Nissan’s iconic R32 Skyline GT-R became one of the most revered racing cars of its era, thanks in part to its screaming twin-turbo straight-six ‘RB26’ engine.
However, 35 years on from its debut, Nissan is bringing ‘Godzilla’ into the modern age by making the GT-R an electric vehicle (EV).
Set to be unveiled in full at next year’s Tokyo Auto Salon in January, the R32EV is a concept built by a team of Nissan’s volunteer engineers who began work on the electric-converted coupe in March 2023.
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Nissan is yet to reveal details about the R32EV, though it’s known that it goes without the petrol-powered 2.6-litre RB26 that powered the circa-44,000 GT-Rs made between 1989 and 1994, 100 of which were officially sold in Australia.
At the time, Nissan claimed the Skyline GT-R produced 206kW, however, the true figure is understood to be much higher due to a gentleman’s agreement between Japanese carmakers at the time, which limited official outputs to 206kW.
A five-speed manual transmission and all-wheel drive were standard, the latter of which gave the Skyline a significant advantage over its rear-wheel drive, racetrack rivals such as the Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500, BMW M3 and Holden Commodore.
Original R32 GT-R
This led to two Bathurst 1000 wins in 1991 and 1992, before new regulations came into effect in 1993, outlawing the all-wheel drive GT-R from competition.
The concept’s unveiling comes at a pivotal time for Nissan, which has faced mounting financial woes in recent months due to slipping sales in its two biggest markets.
A report by The Financial Times last month claimed a senior official close to the carmaker said “we have 12 or 14 months to survive”.
Hyper Force concept 
Nissan plans to launch 27 new electrified models – comprising 19 new EVs and eight new hybrid models – across the its core Nissan and luxury Infiniti brands by fiscal year 2030.
One of these new electrified models could be a new GT-R, powered by a hybrid or all-electric powertrain.
The Nissan Hyper Force concept at last year’s Tokyo motor show previewed the potential future of the GT-R as a 1000kW electric coupe, with reports from Japan claiming the R36-generation model will feature solid-state batteries.
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