Nissan’s racing exploits in Japan, the US and even Africa should be at least somewhat familiar to long-time JNC readers by now. However, the automaker was hugely influential in the motorsports history of Australia as well. R30 and R31 Skylines were manufactured locally, Nissan racing legend Masahiro Hasemi raced there, and it was the only country outside of Japan where the R32 GT-R was officially sold.
We’ve delved into Nissan’s down under racing history before (in case you missed it, click here and then here), but Australian auto insurance firm Shannons recently produced a superb 45-minute documentary on the topic. It’s filled with rare footage and insight of Aussie racing heroes driving Bluebirds, R30, R31, and R32 Skylines on legendary circuits. It’s well worth a viewing. The video isn’t embed-able, so click over to the Shannons website to watch.
Fantastic to see JNC linking up with Shannons for this story!
Love to see more.
If you take a look at http://www.autopics.com.au you’ll find photos from ‘back in the day’ also.
The big three Japanese brands all have racing histories in Australia which pre-date those in most countries outside Japan. Would be worth a delve into the archives to see Toyota and Mazda as well as Honda, Isuzu and Prince in Australia….
Some truly fantastic racing happened back in the 80’s and 90’s, thanks in no small part to the efforts of Nissan and their drivers… for some more classic viewing, here’s a couple of videos that most australians should be familiar with but may be a bit less well known outside our shores (may have been referenced in the Shannons video):
– Glenn Seton in an R31 Skyline getting very sideways in the wet around bathurst (skip to 1:15 for some sphincter clenching action down conrod straight): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4D-JtvVvESc
– George Fury in the turbo bluebird, never as successful in the race as the skylines, but dominated qualifying for bathurst with the wick turned up on the turbo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwV7ZTyHY4M
DR30 not HR31, please make a mental note……….!
Top of the mountain at Mount Panorama…opposite lock and barely a lift.
Greatness.