Memory Capsules
Im often overwhelmed by the whole idea of importing cars from Japan. Over the last few years on the website, I’ve rambled enough about just how interesting I find the whole process. This little gold Skyline is a classic case of that. Lets just take a step back for a moment, anyone of you out there that has ever built a car, put all that work into it, with friends, family, the people you have met, the people you shared those experiences with, the jobs you worked to save the money to buy those parts, the late late nights of frustration and anger, accompanied by the days of utter joy you shared behind the wheel….
You have this crazy bond to a piece of metal, when you invest that amount of time into a car, it almost becomes a living breathing almost organic living object, you know all of its little imperfections, its little quirks and flaws… It’s a fascinating relationship that many people have with their cars. Now take this skyline… I guess there is many things that will always fascinate us about Japan, but its undoubtedly true that so many of the cars that made their way over here, if they could talk… Have some of the most fascinating or interesting stories… This car has some kind of history, just like many, and it looks like an interesting one.
If there were a way to unravel it all, it would be incredible. A way to trace everything back, almost like car archeology. This car is perfectly slotted into the mid to late 90s style. It always gets me how it can just retain such a look, almost like looking through the layers of soil to see what was around on the earth at a certain time. Its fascinating how one can look at a car, and judging by its modifications you can place it on a timeline somewhere, even if the car is years old…
Each piece has its history, where it was purchased, what was sacrificed to get a hold of that part… a bumper, those wheels, some old team stickers….how many a friend gathered around in a shed for late night missions. I tend to over think all of this when I look at most of these cars that made their way over here, each of them must have a similar tale to tell. This skyline like so many others, the whole timeline that brought the car to where it is today… the se cars travel half way around the world, on a box floating across the ocean.. almost to be reborn again, given a second life, sometimes a new identity, a new story.
Once again, this skyline will bring someone biggest smile when the car exchanges hands… This car will probably bring the owner closer to death than most other situations in their lifetime; this car will bring joy, anger, frustration, confusion, a sense of satisfaction, a learning curve. Once again somewhere else on the other side of the world, this honest little inanimate steel object will be apart of someone else’s mission in life, leading them to a whole other collection of memories.
Eventually this car may meet its faith, just like the many others R32’s which have come and long gone. This gold lookers timeline may last another year, or maybe another ten. The car may change hands five more times. There is so many of these tales to be told,
As we push into the future, things are going to get interesting, how many more cars are hiding in Japan like this? How many more are going to land over here, or anywhere for that matter? Some day there wont be an R32 to buy off of the auctions, the cars themselves will be memories just like the owners who built them.
If there is anything to take from this ramble, I guess we shouldn’t take all this stuff for granted, enjoy the fact cars like this exist, while they exist, be thankful companies did create the cars we obsesses over, because over the coming decades there may not be another wave of quirky machines like this to play with, the golden era in Japan is well and truly gone, and as whatever is left in Japan gets plucked and spread across the world, I truly believe this will be an era we will look back on as our “hot rod” era, and it may never come again.
For those curious… Here is a list of the spec that was gathered for this GTS-T over the years in Japan:
Wheels/Tires/Suspension/Handling
Enkei Intellesse wheels (17×8 et15 and 17×9 et36)
Dunlop Direzza DZ101 tyresRB25det
GAB strut bar
OS Giken Twin plate clutch
Cusco 2-way
GP Sports GR-6 coilovers
Nismo bottom arms
Safety 21 roll cage
Cusco camber arms
Exterior
GTR style FRP bonnet with catches
TBO TRUST front bumper
Dart Izumi version 1 side skirts and rear lip
Universal GT spoiler
Engine
HKS GT2540 Turbo
Full 3” straight through exhaust
Split fire coils
HKS air cleaner and box
TRUST FMIC
HKS oil cooler
Custom oil cooler air duct
HKS F-CON pro ecu
TOMEI pon cams
GTR rad
Z32 AFM
NISMO fuel pump
BLITZ twin SBC
R-SPEC turbo timer
Interior
EVO 3 Recaros on lowered rails
Kenwwod double din head unit
Carrozzeria speakers
Personal wheel
5 piece HKS gauge set