On Sunday, we had the annual Show 'n Shine for the
www.skylinesaustralia.com forum. It was a very successful event with 150 cars entered and a good time was had by all. Well done to the Skylines Australia guys for organising a top event
On with the pics! Project Hako was entered in the Early Classic category, and rather appropriately, the organisers parked us right next to a black R35 for a nice contrast.
Naturally we rep'd the JNC mag as best we could
One of the highlights of the show were the race cars in the Nissan Heritage Racing collection.
This is the ex-George Fury Bluebird, which was raced under Group C rules in the early 80s. The class was a little bit like Trans Am, with the cars being production-based but with plenty of mods allowed.
The Bluebird is famous in Australia having held the lap record at Bathurst (our most famous track) for many years, in an all-or-nothing qualifying lap with the boost turned up to the max (apparently it was off the dial, they don't know what boost it actually ran). The class was very much V8-dominated so this was a high watermark for Japanese race cars in Australian motor racing history. Under the bonnet is a Z18 twinplug turbo four.
Parked right next to it is the R31 Skyline GTS-R from the same Gibson Racing team. Always a front runner in the '89 and '90 season, this car helped Nissan win the '90 championship, by scoring some great result in the first half of the season....in the second half the R32 GTR took over and finished off the season with a championship win.
Under the bonnet is a RB20DET-R. Those tubular headers are stock and homologated for Group A racing in 800 road cars, with a huge T04E turbo and big front mount intercooler. Here's an interesting tidbit....see that thing bolted to the strut tower? That's the stock airflow meter. It was too restrictive for the race team, but the rules say that it has to be "part of the induction tract"...and see that rubber hose linking the airflow meter to the intake tube?
Parked right next to that is of course Godzilla. The famous R32 GT-R. This one won the championship 3 times in a row.
In the engine bay is the RB26 twin turbo, now detuned to 450hp for historic racing but back in the day produced somewhat more.
Speaking of GTS-R, here's a nice one in the R31 class, easily the most immaculate one I've seen. Of course we have our own GTS-R inspired build on the forum here:
http://www.japanesenostalgiccar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6780&start=0
Australia is the only place where Skylines were manufactured outside of Japan. In the mid 80s Nissan made Skyline sedans here, powered by a SOHC 3.0L six as a competitor to the locally-made fullsize sedans from GM and Ford. Since then, these old ADM R31s have quite a cult following, and their suitability for drifting doesn't hurt.
Nissan Australia made the most of this period, and had their own local sporting division. A hot version of the ADM Skyline was available with upgraded suspension, LSD, and a hotted up motor with different ecu, cams and headers to raise power from 114kw to 140kw. This white car is a series-2 SVD Skyline, an ex-cop car.
Another common sight on aussie roads are Stageas. Most are the early model with the boxier styling. Generally they're in AWD spec with a 220hp single turbo RB25.
The V6 turbo powered later model is starting to become more common though.
Here's a rare sight, a March Super Turbo!
http://japanesenostalgiccar.com/blog/20 ... ghty-mite/
This rather nice FD RX-7 scooped the prize for Best Non-Skyline.
Also spotted was a lone Iron Mask Skyline representing the R30 series.
This was in awesome condition...look at that interior!
Another popular ride is the R33 Skyline. Not the GTR, but the rwd, single turbo 220hp coupes which were the next fastest model below the GTRs.
They're affordable and have huge modifying potential, so are very common here.
A lone V36 Skyline, still a rare sight on aussie roads.
Speaking of R33, here's a rarity.
Back in the day, Nismo made a few limited edition Nissans, like the 400R GTR or the 270R Silvia. All were crazy-nutjob roadcars with uprated power, looks and handling. This car is a 2500R......which Nismo never actually made. 3 cars were taken off the production line for prototyping but th eproject never finished. Malcolm here bought this R33 GTS thinking that it was stock, but then discovered Nismo build plaques all over it, and in the boot were a build manual, badges, stickers and some parts. And the engine was stock but had a Nismo build number.
After a lot of research, Malcolm got confirmation from Nismo that it was intended to be a rwd, lightweight, highway-racer 450hp coupe. It's maybe understandable that Nismo never went ahead with this plan
But Malcolm decided to finish what Nismo started, so what he began with was a mechanically-stock 2.5 single turbo GTS, but it's now a 450hp fire breather, as Nismo intended. Also scooped a prize too, for its fabulous condition after an 8yr restoration.
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datsunfreak wrote:
No Kev, you are eating a duck fetus.
