The Forgotten Datsun’s That Had Skyline GT-R Power
If it weren’t for the S30 Datsun Fairlady Z, we wouldn’t have the legendary lineage of Nissan Z sports cars in the US. Introduced to the States in 1970 as the 240Z as a credible rival to some of the best European sports cars and American muscle on the market, the S30 elevated the Datsun brand in the eyes of enthusiasts.
It would remain on sale in the US for another eight years, becoming the 260Z and later 280Z, cementing itself as an icon across the country. However, as the conversation tends to go when it comes to Japanese sports cars, the very best version of the S30 Fairlady Z would never come to the United States. With power from another incredible Nissan, this is the story of the Z that America couldn’t have.
The Legend Of The Hakosuka
Before we come to that car, we have to talk about the first generation of the Nissan Skyline GT-R, the PGC10 ‘Hakosuka’. Nicknamed as such for a combination of the Japanese words for box (hako) and skyline (suka), the 2000 GT-R was introduced in 1969 with the intention of dominating domestic touring car racing.
Based on the C10 Nissan Skyline sedan (and eventually in coupe guise as the KPGC10), the chassis was comprehensively reworked to make it a serious competition car. That included semi-trailing arm strut suspension, front disc brakes and the addition of a limited-slip differential.
Why did it need all of that? To maximize the real party piece of the GT-R, its S20 2.0-liter straight-six engine. Derived from the Prince R380 prototype race car, itself finding success in the 1966 Japanese Grand Prix (10 years before that event became a Formula 1 race), the S20 had a serious motorsport pedigree.
With dual-overhead cams and initially Mikuni carburetors, the S20 was capable of producing 160 horsepower, 130 lb-ft of torque, and a redline of 7000rpm. Under the hood of the Skyline, it would go on to become a legend, allowing the Skyline to take 49 consecutive race wins in Japanese touring car racing.
It would live on for the second-generation ‘Kenmeri’ GT-R, an incredibly rare GT-R produced for a single model year and using direct injection, before the nameplate entered a period of hibernation. While best remembered for action in the GT-R, the S20 didn’t remain confined to just the Nissan Skyline.
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When The Fairlady Z Borrowed Its Heart
In the same year as the introduction of the PGC10, the S20 would see action in another car designed for homologation purposes. Enter the Nissan Fairlady Z432, a special version of the new Z designed as an even more high-performance version of the sports car.
The intent was to build a car that could serve as a base to go racing with, making the S20 a perfect choice of engine for the Z432. It was a smaller capacity engine than the 2.4-liter L24 found in the standard Nissan 240Z, with less torque too, but it meant power could be produced at higher revs and reduced the weight of the car.
Nissan Z432 Specs
|
Engine |
2.0-liter inline-six |
|---|---|
|
Horsepower |
158 hp |
|
Torque |
130 lb-ft |
|
0-60 |
7.6 seconds |
|
Top Speed |
124 mph |
While the rest of the S30 chassis remained largely unchanged, including its MacPherson front struts, disc brakes, and basic shell, it did gain a limited-slip differential as seen on the GT-R in order to help manage its power on the rear axle.
Ultimately, the biggest differentiator was the S20 engine, which is where the Z432 name came from. Four valves per cylinder, three Mikuni carburetors, and two camshafts. It’s documented that around 420 examples of the Z432 were made, and some even saw use by Japanese police. Not a bad day to be in law enforcement.
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There Was An Even More Special Version
While the Z432 was a desirable car in its own right, there’s a version that collectors crave even more. Enter the Z432R, the version of the car that was designed to serve as a competition car pretty much straight from the dealer lot.
It used the same S20 engine as the regular Z432, but with a host of chassis and other mechanical changes. Most of it came down to its bodywork, with lighter and thinner steel panels used to reduce weight, while the interior was stripped back to the bare essentials, with the heater, radio, glovebox, clock, and pretty much every ounce of sound-deadening material thrown out. Add a fiberglass hood to the mix, and around 220 pounds of weight savings came overall.
A 100-liter fuel tank was also fitted from the factory, allowing it to go further on the track between fuel stops, though that took the place of the spare wheel well. All examples came out of the factory with orange paintwork and a black-painted hood, with fewer than 50 believed to have been made.
How Much Are They Worth Today?
Although it was exclusively sold in Japan from new, plenty of collectors around the world have an affinity for the Nissan Z432, and the values of this rare sports car today reflect that.
Unsurprisingly, they don’t come up very often. An example already in the US sold on Bring a Trailer for a staggering $200,000 in June 2026, with another in January 2024 actually fetching more at $250,000. For that, you could have four examples of the new Nismo Z, for a bit of context.
The real money is in the ultra-rare Nissan Z432R, though, if you can even find one. The last recorded sale came all the way back in 2020, when one sold for the equivalent of around $840,000. Still not quite at the level of the most famous Nissan Skyline GT-R, though, with a Nismo 400R selling for just under $1m in 2025.
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Another Legendary Nissan You Didn’t Know Had Skyline GT-R Power
Although the S30 is an example of Nissan deploying GT-R power in other models, this doesn’t happen very often. When the GT-R was reborn in 1989 with the R32 and RB26 power, the 2.6-liter twin-turbo engine would remain nearly exclusive to the lineage of these most powerful Skylines.
There was, however, an exception to this rule, and it was a wagon. That came between 1997 and 2001, when Nissan’s special projects arm Autech decided to take the running gear of the R33 GT-R and put it under the skin of the Nissan Stagea.
Nissan Stagea 260RS Autech Version Specs
|
Engine |
2.6-liter twin-turbo inline-six |
|---|---|
|
Horsepower |
276 hp |
|
Torque |
271 lb-ft |
|
0-60 |
5.8 seconds |
|
Top Speed |
155 mph |
The result was the Stagea 260RS Autech Version, with an official figure of 276 hp as per the Japanese gentleman’s agreement (although likely more in reality). It wasn’t just a case of putting the RB26 in there and calling it a day, either, with the GT-R’s all-wheel drive system, five-speed manual gearbox, and limited-slip differential all put into the package.
These are legal for US import and, with around 1700 recorded as being produced, are a much easier find for Nissan collectors. Expect to pay around $30,000 to $40,000 for a good-condition one.
Sources: Bring a Trailer, Nissan
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