Why the Nissan R34 Skyline GT-R Is a Modern Classic

Yahoo

09-03-2025

Some car collectors may have been puzzled by something that began happening earlier this decade: Out of nowhere, examples of the R34-generation Nissan Skyline GT-R suddenly started popping up for sale on the U.S. secondary market. Not only that, but the sports car, which cost $45,000 when it debuted at the tail end of the last century, was going for as much as ten times that amount.
Of course, there was nothing strange about any of this to enthusiasts familiar with Japanese domestic market (JDM) cars. The sudden surge of interest wasn't just because the car known as 'Godzilla' is one of the greatest performance vehicles in the country's history or because it featured prominently in the fourth Fast & Furious movie (though neither factor hurt). It was primarily because, two decades after going out of production, the car was finally becoming eligible under the 'Show or Display' exemption, allowing it to finally be legally imported to the U.S.
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The R34 Skyline is no longer the unicorn it once was, but that hasn't dampened enthusiasm for it any. Here are five reasons why so many JDM-loving enthusiasts were so willing to wait so long to get their hands on the legendary speed machine.
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The Skyline GT-R is now widely considered to be a great sports car, but it hasn't always been viewed this way. The first iteration of the car—which was released by the Prince Motorcar Company—arrived on the scene in 1957 as a luxury sedan. The vehicle has shed some of its premium trappings over the years, but a four-door carrying the name continues to be sold in its native Japan.
A sporty model called the Skyline GT-R—the abbreviation stands for 'Gran Turismo-Racing—wouldn't make its debut until 1969 but was discontinued four years and two generations later. Nissan brought back the model in 1989 and it's this version, the third-generation R32, that laid the groundwork for the vehicle to become the legend that it is today.
The R32, R33, R34 generations make up the Skyline GT-R holy trinity. When the model resurfaced at the end of the 1980s following a 16-year hiatus, it shared little with the compact but peppy touring cars that had preceded it. The modern-day Skyline GT-R was a high-performance beast that featured a potent inline-six with all-wheel-drive (AWD) system. It also could hold its own against more glamorous sports cars that cost significantly more.
Each member of the trio has its partisans, with preference usually coming down to where the car was first encountered, whether that be an early Gran Turismo game (the R32), Import Tuner magazine (R33), or FF4 (R34). For our money, it's hard to beat the model's final evolution, though. In production from 1999 to 2002, the fifth-generation Skyline GT-R paired commanding style with a surprisingly twin-turbo inline-six that made it the closest thing Japan had to a supercar at the time.
The return of the Skyline GT-R coincided with Nissan's attempts to build a more competitive Group A race car. The result was a true high-performance vehicle that dominated on road and track, earning it the nickname 'Godzilla' from the Australian automotive press.
All three generations came equipped with the same twin-turbocharged 2.6-liter inline-six mated to a six-speed manual, which, in the range-topping R34 M-Spec Nür, makes 330 hp. But that figure is strictly unofficial due to a 'gentleman's agreement' between the major Japanese automakers at the time to not introduce a car that made more than 276 hp (which was the official output for all versions of the modern-day Skyline GT-R). Regardless of the actual output, the combination of that engine and grip-maximizing AWD system meant the final version of the car could accelerate from zero to 62 mph in 4.9 seconds and reach a top speed of 186 mph.
The R34 may have been high-tech back in its day—it features a 5.8-inch LCD screen that displays real-time readings and statistics—but it is analog as a high-performance vehicle gets by today's standards. Driving the car is work, something which only adds to its charm for a certain brand of enthusiasts.
The Skyline GT-R's exalted status with enthusiasts and collectors also has something to do with the fact that it was never officially sold in the U.S. As beloved as the car may be today, it was never produced in huge numbers. Across the R32, R33, R34 generations, Nissan built just over 72,000 examples of the car, with the number decreasing with each successive iteration. It's likely because of this that the automaker never invested the money needed to modify the vehicle to meet U.S. safety and emission standards (the car was sold outside of Japan, though, including in Australia, New Zealand, and, briefly, the U.K.).
But savvy collectors know there is a loophole called the 'Show or Display' exemption that allows historically important vehicles that don't meet regulations to be imported 25 years after they were built. It's this reason why examples of the Skyline GT-R, including the R34, are finally making it to our shores and selling consistently for six-figure sums.
The last R34 Skyline GT-R was built in 2002—19 Z-Tune examples followed between then and 2007, but those are considered rebuilds—but the vehicle lives on. At the end of the model's fifth generation, Nissan decided it was time to separate the GT-R from the Skyline name. In the two-plus decades since, the Skyline moniker has been used to refer to a four-door executive car, which is still not sold in the U.S., and GT-R to a muscular sports car.
The current GT-R, which is codenamed the R35, has been in production since 2007 and has done a more than able of living up to the expectations set by its predecessors. The car features a muscular design, a powerful twin-turbocharged V-6, and AWD. (Sadly, its stick shift has been replaced by a dual-clutch transmission) After 18 years, Nissan recently announced that the current version of the vehicle will wind up production later this year. It's unclear what will replace it, but there have been rumors that the next iteration will break even more from the past by featuring an electric powertrain.