It could be a criminal offense to finish ‘Japan month’ on Speedhunters with out discussing one of many nation’s most legendary automobiles: the HKS zero-R.

It’s a automobile stuffed with thriller, with quite a few blogs and boards devoted to assembling his true historical past and monitoring his journey by way of the years. Value charges differ drastically, identical to estimates of the variety of produced zero-Rs and the precise timeline of its creation.

The late Eighties have been a time of technological innovation and extra, and in 1989 HKS wished to make use of the motion, utilizing the model new Bnr32 Nissan Skyline GT-R as base. However here is the decisive element: It isn’t a Nissan Skyline GT-R.

The Zero-R was the try by HKS to create their very own supercar based mostly on an already competent manufacturing field, simply as Alpina, Ruf and Brabus did with their creations on the time. It was not only a set-up bundle for the Bnr32 non-HKS made sufficient adjustments to the Skyline GT-R to justify homologation for street legality. Nonetheless, the problem was the astronomical prices.

Homologation in Japan in the course of the Nineteen Nineties was horribly troublesome and costly, and regardless of the technical experience and fervour behind the Zero-R undertaking, the monetary realities couldn’t be ignored. HKS merely didn’t have the assets to check a number of zero-Rs, and their dream of constructing Japan’s reply to the boutique supercars in Europe was instantly crushed.

This isn’t to say that the Japanese recipient has fully deserted the undertaking that Non-various zero-Rs have been absolutely developed within the early 90s, though it’s with out homologation. A few of these automobiles stayed on the Shizuoka manufacturing unit of HKS, whereas one made its solution to the sultan of Brunei’s outrageous automobile assortment.

Though most sources agree that solely 4 ‘unique’ zero-Rs have been made within the Nineteen Nineties, some point out that as many as 11 have been produced. Initially, I tended to go to the smaller figure-given the shortage of strong info and documentation on the zero-R-to {that a} deeper dive uncovered the next:

No, your eyes do not idiot you. These are movie scans from 1993, that are displayed eight Honest zero-R’s, nonetheless on GT-R wheels, within the storage at HKS. The photographs have been taken by former HKS USA worker Scott Webb and positioned on a US GT-R discussion board in 2013.

This determine is backed by an article by an Australian journal within the early 2000s, Excessive -performance imports, With eight zero-Rs outdoors standing, his companion wears magnesium tecnomagnesio wheels.

All of the preliminary zero-Rs are completed in silver or at the very least, eight of them. Nonetheless, the Sultan’s Zero-R was white, and as a part of the preliminary run, it signifies that HKs produced at the very least 9 automobiles earlier than the flip of the century.

Across the mid-2000s, adjustments in Japan’s legal guidelines on roadworthy HKs gave the chance to legalize the zero-R street. Nonetheless, it did nothing to alleviate the confusion across the automobiles already produced, and nobody was certain how rather more could be constructed.

HKS introduced the ‘Zero-R model II’, took the unique idea and up to date it with fashionable turbos, brakes and suspension. Our personal Dino Dalle Carbonare even acquired behind the wheel of one in all these later fashions in 2010, simply earlier than extra details about the unique automobiles started to emerge.

However even then, questions stay. Dino’s article accommodates two cars-one white, one silver-but there’s nonetheless no certainty whether or not the white automobile was a very new constructing or one of many unique zero-R chassis up to date with new elements.

Then there’s the ‘Zero-R model III’ from 2007/2008. The one concrete photographs present a black instance, however then a crimson one – which can have develop into purple – and extra tailored silver automobiles began to come back up.

And let’s not neglect the well-documented Grey Zero-R on Rays Volk Racing Re30 wheels that got here to Australia, in addition to the white automobile that Mark had the prospect to drive, round these phrases.

Based mostly on photographic proof alone, there look like 9 zero-R’s of the unique run-the eight silver, plus the white automobile of the sultan. With the addition of the model II and model VIII fashions, we will take a look at 14 or 15 automobiles, though some imagine that as many as 17 zero-Rs might be made.

However the reality is, with out concrete info from HKs or a manufacturing guide guide, there is no such thing as a solution to confirm the numbers. In a means, nevertheless, it contributes to the thriller of this two-seater world-beating that visionary at HKs dream nearly 4 many years in the past.

Though all eyes have been on HKS’s ‘born-again’ R34 GT-R, which apparently took over from the absurd priced Nismo Z-tune R34s and 400R R33s, you may assume that the Zero-R was something however forgotten. The reality, nevertheless, is that the story will not be fully over but.

Evidently a plan to revive the automobile is transferring, with HKS rebuilding a zero-r from the bottom once more, and ultimately the Bnr32 chassis to the exalted heights taking it all of the years in the past envisaged. Take a look at this house – and do not look away for a second.

Mario Christou
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Mark@speedhunters.com