Skyline Article in The Japan Times

[sakijo]

I hope the link works.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20060219x1.html

[Alfadog]

Thanks Miles, yes it did work. For want of starting a bit of a discussion I would like to bring up a couple of things

Although their owners often stripped them of unnecessary trim and excess weight to improve racing performance, most GT-Rs never saw a real race track, but were instead raced illegally at night on the acres of concrete in dockland districts of Japan's port cities. Urban legend has it that the now-mainstream sport of drift racing first appeared at this time, when GT-R drivers used power slides to beat less powerful, but more nimble, Mazda RX-3s through tricky bends and intersections.

I'm not sure how true this is? If the GT-R's were so expensive, how did mere illegal street racers get their mitts on them?

in 1971 Nissan replaced the Hakosuka with the "Kenmeri" GT-R

I'm sure we all know the mistake here.

Over the next 14 years, Nissan revamped the Skyline several times, making it progressively uglier with each incarnation

ROFL The author gets straight to the point!

All that changed with the arrival of the R32 in 1988.

I thought it was released in 1989?

Nice article though, thanks!

[ducksworthy]

Ive read alot of stupid articles on GTR's but that one tops the lot. "The Ferrari's and Lamborghini's of the time" could double the horse power of a C10 GTR. And you're right R32's did come out in 1989, and the list goes on. What a load of $^!#

[Mr Camouflage]

However, none of these sporty variations was badged as a GT-R, as they were not true racing cars, but mere GTs.

All that changed with the arrival of the R32 in 1988.

The GT-R returned with the R31 (in 1988 I think for the GT-R) . From what I understand it was baically just a homologation run of 200 GT-R's so that nissan could get the GT-R parts approved for racing.

[HS30-H]

The GT-R returned with the R31 (in 1988 I think for the GT-R) . From what I understand it was baically just a homologation run of 200 GT-R's so that nissan could get the GT-R parts approved for racing.

Mr C,

Would that not have been the R31 'GTS-R'? They were pretty special, and the last gasp of the R30/R31 in racing. They were bloody fast........

The R32-series Skyline debuted in 1988 ( with the 'ordinary' saloons ) but the BNR32 ( GT-R ) didn't hit the streets until late 1989.

I think the article is an 'interesting' take on the story, but it is slightly irritating that they include a fair few mistakes and then the whole Playstation thing.

Alan T.

[Mr Camouflage]

Ah yes. I stand corrected. it was the GTS-R. I forgot the S.

[EricB]

This sentence kills me:

"But what spread the white-knuckle word about these awesome four-wheeled beasts with four funny round lights on the back was not televised races, but a little box called the PlayStation"

What is the Japan Times Online? Just a sub-section of the Weekly World News or some other sensationalist supermarket checkout rag? This is the kind of writing I'd expect from a high school student, no?

Weak.

-e

[sakijo]

What is the Japan Times Online? Just a sub-section of the Weekly World News or some other sensationalist supermarket checkout rag? This is the kind of writing I'd expect from a high school student, no?

-e

The Japan Times Online is the electronic version of the Japan Times, one of Japan's major daily newspapers. I think the fault lies in the writer, Mr. Justin Gardner. The tag line says "Special to the Japan Times." So . . . . he's obviously not a paid staffer, but I think, a freelancer. BUt the paper should have checked before publishing.

[EricB]

Miles,

I was being facetious...

-e

[sakijo]

Miles,

I was being facetious...

-e

-e: ----------------------> miles