Triple threat of Aussie-eating Godzillas head to auction

Thursday, 21 June 2018

Do three Godzillas make a King Ghidorah?

Sorry for that extremely nerdy reference to Godzilla's three-headed archenemy in the original Japanese movies, but it is for good reason because three of the 100 original 1991 R32 Nissan Skyline GT-Rs delivered new in Australia are headed to auction at the same time next month.

The three cars to go under the hammer at Shannons Melbourne Winter Auction on July 16 all come from a 'well-known' collection and are each in one of the factory metallic colours of Jet Silver, Black Pearl and Red Pearl.

Not quite a three-headed monster, but pretty monstrous nonetheless - three 1991 R32 GT-Rs are heading to auction.

And to make things even more tempting, they are all being offered with no reserve.

The R32 GT-R got its 'Godzilla' nickname because it was a Japanese monster that demolished the opposition in the Australian Touring Car Championship. Lucky they didn't go with 'Mothra' really.

* Nissan New Zealand gets busy with Nismo

* Gold Godzilla Nissan GT-R comes with $1.4m price tag

The oldest car of the three, Oz R32 #22 has low mileage and is in excellent condition.

* No longer curious about the fast and furious Nissan GT-R Nismo**

Oz R32 #46 is in black metallic and has an after-market sports exhaust.

The R32 GT-R was always going to be a legend, right from its introduction in 1989, as it was the most sophisticated performance car to come out of Japan at the time.

The red metallic car is Oz R32 #76 and comes with a bunch of paperwork.

Combining all-wheel drive and all-wheel steering with the output of its DOHC 24-valve, turbocharged 2.6-litre in-line six-cylinder engine quoted conservatively at 191kW (thanks to a 'gentleman's agreement' between Japanese manufacturers not to exceed 206kW, but it was, in reality, nearer to 224kW) the R32 was capable of being tuned to achieve more than 373kW in full race trim.

And it was in race trim that the GT-R cemented its status as a legend in these parts of the world, controversially dominating in the Australian Touring Car Championship with three successive titles from 1990 to 1992 and victories at Bathurst in 1991 and 1992 earning it the 'Godzilla' nickname.

The three GT-R's being auctioned are the 22nd (Silver), 46th (Black) and 76th (Red) of the 100 factory-delivered Australian cars, with the local cars being distinguished from their Japanese-delivered counterparts by a number of details including unique badges, outer tail lamp lenses, stereo head units and Bosch roof-mounted aerials.

The R32 GT-R sold for AU$110,000 when new - roughly AU$206,000 (NZ$220,000) today - and Shannons are a quoting very conservative guiding range for each of AU$70,000-$85,000 (NZ$75,000-$91,000).

As #22/100, the Jet Silver R32 GT-R R32 delivered in May, 1991 is the earliest of the three cars and was believed to be owned originally by Nissan's factory race team, Gibson Motorsport.

According to Shannons it 'presents today in excellent condition throughout, commensurate with its indicated 82,000 kilometres.'

The Black Pearl Metallic R32 GT-R (#46/100) was delivered to its first owner on the Gold Coast in June 1992 and remains in original factory specification, other than its larger sports exhaust system.

Shannons say the car comes with its original delivery books and is in good overall condition but 'would really sparkle with some extra elbow grease.'

The Red Pearl Metallic R32GT-R (#76/100) is offered in 'well-maintained, factory original condition' and came from long-term ownership before joining the collection with approximately 190,000km on the clock and comes with its delivery books, a large receipts file and an original GT-R key.

According to Shannons (and rather obviously) Australian-delivered R32 Nissan Skyline GT-Rs in factory original condition are now rare and highly sought-after among enthusiasts.

Not as rare as a three-headed golden dragon, but arguably way cooler. As well as being less likely to level a Japanese city fighting with couple of other monsters and a giant moth.