When you hear the words “Godzilla” or “Japanese Monster “, the image of which car emerges in your imagination first? In reply to the query, you’ll invariably name a model from Nissan Skyline GTR or R35 GTR without a second thought.

Nissan GTRs have not only made motorheads as fanboys, but have also created generations.

Advertisement

The affection and fandom, however, varied from time to time. Since the 1970s, Nissan cars began to dominate German or American counterparts, but it was the 90s top-secret project named 901 that helped Nissan’s Godzilla to establish an empire on the race track as well as in pop-culture.

Commenced in 1984, Nissan was having trouble with the Nissan Z which was fat and dull. Hence, the Nissan cars were not selling as expected, and winning races was miles away. As a result, the company was going through a rough patch.

However, in the last ten years, the later skylines had not merited the GTR designation. Then, in 1985, Yutaka Kume assumed the position of president of Nissan Motors at a time when the Nissan brand was drowning into red tape. During those tumultuous times, Kumei stopped his workers from building boxy, uninteresting cars which won’t go well with the buyers. He ignited a spirit to do something innovative that was previously lacking in Nissan.

The 901 movement is a corporate-wide initiative founded by Kumei and Nissan. By 1990, it hoped to produce the car that promised the best performance in the world. This was a turning point in the history of Nissan.

Nismo, Nissan’s Performance Division, was established in 1984. In 1985, Nismo was ready to win when the car embarked on the touring race. Nismo aimed for the All-Japan Touring Car Championship and successfully achieved the goal. In group A championship, the best of Japan were up against the best of European and American cars, the Ford, BMW, Ferrari, and Porsche.

Group A was subject to certain limitations. They were vehicles that resembled those that customers could purchase from dealerships quite a bit. They were far more successful sales tools for Nissan since they only had minor body panel alterations. Racing enthusiasts would buy those vehicles seeing them win races.

Then came the Nissan R30 Skyline, which had achieved success in the group battle racing series. However, since it was in group A, it had to be mainly stock.

Therefore, all of the modified and tuned components were gone, and the R30 could not keep up with the BMW SIX series, Honda Civic Si, turbo Volvos, and even Levin Corollas. The first Skyline powered by a Response Balance “RB” was then introduced by Nissan in 1986 as R31. Though box-like, it did come in first in 1986 and won the overall championship.

Kume and Nissan had decided that it was the time they resuscitated the holy GTR batch even though all the parts weren’t in place.

The silver and crimson letters that formerly adorned the skyline had gone for the next 15 years. And Nissan knew exactly what they needed to construct because they established Group A as their aim from the start for the next-generation skyline.

They created a 2.6 litre inline six using the RB platform. It had a huge engine with two turbos that produced about 320 horsepower at idle and increased to more than six or 800 horsepower when used on a racetrack. And because of the class requirements, they were aware that the 2.6 litre engine was the largest one they could fit. Additionally, weight was considered from the beginning.

The interior was simple and sturdy and grayish black. But if you were creating a vehicle to compete with the Porsche 928 and the Ferrari 355, you could have thought that the R 32 GTR was merely utilitarian. It had a straightforward aerodynamic body design. In comparison to the 1980s’ boxy skylines, it was an upgrade. Additionally, they had created aluminium panels to maintain their group’s unity.

However, the secret weapon that was the secret to the GTR success can be found spinning beneath the carpeting, hidden beneath that humble exterior. The system of ATTESA E-TS, the utilisation of extreme horsepower is made possible by distributing so much power across four axles rather than just two.

Only when the rear wheels start to lose traction, the GTRs all-wheel drive system engages the front wheels. To supply electricity precisely where and when it was needed, it made use of computers and G force sensors. The end result was unmatched grip in all circumstances and superior power distribution to the rear wheels.

While the RB26DTT receives all the attention today, it was the best of both worlds. The GTR was truly unique because of this Tesla system.

The GTR is the most advanced weapon used in group A touring car racing to date, and their overpowering results are uncommon in sports. The best of Ford, Honda, and Toyota were left in the dust as the GTR won the first place and filled the podium in the majority of the 29 races from 1990 to 1993. Driving a R32 was essentially unethical in group A. The outcome consolidated Nissan’s position as Japan’s king of performance cars. It defeated the foreign foes who had been humiliating them in their own country. The reputation of Japanese motorsport was restored.

The Z32 300ZX, S13 Silvia, and R32 Skyline GT-R are just a few of the iconic vehicles made possible by the 901 movement.

The reputation of a car company as well as the Japanese automobile industry at large was restored as a result of the monster they had produced which set the race course on fire. Godzilla was the new name that everyone feared around the globe.