Japanese-spec R32 GT-R raced by Mark Skaife sold at auction in Japan - UPDATE

UPDATE, January 24: The R32 GT-R has sold on Yahoo! Japan for JPY¥35,471,000, the equivalent of AU$434,000.

The sales figure is just the winning bid, without factoring in any taxes and premiums.

The auction concluded at 8.30pm AEDT on Sunday, January 23.

The story to here

January 21: The Group A-spec R32 GT-R used by Australian motor racing legend Mark Skaife for an international driving appearance is currently up for auction at the 2022 Tokyo Auto Salon.

According to V8 Sleuth, this Taisan-built R32 GT-R is the same car Skaife used at the 1991 Macau Grand Prix, competing in the Guia classic support race.

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Photos: BINGO

It was the only non-Australian R32 GT-R Skaife piloted, the racing legend known for his dominant efforts in the Australian Gibson Motorsport-built R32 GT-Rs that included the 1992 ATCC title and two Bathurst 1000 wins alongside Jim Richards.

While the car now wears the same livery it did during its 1991 JTCC campaign, it had a very different white, green and yellow to Watson’s sponsored get up for Skaife’s drive at Macau.

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The R32 sporting the Watson's livery with Skaife behind the wheel at the Macau GP in 1991

It’s been widely documented the differences between the Group A Australian-built Gibson R32 GT-Rs and their Japanese counterparts, mainly because the Gibson cars were suspected to be faster and far more durable.

Skaife recounted his experience racing the Taisan R32 to MOTOR in our celebratory Nissan GT-R edition of the magazine in 2019.

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“It was good for us to go and drive because we actually ended up putting our (Australian Holinger) gearbox in it and a few other things,” he told MOTOR at the time.

“It highlighted just how good our car was in comparison. The difference was massive – (the Japanese car) was just not in the same league.”

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Skaife failed to finish the support race in Macau when the GT-R developed a mechanical issue on lap 10 of 30.

The GT-R is still in Japan, and is said to be just one of two surviving Taisan Group A R32 race cars left, with the other one currently in the Nissan Heritage Collection in Yokohama.

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The Skyline is currently up for auction by Japanese company BINGO in association with Yahoo! Japan and Tokyo Auto Salon, where the car is currently being displayed.

The is said to be mostly in original Group A specification from when it raced in 1991, but now has a newer N1-spec RB26DETT instead of the original race engine.

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At the time of writing the highest bid on the GT-R was JPY¥22,728,273, or AU$277,473, with the auction wrapping up on Sunday, January 23 at 8.30pm AEDT.

You can view the full auction listing on Yahoo! Japan here.