R33 GTR Nissan Skyline (1995–1998)

The R33 GTR Nissan Skyline was launched in January 1995 as the successor to the legendary R32 model. The new R33 used the same 2.6 Liter twin-turbo engine as the R32. And it shared the same 5 speed manual gearbox, although the syncros were made stronger. The weak oil pump drive collar in the R32 engine, which was likely to fail in higher power applications, was fixed with a wider collar. The intake camshaft on the R33 engine was also improved making torque slightly higher.

Although the Japanese law stopped the new GTR from exceeding the 280PS of its forefather, Nissan improved upon just about everything else that made the Nissan R32 GTR into such a legend.

The race car was given the nickname "Godzilla" in Australia, so crushing was its superiority over the Ford and Holden V8's. It was inevitable that the governing bodies of motorsport would soon find ways to legislate the formidable car out of competition. The Godzilla Skyline continued dominate racetracks around the world, claiming trophies wherever it went.

A proud moment in history for the R33 was when it took the production car lap record at the Nurburgring in Germany. The stock standard version blasted around the 13-miles and 172 corners of the circuit in 7 minutes 59 seconds. If you know the Nurburgring circuit you will understand how good that is.

The Nissan R33 created a large market for unofficial aftermarket performance parts, and an official one Nissan's own NISMO "Nissan Motorsport" division. Although the production model only came out with 280PS, Nissan's engineers designed the engine to cope with a lot more power.