Hakosuka Skyline a Crack Pipe?

nissan skyline c10 gt-r clone
A Nissan Skyline KGC10 2000-GTX appeared on Jalopnik’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe the other day, and for the asking price of $20,000 it got a barrage of the pipe. The long-running series asks readers to vote whether a particular vehicle is worth the asking price based on an ebay auction or craigslist ad. Unfortunately, that presupposes that its readers actually know anything about hakosuka Skylines.Many seem to have voted “pipe” simply because the car is a clone without the GT-R’s DOHC S20 motor, without considering that a running S20 motor by itself is worth more than this entire car, a genuine GT-R would be trading at over six digits, and the rarity of true GT-Rs.

This hako in question, imported by Right Hand Drive Japan, can be found at this ebay auction. And if any JNC readers would like to give Jalopnik readers an education, don’t let us hold you back.

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32 Responses to Hakosuka Skyline a Crack Pipe?

  1. Alan says:

    I’m a regular to both Jalopnik and JNC. I have to say that for the most, Jalops are some of the most knowledgeable and broad-minded enthusiasts I’ve ever encountered. I was an early voter for this thing, and yes – I voted crack pipe. It’s worth $15K all day every day, but $20K? No.

  2. dan says:

    20 is fairly good price..since it runs for 15 over there..but this ones in pretty nice condition..and bringin over seas and what not..nice price…i feel like takin a loan out and gettin it..:P

  3. bert says:

    Some people still see japanese nostalgics as cheap old A-B transportation, and most people will balk at anything priced over three digits. However this car, like a lot of nostalgics we’ve seen lately looks to be in very good shape, is becoming increasingly rare, and the values on these are only going up, clone or not. Having a car like this, I assume the owner has done his research and might know what he is talking about, and if he feels his car is worth 20 grand, no ones going to be able to convince him that it’s not! What we need to do is watch what the car ACTUALLY SELLS FOR, and then we will know if the price is nice or if someones been on the pipe for to long!

  4. Oyaji Gaijin says:

    A question for Alan. Is the car worth $15,000 in Japan, or in the US? If it is worth $15,000 all day every day in downtown Tokyo, it would draw a higher price in Torrance, California, based on rarity at that location and transportation across the ocean. In the same way, a 1970 Camaro, Mustang, or whatever, with the less desirable engine, would draw a higher price in downtown Tokyo (where they would be somewhat rare and impossible to get) than in Torrance, California (where a little looking would lead to a list of available whatever American muscle car is desired). I have no idea what the going rate for a 1970 Skyline is, but if a mid 90’s Skyline has a minimum market value of $25,000+ in the US, it’s not hard to see that a rarer, earlier model year, which meets the age requirement for a classic car (and from the Grand Prix era), to be reasonably priced at $20,000.

    I’d also point out that the wider the accepted appreciation of prices for something like a 1970 Skyline are, the more reasonable it is for the rest of us to expect improved value for our Japanese cars that are not Skylines or are less than 40 years old.

  5. Julian says:

    …in Australia YES
    if I had the moolah for sure, it’s still a beautiful car to behold.
    I want one!

  6. cesariojpn says:

    Fellow Jalopnik-er here.

    I did vote Crack Pipe. This “Faux GT-R” is pretty much the Import/J-Tin Scene version of the Muscle Car “Clones” that were prevalent a few years back that went for stupid money (“Wrecks to Riches” anyone? “Overhaulin?” “American Hot Rod?”).

    When it comes down to it, it’s just a base-model car with GT-R badging. And to add insult to injury, there is no performance gains whatsoever. It’s merely just a simple restoration gussied up abit to present itself as an imposter.

    At least the Muscle Car “Clones” could actually back-up their claims behind the badges.

  7. Xavier says:

    After browsing a few Japanese dealership sites.
    I say would say the price is pretty spot on for what it is ??

  8. banpei says:

    What a lot of people tend to forget is that it may cost only $15K in Japan. But getting it to shipped and registered adds a lot of money on top of that $15K.

