The 2 least appreciated generations of the Nissan GTR history

The “GTR” name is the most known cars in the world known for its history on motorsports, illegal street race scenes, racing games and also movies, and it is being recognized by most people as the flagship car from the JDM car scene. These cars had collected quite a lot of fans, weather it is Japanese car fans and even European car fans adored the GTR. The thing is that there are 2 generations of the GTR which were much less appreciated, and these GTRs are the “Kenmeri” C110 and the 4th generation R33.

The KPGC110 Skyline GTR

After the success of the 1st generation “Hakosuka” GTR, this newer version was announced back in 1972 during the 19th Tokyo Motor Show. The design of the car remains boxy, but it is a mix with the “Muscle Car” looks which is an element Nissan also used with the S30Z and it also featured the 2 circular taillights which has become an icon to the GTR brand onwards. The car also fitted with the same S20 I6 engine from its predecessor, and it was actually the first Japanese car with Disc Brakes fitted on all 4 wheels. Unlike the previous generation, the name of the 2nd generation C110 Skyline GTR is not from the characteristics where “Hakosuka” is Japanese for Boxy Design; the “Kenmeri” name is actually from a couple on an advertisement of this car which is a unusual kind of way of naming a car. The car went into production a year later but it is unfortunately short lived due to the 1970 Oil Crisis which costed the demand of high performance sport cars and also the introduction of a new emission regulations shortly after this car went on sale. The 2nd factor really killed of the further life of the Kenmeri GTR, and Nissan stopped making it only months later with less than 200 Units made, making it the most underrated and rarest GTR as of today.

The BCNR33 Skyline GTR

The other less-appreciated GTR is the R33 Skyline GTR. The 4th generation GTR debuted in 1995 as a successor from the R32 GTR which had received much love from it. Like the R32, the R33 is fitted with the RB26 I6 engine with 2 ceramic turbochargers but it is fitted with a wider collar for the oil pump. Apart from the pump, everything remained the same from the predecessor for the standard model; only it is heavier (a lot) so it does sounded bad on paper. However, the V Spec version featured an Advanced Total Traction Engineering System for All-Terrain Electronic Torque Split or ATTESA ET-S which is there to control the torque on the front and rear wheels, though the previous R32 also featured this system, the V Spec R33 onwards featured the enhanced “Pro” version that includes active rear LSD that could control the left and right wheels, this means that all 4 wheels could be adjusted individually and it also included an ABS on each wheel. The most known and the best tuned R33 is the infamous Nismo 400R that featured a bored and stroked version of the RB26 engine, resulted with the new 2.8L RB-X GT2 engine, resulting 0-100 km/h in 4 seconds and a top speed of 300 km/h, and also improved aero with Nismo bodykits, spoiler, and bonnet. Overall though, the R33 started on the wrong foot, yet it does able to be improved to be one of the most respectable GTRs out there.

Thoughts

These 2 generations of the GTR history were probably the most left-out ones; the C110 is quite reasonable due to the fact that it came out in a very wrong time and it is very limited so not much people in the current generation probably paid attention about it with the lack of pedigree and history, but I do think that it deserved much more recognition as a result of its exclusivity and it started the duo-circular taillights as an icon of the GTR brand and it has about the same performance as the original C10. The R33 is probably the 996 generation of the GTR world; the least welcomed one by enthusiasts, largely because of the “boaty” design which some people claimed is not the best design idea and the body is much larger and heavier than the R32 by 100 Kilograms which is massive, people who experienced the R32 and the R33 would think that the latter felt too heavy. Again despite this, the R33 deserved much more appreciation because it featured the enhanced electronic-controlled AWD system which is drafted to the R34, and it is one of the first production cars to lap the Nurburgring in less than 8 minutes. The thing is that I always had a soft spot on the R33 and it is the 2 of my most favorite GTRs along with the R35 because I honestly think that it is the best looking generation with the more rounded design and with the longer wheelbase, it should be more controllable and predictable compared to the R32. If it wasn’t for the weight, the R33 could have been collected more fans and appreciation in my perspective, and this is the reason why I think that the bore-stroked 400R is one of the best GTR ever existed; it may still heavy but it has a much powerful engine which could compensate the weight and the improved aero which I think it makes the R33 looks better.

The C110 and the R33 GTR had received much less recognition and appreciation than it should have been as these cars weren’t bad GTR at all despite their mishaps. Though because they were underrated GTRs, it would not be bandwagon cars which means that these GTRs would be less likely to have a bad reputation by people who don’t really know much about the GTR brand.

Let me know what you think in the comments….