The Nissan R32 Skyline, also known as “Godzilla”, is a worldwide icon. The car earned its nickname due to its utter dominance of racing series around the world. Due to it’s reputation as a vehicle with one of the largest aftermarket catalogues, one may find it hard to say their R32 is truly unique. Samhir Vassort, like many others, decided that stock was not enough, only his approach was different.
Vassort’s 1991 R32 has been fitted with a Pandem widebody kit, Airtekk engineering air suspension, and Work wheels. What inspires one to go to such extremes to modify a car? After all, cutting up factory body lines on such an iconic car isn’t exactly the most common thing to do.
“The R32 has always been my dream car since I first saw it playing Gran Turismo as a kid”, Vassort recalls. “That flame was reignited after seeing it on Top Gear, and then seeing the car in person when I lived in Japan. So much so that I bought it”
“My first job was enlisting in the Marine Corps. I was in math class and I thought to myself ‘Nah I’m not doing this’. I was lost and didn’t know what to do, so this gave me a way forward.”
“It definitely taught me how to be a proper adult and how to handle myself around all kinds of people. It’s made me realize that life doesn’t stop for anyone and that you’re either going to make it or you won’t. Its up to you either way.”
“I bought the car in Japan from some old dude. I watched it sit on his lawn for around a year, and eventually got a friend of mine who spoke Japanese to ask him about the car. After some negotiation, he sold it.”
“The build list is multiple pages long at this point in time. Pretty much everything has been touched. To be honest, my future plans are probably going to include an RB26 swap, and about 400 more horsepower.”
To afford the immense amount of work that has gone in to his car, Vassort works as a cyber security manager for a government contractor.
“I was able to cross train with the IT guys when I was in the Marines. I also got a couple of basic certifications. After getting out, I started as a junior system administrator and just worked my way in to cyber security.”
“As cliche as it sounds, the most important piece of advice I’ve ever received is to have one goal, plan it out, and let no one stop you from getting to where you have to be to achieve it. Second most important was just be a good dude.”
This R32’s journey is far from over, as Vassort plans to keep improving the car as time goes on. If and when that happens, make sure to check back here for an update.
“If anyone or anything costs you your sense of peace, It’s too expensive.”
