'Godzilla' Nissan reborn 35 years after horror crash

The very first Nissan GT-R R32 Australian touring car has been restored and reborn, 35 years after being written off in a shocking crash for Mark Skaife.

The car, famous for being the first of its kind to race in Australia, crashed heavily at the hands of Skaife in the Group A support races at the 1990 Australian Grand Prix.

The car debuted in the hands of Skaife at the Mallala round of the 1990 Australian Touring Car Championship.

Jim Richards then took control of the car for the final two events of that year’s championship, with the Kiwi securing the 1990 ATCC crown.

Skaife and Richards combined to drive the car at the 1990 Bathurst 1000 that year, before Skaife took the reins at the Adelaide event and infamously crashed out.

The car has since been reborn and returned to the 1990 Bathurst livery.

It took a chance find by Gibson Motorsport team manager Alan Heaphy and a restoration by Peter West to bring GMS 001 back to life.

It’s the latest in a line of stunning Aussie touring car restorations, following the dual Dick Johnson Racing Ford EB Falcon restoration and the Neil Crompton/Wayne Gardner Commodore.

“I still remember the crash very vividly because it was qualifying and Jimmy Richards and I were battling for pole position,” Skaife said.

“It’s such an important corner. And it was really the start of track limits because the exit kerb was a really big, aggressive exit kerb. You weren't allowed to run up and over and around it. You had to stay within the confines so you could use the kerb, but had to stay two wheels on the road.

“So I come through the corner. It was on the slide, the left hand rear wheel hit the kerb hard, broke the bottom of the wheel and turned it straight over on its roof.

“And it was skating along, going bloody fast. And it was on its roof because of the A-pillar angle, it started to wear through into my helmet and it ended up hitting the fence really hard.

"Spun back around, come back out onto the road. And because of the damage to the A-pillar and the amount of damage to the car, I couldn't open the door and it caught fire.

“The last time I saw the car, it was very average. It was pretty damaged and to walk in here today and to see it, see the level of detail and how much work's gone into making it so authentic is extraordinary.”

Heaphy added: “It has been a massive job, and it's taken sort of a good few years for it to progress to where it is today.

“And the rebuild escalated from about mid last year, when then we thought we could get it going for the Repco Adelaide Motorsport Festival – the place where the car ceased its existence back in 1990.

"The Festival is the perfect place for it to be relaunched.”