Thrilled to have the R32 of his dreams
This time we visited “CREWCH” in Mie Prefecture, which has been increasing its presence in the GT-R market in recent years. We interviewed Mr. Jun Izumi, owner of a 1991 BNR32. What is the reason why Mr. Izumi’s future tuning target is the latest “Skyline 400R”?
An encounter with a complete car changed his destiny
Mr. Izumi has longed to own a sports car since he was young. Although he obtained his driver’s license in the middle of the booming 1980s economy, 1.6-liter lightweight sports cars were the best a young person could afford. Large-displacement, full-fledged sports cars were something to aspire to, and it was in this context that I fell in love with the Z32 “FAIRLADY Z”. This feeling was overturned by an event at a sales exhibition held at a Nissan dealership near his workplace.
“27 August 1989. I still remember the date well. The dealership had a yellow pearl Fairlady Z and a gun grey metallic R32 GT-R on display. At first, I thought my eyes would be drawn only to the Z, but it was the R32 GT-R that I was strongly attracted to. Before I realized it, the Z was out of sight. I remember being quite excited, thinking that I wanted to drive one someday.”
Although I had such a heart-pounding experience, I didn’t have any connection with the GT-R for about 30 years after that. However, the feeling was never broken.
“It was around 2017-2018 that my feelings for the BNR32 became stronger. I started looking for one when I realized that the market price was soaring, and that’s when I found out about CREWCH-it was a hit in my search and I visited them once in the form of a consultation. I bought the car in 2020. I found a BNR32 complete car on a used car search website. The price was approximately 4 million yen. I was determined to buy it for such a price, then I decided to go to …….”
However, he still had some doubts about whether he could afford it. The fact that CREWCH dispelled those fears was the deciding factor in their decision to buy.
“When I told them my budget, they showed me the warehouse. I was surprised that they had such a large stock of BNR32s, but I was also impressed by the responsiveness of the representative Yoshihiko Kuruuchi, who faced our questions. Finally, he showed me the red pearl metallic car that would later become my favorite car.”
The R32 comes in red. The memory of it had vanished from Izumi’s mind. He was fascinated by the rare color, which he had never seen running, and decided to take it in. The car has not been modified since the suspension/exhaust/wheels were changed when he bought it, and instead of customizing it and enjoying it, he continues to drive it with his memories.
“My impression is still the same as when I first saw it. I only have beautiful memories of it in my mind, so I can only say that I still like it. What I also felt strongly when I started riding was a sense of security. Even the untrained eye can see that at the time of its debut, it must have been the safest car in the world. I wish I had met it sooner.”
