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Hagerty's Appraisal on Larry Chen's Nissan Skyline GT-R R32, Worth More Than He Expected

If you are going to spend your entire career professionally taking pictures of cars, you might as well get yourself a good one. Larry Chen is a world-renowned car culture and commercial automotive photographer. His gallery has a collection of some of the best in the automotive industry. Collin of Hagerty recently featured his cherished 1990 Nissan Skyline GT-R R32.
Larry Chen 1990 Nissan Skyline R32 9 photos
Photo: YouTube Screenshot/Hagerty
Larry Chen 1990 Nissan Skyline R32Larry Chen 1990 Nissan Skyline R32Larry Chen 1990 Nissan Skyline R32Larry Chen 1990 Nissan Skyline R32Larry Chen 1990 Nissan Skyline R32Larry Chen 1990 Nissan Skyline R32Larry Chen 1990 Nissan Skyline R32Larry Chen 1990 Nissan Skyline R32
The famed Nissan GT-R didn’t get the name ‘Godzilla’ by chance. The 90s GT-R’s success in the Australian Touring Car Championship led to its global glorification.

Unfortunately for the U.S., the R32 was never developed for the North American market. What’s worse, kids in the 90s marveled at its uniqueness by playing Gran Turismo or watching it on classic Anime shows like Initial D.

The only way I was able to experience the car was watching videos, watching best motoring, watching all the content from Japan,” Chen confessed.

The U.S. market yearned for the GT-R so much, which led to the insane MotoRex Importer Scandal. However, in August 2014, the first of the R32 GT-Rs were legal to import to the United States in the NHTSA’s 25-year exemption rule.

With all the ingenuity around the U.S. imported GT-Rs of the era, Chen sought to get a clean copy 1990 Nissan Skyline R32. He didn’t want any modifications even though he admits he’s tastefully done some mods on it to keep it roadworthy.

This is something that I had to import, and specifically for California, I had to legalize it for California use,” he said.

What’s best, his R32 Skyline was signed by the Godfather of GT-R, Kazutoshi Mizuno. It was also turned into a Hot Wheels, complete with his name and license plate.

Collin admits he’s not an expert on R32s, but with Chen’s assistance, he was able to do an appraisal.

Chen values his 1990 Nissan Skyline GT-R at $55,000. Collin of Hagerty had a different opinion.

Based on the notoriety of the car, who Larry Chen is in the auto industry, post-covid influences, and Hot Wheels, Collins valued the R32 GT-R at $85,000 to Chen's surprise.

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About the author: Humphrey Bwayo
Humphrey Bwayo profile photo

Humphrey is a car enthusiast whose love and passion for automobiles extended into collecting, writing, driving, and working on cars. He got his passion for cars from his Dad, who spent thousands of hours working on his old junky 1970 E20 Toyota Corolla. Years later, he would end up doing the same with a series of lemons he’s owned throughout his adult life.
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