Why the Nissan GT-R is called Godzilla

The Nissan GT-R's “Godzilla” nickname, which has been embraced by car enthusiasts in the United States, has its origins in Australia. As Nissan's Australian division explains in a video, the nickname is well deserved.

After a 16-year hiatus, Nissan revived the Skyline GT-R in 1989 with the R32 generation, long before the GT-R was introduced in the U.S. as an exclusive model rather than a derivative of the Skyline sedan. But as a right-hand-drive market not far from Nissan's home base in Japan, Australia got the R32, and it was a big deal.

Wheels magazine featured the R32 on the cover of its July 1989 issue, calling it “Nissan's new Godzilla,” after the monster in the Japanese movie, and predicting the impact it would have on the performance car scene. A few years later, the R32 successfully earned its nickname.

Like its predecessor, Nissan intended the R32 to compete in races and developed a version that met the production-based Group A regulations established by the FIA at the time, with the RB26DETT 2.6-liter turbo inline 6-cylinder output raised from 276 hp in the road car to approximately 550 hp. The output was raised from the road car's 276 hp to approximately 550 hp. Australia proved to be the perfect challenge.

Then, as now, Ford and General Motors (now defunct Holden brand) dominated the popular Australian racing scene, especially the annual Bathurst 1000 held at the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales. In 1991, the R32 GT-R became the first Japanese car to win the Bathurst 1000. [In the 1991 Australian Touring Car Championship (the forerunner of today's Australian Supercar Championship), the GT-R finished 1-2 in six of the nine races and finished on the podium in every race. Nissan also won the Bathurst 1000 in 1992, finishing the race on a countback system after the rain-soaked race was red-flagged, over the jeers and boos of Ford and Holden fans. 1993 saw a rule change that effectively banned the GT-R from competing in the event. [Production of the R32 ended in 1994, followed by the R33 and R34 generations, and finally the R35 GT-R. However, it was the R32 generation of the GT-R in the early 1990s that arguably achieved the greatest racing success and earned the everlasting nickname “the GT-R.