tothehomologationspecialsthatruledfromthelate 1960s
throughthe’70s,ratestheR32GT-R’ssuccessasthehighlight
ofhisteammanagement/ownershipcareer.
“Oh,forsure,”hesays.“Havingthepeoplethatengineered
thecar,designedsomeoftheequipmentforthecar,was very
satisfying.Wehadtodosomuch in-houseourselves – the
enginesandthewholething.Theonlythingwedidn’tdo was
the(Australian)Holingergearbox.
“Therestwedidourselves.Wegotnewthingscastand I still
havealltheolddrawingsforthat.Allthosethingswegot done
tomakeit a bettercarweredonebecausewehadgoodpeople.
Thepeoplemadethedifference.”
GibsonwentontoagainwintheATCCwithSkaifein a V8
Commodorein 1994 andalsothe’99Bathurst1000,before a
contentiousinvolvementwitha Fordfactoryteamestablished
in 2001 torunHoldendefectorCraigLowndes.
SkaifemadehisnameinGodzillaamidgreatcontroversy
andrelatestheregulatorycrackdownasa cautionarytale for
thecurrentlydominantDJRTeamPenskeMustangteam.
“RogerPenskewastalkingtomeinPerth(inearly May)
abouttherecentparityissues(thathadbeensuggested for
the Mustang) and I said,‘Well, in the GibsonMotorsport
days,whentheGT-Rwoneverything,theychangedthe rules
completely, going back toV8 racing
the nextyear’.Sowehad tochange
fromNissantoHoldeninjustthree or
fourmonths.
“SoI saidtoRoger,‘Ifyoutake your
parity debate right down a road of
domination,that’swhathappens.’”
Winner of five touring car titles
and six Bathurst 1000s, Skaife, who
hasbeenheavilyalignedwithNissan
andHoldenin hisracingcareer, also
rememberstheR32SkylineGT-R road
carfondly.
“Ihad oneasa companycar,” he
says.“Freddiegotmea carafter I won
the (1992) championshipandthen I
endedupbuyingone.Itwasjust the
absolute guncar of theday.They hadareally tough road
presenceaboutthem.I hadmineformanyyearsbeforeselling
it.Ofcourse,I shouldhavekeptit.”
Skaife’sGT-Rroadiewasa redpearlmetallicversion– what
normalpeoplewouldcallmaroon– whichisthesame hue
asNissanAustralia’soriginal-patinacollectioncar,which we
broughtalongfortheinterview.
SkaifeytookGibbofora nostalgicblataroundMelbourne’s
innereasternsuburbsandcamebackimpressed.
“It’sprettybasic,butverysporty,”hesaid.“Itwaslike an
(E30)M3.It didn’thaveallthecreaturecomfortstuff,but it was
veryhigh-techandphenomenallyfast.
“Thecorneringwasamazing,especiallyforthetime.It’s still
veryimpressivetodrivenow.”
Amazingly,theall-conqueringAussieGT-Rracecars were
builtfromstrippedroadcarsratherthanbarebodyshells. “We
nearlycriedwhenwegotthefirstthreecars,”Gibsonwinces.
“Theywerecompletenewroadcars,andwehadtopull them
allapartandbuildthemintoracecars.Allthestuffwehad to
throwaway!Werippedthemapartforthebodyshells.”
Gibson, SkaifeandBerangerallburytheirheadsin their
handswhentheyconsiderhowmuchallthosediscarded parts
wouldbeworthnow.TheAussieR32s– includingtheprivateer
versionusedbydriver-turned-TV-talkerNeilCrompton – all
survivewithcollectorsinperiodliveries.“IT WAS BIG
AND HEAVY, A
REAL HANDFUL.
IN THE FAST
STUFF IT WAS
WILD”
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