One of the rarest examples of Nissan’s most popular Skyline GT-R has been sold to an Australian car collector, who claims he spent a “world record” amount on the cult classic coupe.
An Australian car collector claims to have purchased the most expensive Nissan Skyline GT-R ever sold worldwide, spending approximately A$1.5 million on an ultra-rare example of the iconic Japanese performance vehicle.
In a post uploaded to instagramSydney businessman Lecha Khouri claims he bought the Nismo 400R, a rare high-performance variant of the Nissan Skyline GT-R, for an “undisclosed new world record” from Japanese firm HJA Autos last week.
The previous confirmed auction record for a Nissan Skyline GT-R was set in February of this year, when another Nismo 400R was reported to have sold in Japan for 130 million yen, equivalent to approximately $1.47 million in Australian currency.
While the Nissan Skyline GT-R is an iconic car in its own right, the Nismo 400R is even more special as it was produced in extremely limited numbers and packed with racing technology.
Based on the R33-generation Nissan Skyline GT-R, the Nismo 400R was one of the limited-edition variants that drew inspiration from the company’s attempts to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race in 1995 and 1996. .
There are conflicting reports on the background of this specific Nismo 400R, though a September 2022 feature from Magneto Magazine – using information provided by HJA Autos – claimed it is the only example of the Skyline GT-R LM Limited to have been converted to 400R specification by Nissan Motorsports International (Nismo).
Only 44 examples of the Nismo 400R were built, although this is believed to be the only example based on the LM Limited, as well as being the only 400R painted in ‘Champion Blue’.
While production of the Nismo 400R was extremely limited, it has appeared in all grand tourism PlayStation game (excluding the latest title) since 1998.
Under the hood is a 2.8-liter twin-turbo six-cylinder engine (called the RB-X GT2) capable of producing up to 298 kW (or 400 horsepower, hence the name) and 470 Nm, more than the 208 kW of the 2.6 liter RB26. ‘ engine fitted to ‘standard’ Skyline GT-Rs.
Drive is sent to all four wheels via a five-speed manual transmission and an active limited-slip rear differential, allowing the Nismo 400R to accelerate from 0-100 km/h in around four seconds.
The 400R also received significant cosmetic upgrades over the Skyline GT-R, including racing-inspired front and rear bumpers, wider arches, a different hood and rear spoiler, plus 18-inch Nismo LM-GT1 wheels, measuring 10 inches wide and shod with 275mm high-performance Bridgestone tires.
According to Mr. Khouri instagram post, the Nismo 400R will be shipped to Nissan’s Omori factory in Japan for review by the automaker before shipping to Australia.
The Nismo 400R isn’t the first high-profile GT-R-badged Nissan bought by Khouri. In 2021, he bought the last Australian-delivered R35 generation GT-R T-Spec.
The rare car was later put up for auction in April 2022, with at least five percent of its hammer price to be donated to Sydney Children’s Hospital, though it’s unclear if the GT-R T-Spec was sold or for how much.
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