    And if I compare the $15K with several other sources the prices is actually very good! It doesn’t have severe rust and it has the GT-R taillights and fenders. Cars with less rust than this one are around $20 to $25K and cars with more rust are around $10K. So I don’t see why $20K is too high for a car in a decent state and already shipped to the US…

    But of course everybody wants to own a genuine GT-R and not the fake GT-R. I’ve seen the same with the AE86: everybody wants a real Trueno, not a GT-S with some replica bumpers. 😉

  9. KPGC10-001218 says:

    Seems you need to be ‘approved’ before they will post your comments….

  10. KPGC10-001218 says:

    There are more mistakes in this article than you can shake a stick shift at, shirley. Nissan “purchased” Prince Motor Co? No, Nissan and PMC were forcibly merged ( it didn’t cost Nissan anything ) at the behest of Japan’s trade ministry. “C1” model? This is the C10 SERIES and its various models we are talking about here. The C10 series had a fair bit of input from Nissan during its final design stages ( it’s not just a Nissan-badged Prince ) and what’s this talk about it being made in Tochigi? This car was made in the Maruyama plant……

  11. KPGC10-001218 says:

    JALOPNIK describe this car as a “KC10”, when it is clearly a KGC10 ( a KC10 chassis prefix would denote one of the short wheelbase 4-cylinder variants ), and you talk about “SU-aping Mikunis”, when these stock carbs are actually SU-licensed Hitachis.

    JALOPNIK says “….there never were any 1970 GT-Rs..”? Wrong again. The four-door PGC10 ( the very first Skyline GT-R ) was launched in February 1969, and the 2HT model KPGC10 was launched in October 1970…..

  12. slickwrick says:

    damn there is alot of morons out there!

    thats a hard lookin skyline too!

    shit id scoop it up!

    tell me where the fuck would you find a cheaper one in the same condition?

  13. 2000gtx says:

    the people that want them will buy it .i wanted one and bought it .is as simple as that…i think we all have way too much time on our hands to argue over such stupid $%$# like this…it was a dumb thread to even bring up…because there are lots of cars that are overpriced..everybody wants to make a buck on the classic jdm thing…lets all work on our cars and stop wasting time on the internet….

  14. Ben says:

    2000gtx – I get where you’re coming from, but Jalopnik is one of the most popular car sites on the web. My hope was that we could at least offer an alternative perspective and not have their error-filled post be the end-all-be-all on this subject. We are trying to protect the value of these cars and not letting uninformed people calling it “overpriced” without pointing out the flaws in their logic.

    Having said that, I have a lot of respect for the Jalopnik team and read it regularly. Consider this an open invitation for them to consult us on matters of all things J-tin. And when I say “us” I mean the readers as well.

  15. kev says:

    The irony is that at $20k, RHDJapan is probably losing money…these things (even replicas) are expensive in Japan.

  16. KPGC10-001218 says:

    Seems that Jalopnik will not ‘approve’ me and post my comments. Oh well……

    I agree with the comments here with regard to the starting price of the ebay auction. You’d have a hard time finding such a car in equivalent condition in Japan for a price that could match this once you’d paid all the expenses that the vendor will have incurred in getting it to the USA. There seems to be very little margin for any business profit, so – like Kev points out – if it sells at $20k US they may well be making no profit at all.

    The mistakes in the Jalopnik article should not be excused. They need to up their game if they are going to start wading in the muddy waters of old Japanese car history……

  17. KPGC10-001218 says:

    And 2000gtx, what am I going to do when it is cold, wet and windy outside if I can’t grumble at people on the internets?!

  18. kev says:

    Here’s a question for my american friends.

    What’s the mkt value of say a mid 60s Mustang, not numbers matching, originally t-code but restored to GT spec with V8 4bbl etc? Is it roughly the same as $20k?

