Eternal Life: NISMO Heritage Program Building New Spare Parts for the GT-R

by Matthew Guy

Published: November 24th, 2017

eternal life nismo heritage program building new spare parts for the gt r

Nissan R32 GT-R owners in Japan will be able to enjoy wheeling their treasured rides around a lot longer, thanks to a program making new replacement parts available.

The parts will go on sale in Japan the first week of December as part of the new NISMO Heritage program, meaning that poorly modified R32 Godzillas hacked together in the wake of each Fast & Furious movie can now be properly restored.

The program is a joint activity of Nissan, NISMO, Autech Japan, and their suppliers. As a first step, NISMO Heritage will offer parts for the R32 Skyline GT-R, which was produced between August 1989 and January 1995.

The GT-R has a cult following around the globe, with the R32 starting to show up in limited numbers on American highways (now that it’s finally eligible for import).

NISMO has a good rap for supporting Skyline GT-R owners. Now, after studying the remanufacturing and resupplying of discontinued parts for the R32 – especially ones that are indispensable for the car to drive or to pass regular vehicle inspections in Japan – NISMO has decided to sell about 80 parts at the outset of the program. These include harnesses, hoses, emblems, and other exterior components.

If the project goes well, further consideration will be given to expanding the range of R32 parts on offer, as well as broadening the program’s scope to include the R33 and R34 GT-R models. When certain parts can’t be reproduced due to operational difficulties at original suppliers, NISMO will consider methods of replacing these parts using substitute, rebuilt or overhauled products, as well as NISMO-tuned parts.

In Europe, the R32 took the overall victory in the Spa 24 in 1991. It won the Australian Touring Car Championship for the first time in 1991, followed by another championship in 1992. The model saw Bathurst 1000 victories in both years. In Japan, the R32 scored wins in every Japanese Touring Car Championship race during the 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1993 seasons. Gamers will surely know that the car’s inclusion in Gran Turismo served to cement its status as a fan favorite.

The new NISMO Heritage parts will be on display at the NISMO Festival, held this weekend at Fuji Speedway in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.

[Images: Nissan]

#GT-R #Nismo #Nissan #NissanHeritage #R32 #R33 #R34 #Restoration

Matthew Guy

Matthew buys, sells, fixes, & races cars. As a human index of auto & auction knowledge, he is fond of making money and offering loud opinions.

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ToddAtlasF1 on Nov 25, 2017

A recently imported R32 showed up in my shop a week ago, its new owner looking for a Virginia state inspection. It was going to fail for any number of reasons, but we couldn't even perform a VSI because the car didn't have a VIN. JDM cars apparently have a model number and a chassis number, but no recognizable vehicle identification number. Consulting our VSI license administering state trooper led to us recommending that the car's owner seek registration first, which should include a state issued VIN that the state VSI computer system will accept. We also heard that it will cost many thousands of dollars to procure legal registration. I was amazed at how many people deeply involved in cars for decades don't know what an R32 is. The only thing a number of people I mentioned it to noticed about it was that it was right hand drive.

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- Bumpy ii on Nov 25, 2017
  
  Assuming all the federal paperwork is in order, it's mostly a matter of patience at the DMV to get a VA title. The car would have to be over 25 years old to import anyway, so registering it with antique plates would bypass the inspection issues.
  
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- Detroit-Iron on Nov 26, 2017
  
  I saw one a charity car show at a church about a month ago. I never realized how small they were. I saw it and thought that it was a nice, early 240sx. Look under the hood and there a '2.5' on the valve cover and a giant turbo, still didn't understand what I was looking at, I thought it must have been an engine swap. Finally realized it was RHD. The owner was a young veteran, very nice as you might expect, and happy to share his experience with titling and insuring the car. I think he said it was making like 430 at the wheel.
  
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- ToddAtlasF1 on Nov 26, 2017
  
  @bumpy ii I live in a fascist dystopian college town. People with perfectly legitimate antique plates on their old cars and trucks get hassled constantly by law enforcement until they give them up. I had a family bring in their old F100 for a state inspection that was going to involve some expensive repairs. I suggested antique plates, since it only had a couple hundred miles more than on last year's state inspection invoice. They told me that they had antique plates until the third time they were pulled over for them, the last time coming when their son was using the truck to pick up some mulch at Lowes. The police officer said it was being used as a work truck, so it can't have antique registration. Never mind that it was a few miles from the address it was registered to and the mulch wasn't part of a commercial endeavor. Maybe there are some parts of Virginia that still have better things to do than harass property owners, but Charlottesville earns its City of Hate title every day.
  
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- Ko1 on Nov 26, 2017
  
  @ToddAtlasF1 The thing about antique/collector/heritage plates/insurance is that you get special benefits in exchange for some very special restrictions. The police are correct to call someone out on using a truck with heritage plates for any kind of hauling because that sort of use most likely violates your state's rules and regs for having the collector plate. It would be the same if I were to drive a vehicle with farm plates and dyed gas for any reason except farm business.
  
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- Bumpy ii on Nov 26, 2017
  
  @Ko1 Yep, when I got the antique plates for my truck, the gal at the DMV told me not to haul stuff in it. You're supposed to only use it for cruising around every once in a while. If you're picking up mulch or appliances, you can expect to get popped.
  
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- Featherston on Nov 27, 2017
  
  @Ko1 A friend tried commuting in his Boattail Riv with antique plates, and a vigilant cop who had the same daily routine pulled him over on day 3 or day 4. I can't say it was unfair, as explained by Ko1.
  
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TMA1 on Nov 27, 2017

I just saw one of these today parked in the back of a parking garage. I didn't quite register what it was at first, but something stuck out about it. I haven't seen one in person in years. I'm surprised Virginia makes it that difficult to register foreign cars. Japanese Classics is in Richmond, and they're one of the biggest car importers in the country.

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