Photo: Nissan Japan / Twitter
If anyone ever dreamed of an outrageous quest like dropping the RB26 twin-turbo out of an unsuspecting R32 iteration of the Nissan Skyline GT-R to make way for an EV powertrain, then it’s not just a figment of your imagination. Luckily, or unfortunately, depending on your POV, the Japanese automaker is making this happen right now.
First things first, a word concerning history. The GT-R lineage, currently in a long-running R35 iteration that started production what feels like ages ago, in December 2007, has started even further back, in 1969. That was the year of ‘make love not war’ and of hippie VW buses or music festivals, but over in Japan a legend was brewing – the original PGC10 four-door sedan and KPGC10 coupe Nissan Skyline GT-R.
Dubbed the ‘Hakosuka’ in pop culture, the initial 1969 to 1972 generation was followed by the 1973 ‘Kenmeri’ Skyline, which is even more prestigious and collectible as less than 200 examples were produced before silence fell over the GT-R series. Luckily, Nissan decided to resurrect the moniker starting with the eighth-generation R32 Skyline. Dubbed the E-BNR32 chassis, the R32 Nissan Skyline GT-R was the (Bat) signal of the reborn high-performance flagship sports car series, and it rose to fame starting in 1989 to lend way for the equally iconic R33 and R34 Skyline GT-Rs.
Now, an R32 is getting the Phoenix bird treatment courtesy of Nissan Japan, as we were quite surprised to find out at the end of March when the first Twitter teaser came out to make ICE-powered car fans start running amok crying their outrage. That is because the Rising Sun carmaker is giving it the Leaf and Ariya treatment, aka making it a full EV that does not make any more ‘vroom-vroom’ RB26 noises. Well, that’s going to happen at a later date, as the initial trailer still had some twin-turbo noises in the background.
In case you know some Japanese, there is also a second feature called R32EV Vol.2 where the company explains why it has decided to convert the ICE-powered legend to a restomod EV lifestyle. And if you do, be sure to give us a summary of the ideas, in English, please – and thank you very much. Anyway, we can also skip past the second teaser chapter right to the third volume where the R32 Nissan Skyline GT-R unit sacrificed on the altar of the EV revolution is revealed in full – albeit just before the transformation work-in-progress began. And it comes complete with vintage stuff like a stereo cassette player, lots of patina around the edges (even some rust on the exhaust setup), and a subtle gray colorway.
For now, all we know is that Nissan will give the 2.6-liter-toting R32 a zero-emissions treatment. Details on what will happen are scarce, but we really hope that the company’s engineers will go beyond the call of duty and will not just slap inside the engine bay the standard Leaf or Ariya powertrains, as those only come with 147 hp and 215 hp, respectively, in base trim configuration. However, there is one possible hero suspect of the swap – the Ariya Extended Range with AWD Performance, which not only has an 87-kWh battery pack but also churns out up to 389 hp to all four wheels! Now, that might be a fitting EV swap, right?
Dubbed the ‘Hakosuka’ in pop culture, the initial 1969 to 1972 generation was followed by the 1973 ‘Kenmeri’ Skyline, which is even more prestigious and collectible as less than 200 examples were produced before silence fell over the GT-R series. Luckily, Nissan decided to resurrect the moniker starting with the eighth-generation R32 Skyline. Dubbed the E-BNR32 chassis, the R32 Nissan Skyline GT-R was the (Bat) signal of the reborn high-performance flagship sports car series, and it rose to fame starting in 1989 to lend way for the equally iconic R33 and R34 Skyline GT-Rs.
Now, an R32 is getting the Phoenix bird treatment courtesy of Nissan Japan, as we were quite surprised to find out at the end of March when the first Twitter teaser came out to make ICE-powered car fans start running amok crying their outrage. That is because the Rising Sun carmaker is giving it the Leaf and Ariya treatment, aka making it a full EV that does not make any more ‘vroom-vroom’ RB26 noises. Well, that’s going to happen at a later date, as the initial trailer still had some twin-turbo noises in the background.
In case you know some Japanese, there is also a second feature called R32EV Vol.2 where the company explains why it has decided to convert the ICE-powered legend to a restomod EV lifestyle. And if you do, be sure to give us a summary of the ideas, in English, please – and thank you very much. Anyway, we can also skip past the second teaser chapter right to the third volume where the R32 Nissan Skyline GT-R unit sacrificed on the altar of the EV revolution is revealed in full – albeit just before the transformation work-in-progress began. And it comes complete with vintage stuff like a stereo cassette player, lots of patina around the edges (even some rust on the exhaust setup), and a subtle gray colorway.
For now, all we know is that Nissan will give the 2.6-liter-toting R32 a zero-emissions treatment. Details on what will happen are scarce, but we really hope that the company’s engineers will go beyond the call of duty and will not just slap inside the engine bay the standard Leaf or Ariya powertrains, as those only come with 147 hp and 215 hp, respectively, in base trim configuration. However, there is one possible hero suspect of the swap – the Ariya Extended Range with AWD Performance, which not only has an 87-kWh battery pack but also churns out up to 389 hp to all four wheels! Now, that might be a fitting EV swap, right?
?R32EV? vol.3
— ????????? (@NissanJP) April 6, 2023
EV?????????R32???????GT-R?????????????#GTR #R32EV pic.twitter.com/Myj5mfLnEe
?R32EV?vol.2
— ????????? (@NissanJP) March 29, 2023
?????R32???????GT-R?EV????????????????????????????????#GTR #R32EV pic.twitter.com/XhN7SBEsZq
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