Most car enthusiasts know about the "R32" Nissan Skyline, followed by the R33, the R34 and the R35, which is the current Nissan GT-R you can buy in the United States. Many car enthusiasts don’t realize there were many Skyline models before that — and, in fact, that the "R32" wasn’t the original Skyline, but rather the seventh generation of a vehicle that came out back in the 1950s.
Pictured here is a sixth-generation Skyline, called the "R31" by Nissan. It’s currently listed for sale on Autotrader by a private seller in Charlotte, who’s asking $12,000 for it. It’s covered around 123,000 miles from new, and it’s finished in blue with a two-tone dark and light gray interior, boasting the square shapes and right angles you’d expect from the 1980s.
The primary reason most enthusiasts don’t know about the R31 is also the primary reason why it’s relatively cheap compared to most R32 models listed for sale: Nissan never made a high-performance "GT-R" version of the R31. Instead, this was one of the top-of-the-line models — the sporty GTS-T, whose 180-horsepower turbocharged 6-cylinder was peppy back in the 1980s, but hardly the giant that the R32 GT-R’s 276-hp "RB26" engine was.
Still, this GTS-T is a very cool car, and it hardly deserves to be forgotten by enthusiasts — particularly this example, which seems like it’s in unusually nice condition given its age and mileage.
Doug DeMuro is an automotive journalist who has written for many online and magazine publications. He once owned a Nissan Cube and a Ferrari 360 Modena. At the same time.
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R31, not R32, is considered THE 7th Generation Skyline – at least in Japan! I should know – I have 2 – a 1988 GTS-T (RB25DET) and a 1986 Skyline Passage.