Welp, it’s happened. A 1972 Nissan Skyline GT-R will be offered at RM Auctions this year at the Monterey Historics, the week-long celebration of the automobile during which sheetmetal is admired, coveted and traded amongst kajillionaires like Picassos. After last year’s record sales of a Toyota 2000GT crossing the block at $1.2 million at auction, the floodgates to Japan have been opened.
The obvious next in line, then, would be the hakosuka GT-R. With its raw, multi-valved and twin-cammed straight six, the KPGC10 has come to symbolize the Golden Age of Japanese motoring. Because it was available in a multitude of trim levels, the general body was available to young Japanese gearheads when the Toyota would have been out of reach. The 2000GT, expensive even when new, stirs desire; the Skyline creates nostalgia. Which feeling is stronger?
Plus, the hakosuka has the provenance of competing in Japan’s most grueling touring car era and racking up the now-famous Victory 50 wins. Toyota, on the other hand, set some speed records with the 2000GT, ran a handful enduros and road races, and then retired the car.
However, because it was never sold in the US and never touched by the hand of a famous American like Carroll Shelby did with the 2000GT, it lacks name recognition for anyone too old to have played Gran Turismo (i.e., anyone attending the Monterey Historics). The 2000GT is rarer, too, with only 337 production cars built, versus 832 four-door GT-Rs and 1,197 two-door hardtops. The debut of the GT-R on US shores in 2007 helped a little, but by that time Nissan had dropped the Skyline name.
Imagine a late-sixties Italian or German sports sedan with the GT-R’s specs, one that had absolutely dominated motorsports in Italy or Deutschland. Now image that price tag. You’ll likely have to add a zero or two to the price tag to whatever the hakosuka sells for. It was only a matter of time and some education, though, before prices catch up.
The hakosuka will be sold without reserve, at RM Auctions, August 15-16. Click here for the lot listing.
But is it stock, or has this one been monkeyed around?
I would think they would have cleaned up the car a bit. Wheels are dirty, water bottle has grease stains all over it, not to mention some rust in a few spots. maybe its jsut me, and its ok for everyone else?
Yeah I agree. Fixing up a few things, like the presentation of the radiator, getting a few parts replated, throwing on a pair of new fender badges to replace the peeling ones (geez, they’re like $50…) etc would make a big difference to the overall presentation of the car.
And those wheels aren’t very nice. It’s neither a nice hotrod look, nor a stock/unmolested look either.
Fingers crossed it makes a good price, but you’d think a weekend of fiddling would do wonders for its presentation.
rs watanabes fit these cars perfectly, i wouldnt put anything other than these. i am afraid parts for these gtr s arent cheap this isnt an s30 with abundace of parts from all over the world, so i cna asure you its way past 50 bucks for a badge or a fender flare.
really curious to see how much this car will go for. but sadly can’t imagine it being more than 100-200k range at best.
http://www.rubber-soul.net/p-enburem.htm
The red/white GT fender badge is $23 ea 🙂
why is that sad? i’m hoping it flops because i want to be able to buy one at some point. how does it benefit anyone other than current owners if it sells for an extremely high price?
The question is whether all the numbers match. If they do, a value similar to an Alfa Romeo GTAm or Ford Escort RS2000 would make sense. Perhaps a BOSS 302 Mustang range would also fit.
The RM Auction draws a crowd that is distinctly different from the drunken cabal of overfed construction magnates one might encounter at a certain televised event in the Arizona desert. These are real connoisseurs, more interested in acquiring important cars than in comparing penis length. If any group of older American enthusiasts is going to appreciate the importance of the Hakosuka GT-R, it’s this one, and I think you should consider the result of this sale to be market-defining.
Lol. Very true.
The pictures shown are from when the car was still listed for sale in Japan at Bingo Sports.
I also would hope seller will fix the details before the auction. Looks like a quick flip to me.
I think most of you miss the point, there were less than 1200 genuine GTRs made. The bigger question is whether the US really has an appetite for Japanese cars. Things like badges that are easily obtainable are neither here or there. I’m no Hako fan by any stretch of the imagination but from what I understand their engines are worth a bomb , at least you’d think that sort or rarity would generate some decent interest.
I don’t think it will go cheap. While the average person may not know of it’s exploits, anyone who is knowledgeable about cars has certainly heard of it and will know of it’s rarity. I would certainly rather this than a similar European car of it’s kind, especially given the rather poor quality of Italian and British cars of the era. The German BMW E9 3.0CSL was comparable to the Nissan, but they had less sophisticated SOHC engines, as well as a terrible reputation for rust. Given all that, I think the collector car community is just now starting to wake up to what classics from Japan offer and the smart money is starting to snap them up now before it becomes common knowledge.
I agree with gypsy. It’ll be interesting to see what american collectors think.
I like a car that shows a little bit of age. Why would you want to replace original Skyline GT Badges with $23 repros? Seems absurd to me. This isn’t a 1990’s civic, it’s art and history and legacy. Getting one of these out of Japan is like being tom cruise in the last Samurai. LOL You are fighting years of tradition and history and some very stubborn old man who don’t want these cars leaving Japan. I know because i did it! FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO KNOW if the car has been monkeyed with…This car has the right watanabe rims and Datsun Racing steering wheel to be acceptable to the purists. The majority of owners changed their wheels to this style, although it’s interesting to see shiny Watanabes opposed to the darker finished examples that are typically used. The “Datsun” on the steering wheel isn’t my favorite, but it was another common change to the Datsun Racing wheel. Most guys also bought a little Skyline symbol for the horn ring and replaced that too. The original “wrapped” steering wheels had a leathery-rubber finish that would get a little loose over time.
This GT-R is the second high profile Japanese vehicle I have heard of now being auctioned at this summer’s iconic weekend in Monterey. The other car I am talking about is a 1967 Mazda Cosmo Sport 110 that is scheduled to be auctioned at Pebble Beach.
http://www.goodingco.com/vehicle/1967-mazda-cosmo/
This Cosmo was restored by Glenn Roberts and there has probably never been a Cosmo Sport restored to a higher quality anywhere IMO. Taking into account the high profile events during that infamous weekend in Monterey (with the Cosmo being offered by Gooding & Company and the Hakosuka represented by RM auctions) I think we are going to see some records set for the sale price of these cars we all love.
Personally I feel the Cosmo is a much more unique car and deserves the #2 position of most collectible Japanese car right under the Toyota 2000 GT. As great as the Hako is, Nissan offered too many other trim models of the C10 chassis, and making it too easy to replicate the GT-R look. The Cosmo on the other hand, only came one way, with one engine, and produced just over 1500 cars. Of those 1500, 343 of them were the Series 1 Cosmo (what we Japanese enthusiasts would call Zenki; or early model) and these cars had a shorter wheelbase. If you know anything about vintage Ferrari’s you will know collectors go crazy for short wheelbase versions of classic cars. The Cosmo being sold at Pebble Beach is a short wheelbase Series 1 and is projected to hit $200,000 or more. This is going to be one interesting summer for sure!