Nissan Heritage Collection:
Touring the Zama Factory Museum

The 1990s saw the launch of the R33 Skyline GT-R in 1995, with both ’97 and ’98 specs being on display to show the slight differences in the body.

This is the rarest GT-R ever produced, the 1995 R33 LM. This is a 1 of 1 monster produced by Nismo and it’s basically a road going GT car. Truly priceless.

Just as rare is this stunning R390 GT1. It’s the definition of a “Homologation Special”, this single example of a road car being produced to meet Le Mans regulations so that the race car version could compete in the 24 Hour race. The GT1 road car was never marketed, but it was rumoured to be worth 100 million yen if it had been put on sale.

This Bayside Blue R34 Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec is identical to the one I saw on display in the Nissan Ginza dealership showroom while travelling to Japan on business. This is the car that started my GT-R obsession and launched the adventure that eventually led to me starting my own tuning shop, Kaizen Tuning. It was a very special car for me personally to see.

These are some of the marketing images used when the R34 GT-R was launched in ’99.

This is one of the very last Skyline GT-Rs to be produced by Nissan, the M-Spec Nür. Only 250 of these were made as 2002 models, the Nür part referring to the Nurburgring where it was fine-tuned. It came equipped with an improved RB26DETT based on the N1 racing engine and used larger turbos that increased lag slightly but were more durable and able to handle the boost level necessary to generate 450-hp.

Of course the R34 kicked all kinds of ass out on the race track, the yellow No.1 Pennzoil GT500 Japan GT Championship version being the last of the SuperGT cars that was based on an actual production chassis. This particular car won the Driver’s Championship in ’99 and ’00 with E. Comas at the wheel.

After that the R34 SuperGT cars like this one used a full motorsports chassis that share very little with the road-going version of the GT-R.

Which brings us to 2008 when Nissan launched the R35 GTR and finally made Godzilla a true world car by selling it in North America. The only examples of the R35 at Zama were race cars, including a couple of GT500 versions like this Autech/Motul monster. Japanese SuperGT cars have become extremely advanced and feature some of the most extensive aero of any GT series going.

This R35 FIA GT1 Nismo GTR campaigned by JRM was also on display. Unlike the SuperGT version, this GT1 Nismo GTR is built on a production chassis, but rather than using a VR38DETT and AWD it’s powered by a 600-hp Nismo VK56DE and sends power to the rear wheels only. In many ways it’s the predecessor to the new GT3 Nismo GTR.

The Zama Museum was something I have dreamed a long time about touring. It is one of the few places to exceed my expectations in the automotive world. Almost ever one of the hundreds of Nissan, Prince, and Datsun examples could have been a 2-hour exploration in what made those cars great. Dakar rally cars with battle damage still on their fenders 50 years later. Japan GT500 cars that I only dreamed of seeing after driving them in Gran Tourismo. All of this contained under one roof, hidden inside a factory a secluded factory. And for me it was especially memorable because I got to revisit the car that started my hunger for Japanese performance. The Bayside Blue R34 GT-R and its brutal lines spoke to me, just as they did at Ginza all those years ago. Zama is a special place. I’m just glad to have found it and had the chance to share it with you.

All the details on the Nissan Heritage Collection at Zama can be found here: http://www.nissan-global.com/EN/HERITAGE/index2.html