Imagine for a moment that the year is 1989, and Nissan has just unveiled a vehicle that will change the course of automotive racing and how the rest of the car world views Japanese sports cars. The Nissan Skyline is an instant hit around the globe and quickly fills the dreams of every JDM fan and racing enthusiast from the Pacific to the Atlantic. Fast-forward 15 years, and that same vehicle is now eligible to import legally into Canada.
Jump another seven years to 2011 and full-fledged dealerships like Right Drive Inc., which also handles importing, have thrived in the growing JDM import industry, thanks to heavy market growth. It’s no longer just a fantasy to own a GT-R — in fact, it’s a reality for many. Even at 20-plus years old, the Skyline still looks as good as most of today’s cars and outperforms just about anything you can buy for amounts two or three times its value.
Skymeet is an annual event hosted by the GTRCanada.com car club that allows members to get together and talk everything Skyline. In previous years, members would get together to meet in Ikea parking lots and other public places that would accommodate the few cars that showed up. Back in 2009, Skymeet West in British Columbia saw a gathering of 35 cars, which at the time was considered huge in size. This year, however, Skymeet could be described in a different manner, one consistent with the car’s nickname: Godzilla-sized. Sixty-four cars attended Skymeet East 2011, 55 of which were either Skylines or GT-Rs.
This year’s Skymeet saw some amazing machines make the journey, including a full Tomei GT-R R32 with the über-desirable Tomei Genesis motor. Other notables included the likes of a 10-second, 620hp R32 GT-R, an R33 GT-R with the full Tomei treatment, several V-Spec edition GT-Rs in both R32 and R33 trim, and many more high-horsepower machines powered by the legendary RB engine. Also present were some R35 GT-Rs that seemed to seamlessly fit in with their older brothers.
Daryl Henwood, current president of gtrcanada.com and parts manager of Right Drive, says that the event was a great success and the largest and most memorable Skymeet to date. Right Drive was so impressed with the turnout and the tight-knit Skyline community that it has already offered its facilities for the ’12 Skymeet. If chosen to play host, Right Drive is promising it will be bigger and more memorable. We can’t wait to see what happens!