Nissan Skyline R32 Portal

This is the one that started it. We Aussies gave it the name, an R32 GT-R rolled up to Bathurst and ate the mountain, and Wheels magazine called it Godzilla. Group A got rewritten around it because nothing else could touch it. But the R32 was a whole family of cars, not just the GT-R, and the badges do not tell you the half of it. Here is the full R32 range untangled, from the four-cylinder base car to the monster, so you know what is actually under the bonnet.

The range, bottom to top

FR32 / HR32: the base cars (GXi, GTE, GTS)

At the very bottom sits the FR32 GXi, and it is not even a six: it runs the little 1.8 CA18i four-cylinder. Above it the HR32 GTE gets the RB20E, the 2.0 single-cam with no turbo, and the plain GTS steps up to the twin-cam RB20DE, still naturally aspirated. These are the honest, ordinary R32s. Good bones, no boost. Buy one knowing it is a cruiser or a swap base, not a rocket.

ER32 / ECR32: the GTS25 (the forgotten NA 2.5)

Here is one the internet forgets exists: the R32 GTS25. It runs the RB25DE, a naturally aspirated 2.5 twin-cam, and the ECR32 version adds Super HICAS. Our data shows about 12,475 of the ECR32 built. It is a bigger, torquier engine than the RB20 but still no turbo. Worth knowing about purely so you do not mistake one for the turbo car.

HCR32: the GTS-t Type M (the smart buy)

This is the enthusiast R32 that is not a GT-R. The HCR32 code actually covers two cars: the NA GTS with the RB20DE, and the one you want, the GTS-t Type M with the RB20DET, a 2.0 twin-cam turbo pushing about 215 horses to the rear wheels. Around 107,000 HCR32 were built all up in our registry (67,590 early, 39,796 late), so the GTS-t is the affordable, plentiful way into a genuine turbo Skyline. Just know its gearbox, the FS5W71C five-speed, is the weak one. It is the box people upgrade away from, usually to the stronger RB25 “big box.” Plan for that if you are going to chase power.

HNR32: the GTS-4 (and why the R32 one IS turbo)

Pay attention here, because this is the exact opposite of the later R33. The R32 HNR32 GTS-4 runs the RB20DET, the 2.0 turbo, through ATTESA four-wheel-drive. So the R32 GTS-4 is basically a turbo GTS-t with the GT-R's clever AWD bolted under it, minus the RB26. About 14,481 were built. Now here is the trap: the R33 GTS-4 that came later dropped to a naturally aspirated RB25DE. Same “GTS-4” badge, one is turbo and one is not, depending on the generation. This is exactly why you read the range and not just the badge.

BNR32: the GT-R

And then the big one. The BNR32 GT-R: twin-turbo RB26DETT, ATTESA E-TS all-wheel-drive, rear-wheel steer, roughly 43,900 built including the V-Spec, V-Spec II, N1 and the Nismo homologation cars. This is the car the whole registry grew out of, and its full VIN tables, colour breakdowns and special-model data are all below.

*Build counts are from our own recompiled production registry (early + late series combined where split). HCR32 count bundles the NA GTS and turbo GTS-t, which share the code. GT-R figure is the widely-cited whole-run total.

So which R32 do you actually want?

If the GT-R is out of reach, the GTS-t Type M is the one, a real turbo Skyline for a fraction of the money, with a huge parts world behind it. Want the wet-weather traction and do not mind the weight, chase a GTS-4, just remember the R32 one is genuinely turbo. And if you are buying the GT-R, buy the straightest, most honest chassis you can, because a tidy shell is worth more than a big power figure on a tired one.