Since 1969, Nissan has offered a potent sports car called the GT-R as sort of a halo model for the brand. The earliest versions were based on the sporty but not particularly fast Skyline coupe. The result was a performance bargain, much faster and better handling than the extra cost would seem to warrant.
Godzilla, as the car came to be known, was a fun way to tear up the streets in style. It eventually became a legendary beast rivaling the best high-end sports cars the rest of the world had to offer.
The Skyline GT-R would go through several generations, culminating the the latest version, now just called GT-R. Nissan announced recently that they are now taking the final production orders for this car, and will cease production when those orders are filled.
To celebrate the history of this engineering marvel, we wanted to look at the GT-R in miniature form.
Early GT-R cars seem almost quaint by modern standards, but they still provided a major leap in performance over the stock Skyline. In recent years, the original platform has been a favorite for retro drift cars, with classic style and low-tech fast. Adovanspirit makes a nice model of a race-ready version, while Pop Race has a super modified drift version. Muscle Machines also made one seen in the lead image above.
The GT-R variants from the mid-’90s to the mid-‘00s are the most revered in popular culture as they hit the sweet spot for performance, cost (in a relative sense), and sleeper style. They are also easy to modify with plenty of parts available. So it’s no wonder there are so many models available in miniature.
The R32, debuting in the mid-1990s, kicked off the modern era of the GT-R. Kyosho makes some nice 1/18 models of several generations, but let’s ponder their RC version, which allows you to go nuts on your own private driveway course.
The R33 version updated the GT-R line with more performance and slightly more modern details. TomyTec has this generation covered as a police patrol car, which is beyond cool.
The R34 generation is the one many enthusiasts name THE Skylne to have. It doesn’t hurt that it was featured in the Fast and Furious franchise, of course. AUTOart has a super detailed 1/18 model of this car, complete with flocked trunk carpeting.
The current and soon-to-be-extinct GT-R has been with us for a while, since 2007. Unlike previous versions of the GT-R, this generation was a purpose-built car and not a variant of an existing model. It did use the same platform essentials as the Skyline and Z models, however.
Norev makes a beautiful 1/18 model of the current generation. It’s a 2007 model, but not all that much has changed over the last couple of decades.
Do you have any favorite Nissan GT-R models? Let us know in the comments!
