Why Is The Nissan GT-R Called Godzilla?

You'll often hear people referring to the Nissan Skyline GT-R as Godzilla, but what's the connection between the stylish performance car and the giant atomic kaiju? The Godzilla name actually didn't originate in Japan, but rather in Australia — then was popularized in England. 

The nickname began in an Australian car publication back in 1989, with Wheels referring to the R32 GT-R as "Godzilla" due to its performance, especially since it dominated other top sports cars in the Australian Touring Car Championship. The name spread overseas when journalist David Yu of Britain's Evo magazine became inspired by the touring-car races on TV and named his own grey import Skyline GT-R Godzilla. In an interview with SlashGear, Yu said that Godzilla was featured in an abundance of car magazines, including the launch of Evo (formerly Performance Car), and the nickname grew popular with readers. 

"The most famous iteration of Godzilla came when I was the first in the U.K. to take delivery of an official U.K. Nissan R35 GT-R in April 2009, for which I had purchased the number plate GO02LLA, which was the closest I could get to GODZILLA on a U.K. registration," Yu said. "I wrote about Godzilla in Evo's Fast Fleet section on a monthly basis for many years and it underwent a continuous program of upgrades, culminating as a Litchfield-tuned 720 hp beast with numerous appearances on various YouTube videos, including one of Tim 'Shmee150's very early ones!"

Yu helped spread the nickname's popularity throughout the United Kingdom and beyond thanks to his many GT-Rs being featured all over the car world. First was a R32 Skyline GT-R tuned to 440 horsepower, which he owned from 1995 to 1997. At the time, this was one of around 30 to 40 Skylines in the U.K. Then Yu owned an R33 Skyline GT-R V-Spec from 1997 to 1999. Tuned to 620 hp, this Skyline was featured monthly in Evo. He later owned an R35 GT-R from 2005 to 2009 — tuned to 720 hp — that was featured in tons of features and videos. 

"The R35 GT-R was probably the most revolutionary and influential performance car of the last 20 years," Yu told SlashGear. "It forced other sports-car manufacturers, notably Porsche, to raise their game to try to catch up. It was the first GT-R to be sold around the world and cemented Japanese performance-car credentials. 

"I absolutely loved mine and took it on lots of tracks across Europe. It still remains one of the most involving and capable performance cars you can buy, some 17 years after launch." 

Which was his favorite? The R32 was Yu's pick when Evo asked him to compare all of the Nissan Skyline generations. Yu considered it the lightest, rawest driver's car out of all the iterations — and the most worthy of being called Godzilla.