It looks fine, it performs well, and it is pretty cool that you can get a brand new one thirty years later. Mustangs and Camaros had T-Tops though…
Being as it takes years to build something from the ground up, if you write a budget up at the beginning with part numbers and current prices, when it comes time to order them months or even years later, you’ll find that some prices are up, and other prices are WAY up. Why? I don’t know. Raw materials maybe? Perhaps labour issues such as a union dispute? Infrastructure expenses? Perhaps it’s just gouging. Being the end-user, I cannot say for sure. 2020 has provided massive supply shortages, delays, and has put a lot of companies out of business, so I have a feeling restoration and repair costs are only going to get worse. When I think of a three-hundred dollar item being fifty dollars more three years later, I get concerned, but then I saw the price that Nissan Skyline Nismo Restoration Service was charging for fixing up busted old Skylines, and suddenly my low budget builds seemed more achievable.
First thing’s first, I don’t get the appeal of the Nissan Skyline. I don’t. I’ve never driven one before, but any I’ve seen in person didn’t wow me any more than a Camaro, or dare I say, a Mustang. Maybe it’s the fact that the steering wheel is on the opposite side and feels more exotic? If that’s the case, so is the Nissan Fairlady, and I actually prefer it. Most likely, it’s the fact that the RB26DETT is such a great engine. An inline six-cylinder with a trio of two-barrel throttle bodies, a pair of cams, a pair of intercooled turbos, and more horsepower than advertised right off the showroom floor. Rather than a hopped-up street car engine, the RB26DETT was a de-tuned race car engine, but as far as I can see it, the Skyline is just the box it came in. The Ford 302 under the hood of the Mustang is a potent performer, as is the Chevy 350 (the 305 not so much). Regardless, if you’re the type with undying affection for an old Skyline made one-hundred percent new again, there’s hope. For the absolutely insane price of forty-five million Yen (north of a half-million Canadian dollars), Nissan Skyline Nismo Restoration Service will take a Skyline, totally disassemble it down to individual parts, dip and strip the body, repair it, and assemble it as brand new. Rebuilt engine, new electrical, new upholstery, everything. It’s a lot of work, granted, but it’s a lot of money too. That being said, people spend that kind of money on old Hemi cars that aren’t going to drive nearly as well as a Skyline, so really, it’s in the eye (and pocket) of the beholder. I just passed on a V8 S10 not long ago because it may have had a clapped-out 305 in it, so at least with this, you know what you’re getting. The only catch is it costs about $550,000 more than a V8 S10.
Have a question or comment for Kelly? Post it at lmtimes.ca/kirk