s no stylistic carry-over that says “Skyline”. It’s just a contermporary mid-size sedan.
Still, we can be thankful they didn’t make it FWD. That would really be trashing the heritage.
LIke you I still see R34 sedans, even in my neck of the woods, and the occasional Stagea.
I have been a fan of the Skyline since I learned about them during my Z days. They are rare and expensive around here. Nissan certainly picked a memorable name for these cars. The second gen Acura Legend coupe looks a lot like a Skyline to me, and I’ve wanted one for years. I guess that I could be satisfied with an Infiniti G37 coupe, or it’s descendants. They are more plentiful.