No one wants reminding of how painfully costly R34 Nissan Skyline GT-Rs have turn out to be. Values have been heading upwards for fairly a while now, and now the R34’s eligible for import within the US, hitting its all-important twenty fifth birthday final yr, which means there’s little probability the RB26-powered GT-R will turn out to be extra attainable any time quickly.

There are, nevertheless, numerous methods to get your fingers on an R34 by happening the ‘Gozilla-lite’ path, specifically with the single-turbo’d GT-T, though a great chunk of them have been hacked into GT-R replicas with various levels of success. You’ll additionally discover a number of curiosities exterior of the GT-R membership, together with the very uncommon R34 saloon that may be had with the identical RB25 working gear because the aforementioned GT-T. A Skyline property by no means got here to be, however the car we have here, the Nissan Stagea RS 4, is the closest you’ll get to at least one.

Okay, granted: the Stagea wasn’t technically an R34 with an even bigger boot, quite it shared most of its underpinnings with the earlier R33 Skyline. Nonetheless, all-wheel drive variations like this one achieve the multi-link rear suspension from the R34, so it’s not as if it’s completely unrelated. In addition to, the principle motive why it’s thought of the unofficial R34 wagon is just because it shares the same look to the tenth-generation Skyline. Slap on the bumpers and lights from that period’s GT-R, as many have, and also you get an R34 property that appears as if it’s come straight from the manufacturing unit.

It even got here with an honest crop of engines, too, all of which have been straight sixes. The RS 4 right here was one of many extra highly effective choices, packing the identical 2.5-litre RB25DET shared with the Skyline GTT and matching the 280hp restrict agreed on by Japanese automobile producers on the time. Whereas it’s not the full-fat GTR motor, which was out there within the a lot rarer Autech model, the RB25 continues to be a massively tuneable engine with solely a handful of mods unlocking an additional couple of horsepower. It’ll even be appropriate with a bunch of components from the R33 and R34 GT-Rs, to not point out all of the high-end gear out there from the Japanese aftermarket.

Or, you already know, you possibly can go away it’s, because the earlier homeowners of this Stagea have. This explicit automobile is the facelifted ‘S2’ mannequin, the principle variations being tweaked bumpers and lights, in addition to the introduction of a four-speed automated, which this automobile comes fitted with. Sure, a five-speed guide was provided and that’ll be a sticking level for some, however it is a massive outdated household property on the finish of the day. It’ll go like a GT-R in a straight line, however might be higher suited to a barely extra sedate life.

That stated, it’s nonetheless going sturdy after twenty years and 101,000 miles of use. Initially offered in Japan (we by no means obtained them right here, annoyingly), this Stagea made its method over to the UK in 2016 with loads of invoices documenting its 9 years within the nation, together with a current full service. So it’s able to roll, and will definitely be a novel sight in any respect method of automobile exhibits and meets – even the JDM ones. We’ll learn the way a lot it’s value when the hammer falls in a few weeks time, but when that’s too lengthy a wait you possibly can at all times make a suggestion to the vendor. Given how uncommon and fashionable these massive Japanese wagons are, you will be certain the bids will come flooding in when the public sale opens subsequent week. Pockets’s on the prepared, of us.