The mighty Nissan Skyline GT-R is a legendary beast, so dominant on the racing circuit that an Australian motoring journalist would dub the first twin-turbo monster “Godzilla”. The name stuck for generations, and while we in Canada would have to wait fifteen years for grey market importation rules before the GT-R would stomp its way to our shores, it was already a fan favourite thanks to racing games like Gran Turismo.
However, Godzilla is a coupe, and that's not always the most practical choice for a monster-tamer on the go. What if you want to haul your kids along for an atomic-breath ride? What if you want Godzilla to take your dog for walkies? Well, have we got the ride for you.
This is a Nissan Stagea RS260, and to cut to the chase, it's all the best bits out of the Skyline GT-R crafted into a wagon body. You get the legendary twin-turbo inline-six carrying the RB26 code, the talons of the GT-R's ATTESA all-wheel drive, big Brembo brakes, great seats, a five-speed manual transmission, a limited-slip rear-differential – and a great big hatchback.
You can thank Autech for all the good stuff. A tuning arm of Nissan analogous to their Nismo racing team, Autech infused most of the R33-chassis GT-R into this wagon body to make one furious grocery getter. If you read the spec sheet, the horsepower output is theoretically 276 hp, no more than the original top-spec Stagea wagon. That's a flat-out fib, as most RS260s seem to be making more like 300 hp to the wheels.
This example was imported into Canada a few years ago and is in exemplary shape. There are just 135,000 km on the odometer, and includes a few subtle performance upgrades, all easily reversed for the collector.
It drives great, a combination of comfortably sized practical wagon and ridiculous Gojira-power, screaming to an 8000-rpm redline. The Autech Stagea appeared in Gran Turismo as well, but it's a bit more of a sleeper, something to widen the eyes of JDM fans at car shows.
It's the beast with a backpack, the kaiju in cargo shorts. Find it here on autoTRADER.ca.
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