    I think part of the problem is that cars are just so cheap in the USA. Correct me if I’m wrong but US$20k roughly buys you a brand new Golf GTi, right? Thing is, in Australia the same car is more like US$40k. So any Aussie looking at that Hako above is probably drooling over how cheap it is, while our american friends are thinking that you could buy an awful lot of new car for the same money 🙂

    But as Alan said, the price is a function of the cost to buy these things in Japan. We actually have a recent thread about buying a Hako in Japan, for a forum member who is stationed there at the moment. A nice GTR-rep is more like US$25-30k, and that’s in Japan…before you bear the costs of bringing it home.

    http://japanesenostalgiccar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7066

  19. bert says:

    Kev-I recently saw a 69 Toyota corona for sale for $1800. It was stock and looked very clean, even so when I showed the add to a friend of mine, his response was “1800! for a japanese car! It looks like fun but it’ll never be worth that much.” Thats the opinion of most car enthusiasts in the States. Bring A Trailer currently has 2 late 60’s Mustang Trans Am replicas for sale at $30,000 and $25,000. They look cool, but I can find old Mustangs all day long. However, because they are american, they’ll get more respect than this Skyline (wich is getting rarer by the day) that would probably blow them off the road in every way. Even though old japanese cars are getting some major much deserved attention recently, they still won’t get the respect they deserve in the majorities uneducated eyes. Thus the reason for all the balking at this cars price!

  20. Kev says:

    Well I suppose on a certain level….if everyone liked J-nostalgics, then they wouldn’t be so cool 🙂

  21. bert says:

    Kev-I like your thinking!

  22. Sr-FairladyZ says:

    In the US I say $20K is a perfectly fair price for this car, and on this site, I feel I don’t need to elaborate. I have been following RHD Japan on ebay for a couple months. They are bringing in Skylines by the tons. At one point they had 3 GC10’s (one with a L28 and triple solex’s) and a couple GC110’s. All clean looking specimen. I “watched” them all to see what the US would would think is a fair price since the starting bid was like $100. I was blown away that no one even got past $7,000!! Of course there was a reserve on all of them.

  23. Kev says:

    I’m quite surprised at how the RHDJapan cars are seemingly hard to sell. I mean you guys have a lot of ppl paying huge prices for US muscle cars, so there’s no shortage of car guys with deep pockets and more heart than head 🙂

    $20k is cheap for being (one of the) first kids on the block with a rare and desireable car.

  24. cesariojpn says:

    The difference between Muscle cars and J-Tin is that Muscle cars have tons of Mid-aged Guys going thru a Mid-Life Crisis and have the ready cash to spend on their affliction.

  25. Jake says:

    Did any of you see the 1966 Toyota Corona that sold at Mecum Auction for like $36,000? Granted it was all original with 8,000 something miles on it. But still there is a market developing for our beloved cars that gets alot of support and cred from websites like JNC!

  26. bert says:

    The mid aged guys also grew up with these muscle cars at a time when Japanese cars were still seen as cheap imports. Made in Japan was taken the same way made in China is now. I deal with a lot of these “good ol boys” on a daily basis, and they seem to be pretty stubborn! There’s bound to be some heads clashing when the ol boys and the young punks who tell them their muscle cars suck meet!

    @Jake-$36,000? Thats awesome! Our favorite cars selling at prices like that is going to help boost the favorable opinion of J-tin.

  27. datsun dude says:

    this all reminds me of those 1970 something mopar piles….inflating prices to cars that cant perform close to any modern japanese sports car that cost a fraction of a Cuda or challenger.Truth be told,I’d take four any kind of skyline or more for the same price as a single mopar crap car.I actually owned a 1970 440 challanger POS.It did have some style points but was a total bore to drive unless you like tire smoke.

  28. datsun dude says:

    by the way…I’m one of those middle aged guys and my mid-life thing involves J-tin and I’m a white guy from so cal

  29. Neil says:

    Crack Pipe or Nice Price. Either way it is sitting in my garage now. The car is in great shape. Thanks Right Hand Drive/ Rick and Hiro

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