Nissan Skyline enthusiasts may call the R34 Skyline GT-R Nismo Z-Tune the most iconic Skyline in the world because of its limited production run of 20 units, and the fact that they were meticulously tuned in-house by Nismo. Die hard enthusiasts will tell you that there are two iconic Skyline GT-Rs, and not just one.

Recently, EVO‘s Jethro Bovingdon had the chance to put a very rare Nissan Skyline GT-R Nismo R400 through its paces, and that he did. Fans of the original Gran Turismo game will notice this car because Nismo’s own yellow version of the car was made the poster car for the game. In the game, it was the ultimate car to drive. Bovingdon seems to think the same about the car, but in real life, and even went as far as saying that it is on par with some current-generation sports cars, even with it being 20 years old.

The Skyline GT-R Nismo 400R had a limited production run of only 44, making them ridiculously rare, but technically not as rare as the R34 Skyline GT-R Nismo Z-Tune that was built to celebrate Nismo’s 20th anniversary. The Skyline GT-R Nismo 400R wasn’t built to celebrate an anniversary in particular, but to celebrate the Skyline’s GT-R LM’s efforts at Le Mans in ’95 and ’96.

Leaving no stone unturned, Nismo made the Skyline GT-R Nismo 400R one of the best road cars around using racing components, such as the amazing RB-X GT2 engine, which is an RB26 2.6-liter straight-six that was bored out to 2.8-liters, and Le Mans-proven. Built by Reinik, the motorsport department of Nissan’s powertrain division, the RB-X GT2 engine produces 395 horsepower and 347 lb/ft of torque, and sends all of the available power through the same complex all-wheel-drive system that the standard R33 GT-R used.

Other upgrades that Nismo carried out include a carbon fiber driveshaft that weighs 50 percent less than the stock component, an adjustable carbon fiber wing, titanium front strut brace, beautiful three-piece Rays Engineering Nismo LMGT1 wheels, Bilstein dampers, and revised bodywork that increases track width by 50mm. There are so many changes that Nismo made to this car over a standard R33 GT-R, it’s mind-boggling, but 20 years later, the car still performs just as great, or even better than some current performance offerings from various manufacturers.

Nissan definitely knew what they were doing with this car, and were so ahead of the times when building it. The Skyline GT-R Nismo 400R is a true testament to Nissan’s attention to detail and motorsport heritage. They might have failed with the odd GT-R LM Nismo LMP1 racer, but we have no doubts that there are more great things coming from Nissan/Nismo in the future.

We know Nissan has plans for autonomous technology to be implemented into their vehicles in the next four years, but we hope they can develop and build an honest driver’s car with a lot of the same characteristics as their 20-plus year old performance offerings. In the meantime, just listen to that RB-X GT2 engine scream, and wish you could own one.