
I suppose the first question is what car do I want, what do I want it for, what am I prepared to sacrifice.
I choose the GTR because of what I'd read in the magazines and yes I knows it's stupid, but it was
always the car I choose on GT4, it seemed to have the edge on the other cars.
I have to admit actually I was looking to buy an 1989 Porsche 911 Turbo but couldn't find one that was perfect
enough in my price range. It dawned on me suddenly that I had enough money to get a GTR, So the seeds were sown
and I started looking for one. Initially I was looking to get an R33, but at the time they
too were a little bit outside of my reach, I could have got a poor R33 as opposed to a great R32.
I can remember back to telling people "I'm going to buy a GTR", at that time no-one I think genuinely thought I'd
own one, probably not even me. Gareth gave me a copy of Japenese Performance from Jan 2005 (Yes one day I'll give it back),
there was a buying guide on the R32 GTR, the feature car was one Wine Red 1991 with 48000 miles on the clock, and amazingly
lucky for me, was for sale.
That was it, I knew what car I wanted, she would be mine, after making a number of calls to talk about the car, I showed a few
friends my prospective purchase but the feedback was not very favourable, "grandad's car", "ooh where's your pipe and slippers", "eurghh it's burgundy", "I wouldn't spend 11k on an antique". With all this in mind, yeh I now had second thoughts. Jo (my other half) wasn't really that keen either, "A shopping trolley" was her description, so I thought that's a bad omen, especially when I'm spending 11k of our money.
So I decided to look for a cheaper and 'newer' looking car and my eyes fell on a very nice black R32 with White Advans. So off I went to look at the car. It happened to be the same garage as the red one so I was getting to see both anyway.

Black car as it was ..
Well we got to the garage, there was the black one, well it wasn't quite the car I thought it would be, not as mint as I was expecting, but the spec was excellent and it had very nice wheels and a big HKS drager exhaust, the clutch was a bit girly however bald tyres didn't make for a great test drive, it was fast but I could really test it. So we got back, It was at this point that the Red Skyline turned up (It was the managers own car basically) and do you know what I remember the most is, it was Jo's jaw hitting the floor (She'd deny it - but I think it was love at first sight) when she saw the car.
(I will add now, that the black car ended up winning best of show 2005 and best car on the day at a Skyline shootout


Black car as it is now .. plus it's for sale. (See PulseD on GTR.co.uk)
I knew there and then, I was taking home the Wine Red GTR. So went for a test drive and she was everything I expected (remember at this point the car was being sold as almost standard), it felt tight, powerful, a nicely together car, the readouts matched what I expected, oil pressure good, new tyres, alarmed, taxed, serviced, new cambelt, the full monty. So I didn't even bother haggling. She was now mine.
One tense week later I returned to collect my car. That first drive home was incredible, ok after initial problems i.e. no idea how
to operate the alarm or remove the key when I needed to get petrol (this had all been explained to me - but I wasn't listening). So there I am with my shiny new toy, sat in the petrol station unable to start it, stop the alarm and looking like a car thief, anyway figured it all out and the rest of the journey was simply getting used to the car.

The first Pic I took on collection day
I don't think I booted it for the first few days as I had read all sorts of horror stories about over eager new owners smashing up the cars, I didn't want to be one (Ask Gareth about the mortality rates of new Rx7 owners). The next two weekends were spent cleaning the car, this is probably how come i came to be known as 'Cottonbud' at work, people didn't know my real name, just that I clean my car with a cottonbud. I spent two hours just cleaning the word NISSAN.

After first real clean (Ignore unhappy looking Jo)
Are you still with me - or have I bored you to death, "no" I hear you shout, please carry on Ben with you wonderful and rather detailed story

So once I really got to open it up, it felt like I was losing traction?, I knew they were powerful but not enough to lose grip in 4th and 5th. So onto the forums and diagnosed that my car suffered the dreaded hesistation. Called the garage I bought it from, "really I never booted it" was the response. Either way, they said bring it back and we'll have a look, one complete set of Greddy 0.8mm gapped plugs later the car was sorted. And god did it fly now.
Over the next weeks Gareth and I spent alot time on photo days and video making, the experience of owning the car was building, it was near on impossible to drive through town without people stopping and staring, kids giving the thumbs up, I loved every second of it.
Then one fateful day I was accelerating onto the new A11 when the dash lit up like a christmas tree and the car started to slow, Noooo!, so I free wheeled to the curb. Jo glaring at me ... pointy finger ready .. what is going on .. i told you not to buy a 15 year old car .. So I turned the key, she fired up, perfect .. now I did think this was odd .. was it a limp mode?, was it just some micro glitch due to the weather in China? So carried on the journey, so all seems fine .... until, chritmas tree time and no power, so I'm slowing down nicely in the slow lane of the A11 managed to get the passenger side onto the curb but the car is still on the A11.
A nice policeman comes along and promptly shuts down a complete lane of the A11 (This was after he checked my reg - which for the life of me I couldn't remember, ... so there I am, bright shiny red skyline with a police cordon and every little so and so pointing their fingers and staring as they drove past.
Oh well, AA eventually turn up - 1 hour 40 minutes later, they tow me about 100 metres into a wooded carpark. The AA bloke without even trying to determine the fault said "You are some sort of fool to have a car like this and only have roadside recovery", "I can't help you" .. he then gave me a card for a towing firm!!. I am now with the RAC, told the AA where they could stick their service.
To cut a long story short, had the car shipped back to the garage I bought it from. After 7 hours of scratching their heads, a new Camber Angle sensor, a new fuel pump, new coils etc, they figured out the problem was purely down to a little snapped earth lead. So they fitted a new earth kit and all was fixed. By this point I had been giving them so much grief I think they decided to leave all the new bits on so that I would leave. So as they say every cloud has a silver lining. The car has been absolutely trouble free ever since. (Apart from self-inflicted clutch failure)
Anyway, back to why I love my R32, I discovered track days and took part in a taster session, that was it, hooked absolutely. I remember the shere fear as I entered the track for the first time, in my mind, i'm not insured for this, what If I break it ... but once I was on my 4th / 5th lap I knew what my car had been designed for, a jolly good thrashing young man.
The R32 GTR is like a punch drunk heavy weight boxer at low speed, probably best compared to a BMW 325, the minute you get on the track and open it up the feather weight prize fighter comes alive, the car feels so agile, so responsive, almost invincible, you can step out the back and control it, you can over brake, lock them up and still control it, you can drive sideways and then correct it when you are ready. Then there is the shere grunt as you power it through 3rd gear corners .. I am sounding like I enjoy driving my car. Well the main point I'll make is that trackdays have made driving my car on the roads very dull. But then saying that, pulling onto motorways if fun!.
So is there a point to what I've written, well not really, just thought I'd share a story.
I'm still loving owning my R32 GTR, and now that she's on her road to Stage 1 it's even more exciting to drive, own and experience. Got a quote yesterday for taking the car to the next level, and I think I'll be going with it. So by the end of the year I'll be running a proven 400 BHP car. Bring it on.
Also for those who think - I would have gone for the black one ... I'm glad I got mine - to all intents and purpose the only real difference was the wheels - but black is sexy I must admit !!!.