In 2007 Nissan did the unthinkable and cut the GT-R loose from the Skyline entirely. The R35 dropped the Skyline name, became a standalone model, and swapped the beloved (yet, now quite elderly) RB26 inline-six for the VR38DETT, a hand-built 3.8-liter twin-turbo V6. Purists clutched their pearls, then watched it humiliate supercars costing three times as much.
This was the GT-R reinvented as a giant-killer. At launch it made around 480 horsepower through a dual-clutch gearbox and a deeply sophisticated all-wheel-drive system, and reviewers quickly tagged it the computer on wheels for the way it deployed all that grip with near video-game precision. Fittingly, the studio behind Gran Turismo designed the graphics for its dashboard display. Across an extraordinary run that stretched past 2024, Nissan kept refining the formula, with later cars climbing toward 565 horsepower and the Nismo version reaching 600.
It is the only GT-R most Americans could buy new, since it was the first sold officially in the United States, and it carried the Godzilla legend into the modern era almost single-handedly. By the end it had grown heavy and expensive, and time caught up with the once-untouchable performance. Even so, the R35 spent the better part of two decades proving a Japanese company could build a world-beating supercar, which is exactly what the badge had promised since 1969.

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After a sixteen-year silence, the GT-R came roaring back in 1989, and it returned as a monster. The R32 is the car that earned the badge its immortal nickname: an Australian magazine watched it demolish the local touring car series, dubbed it "Godzilla," and the name (which is possible the greatest car nickname of all time) has stuck to every GT-R since. It dominated Group A racing so thoroughly that it essentially broke the championship.
The hardware explains why. The RB26DETT, a 2.6-liter twin-turbo inline-six, was officially rated at 276 horsepower under Japan's gentleman's agreement, though the real figure sat comfortably north of 300. More important was how it put that power down, through the clever ATTESA E-TS all-wheel-drive system that fed torque to the front wheels only when needed, backed by Super HICAS four-wheel steering. That blend of muscle and traction became the template every later GT-R has followed.
The R32 is now the most accessible way into genuine Godzilla ownership, and as the first of the modern cars to clear the 25-year import barrier, it is the one that introduced a whole generation of overseas enthusiasts to the legend. My only advice is to double check its oil pump has been sorted. Buy a clean one, own the car that kicked off the modern myth.

The R33 has spent its whole life as the GT-R nobody mentions first, which is starting to look like an oversight. Launched in 1995, it was bigger and roughly 100 kg heavier than the beloved R32, and that extra heft saddled it with a slightly unfair reputation as the soft one stuck between two legends. Look past the size and the story improves in a hurry.
Mechanically it built on everything the R32 had established. The same RB26DETT twin-turbo six carried over, the ATTESA all-wheel-drive system gained an Active LSD on the V-Spec cars, and the R33 became one of the first production cars to lap the Nürburgring in under eight minutes. The rare Nismo 400R, with a stroked 2.8-liter engine and around 400 horsepower, sits at the top of the range as a serious collector's prize.
For years the R33 was the bargain GT-R, overshadowed by the R32 it followed and the R34 it set up. Frankly, I think its the best looking one of the bunch - it has aged better than the R32, but is more subtly cool than the R34. It is probably the savvy buyer's pick right now, since it delivers the full RB26 experience for noticeably less than its more famous siblings. It is finally getting its due, though, so the window on it staying (relatively) cheap may not be open much longer.

The R34 is the GT-R that became a superstar. Built from 1999 to 2002, it honed the formula to its sharpest point: a shorter, stiffer body, a purposeful stance, and a 5.8-inch multifunction display in the dash showing live boost, temperatures, and g-forces, which felt like science fiction at the time. The RB26DETT carried on under the hood, still officially making the obligatory 276 horsepower, still routing through ATTESA all-wheel drive and Super HICAS steering.
Enthusiasts obsess over the spec ladder, from V-Spec to V-Spec II up to the holy-grail Nür edition, and over that signature Bayside Blue paint. Then there is the fame. As Brian's car in 2 Fast 2 Furious and a recurring hero across the Fast &#x26; Furious films, the R34 became the most wanted Japanese car on earth for a generation that grew up watching it.
That fame, plus a short production run and decades as forbidden fruit in the United States, has launched values into the stratosphere. The R34 only started clearing the US 25-year import wall in 2024, which has poured fresh fuel on an already white-hot market. This is the blue-chip GT-R, the one the bedroom posters were made of, and the prices reflect every bit of that mystique.

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Browse 3 Nissan GT-R listings. Sales from $41,000 to $444,444. Get free email alerts on MaxFindsCars.

Nissan GT-R

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2016 Nissan R35 GT-R

2016 Nissan R35 GT-R

2013 Nissan R35 GT-R

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