Instagram has Wagon Wednesday, but I’d like to think there’s a need for Wagon Weekend too. There’s so much interesting content out there for you SUV haters because so many of the most iconic cars on the planet are connected to wagons, like the Nissan GT-R, which is connected to something called the Stagea.
Because it’s so cool and valuable, the GT-R is also the target of fakes and body kits. These range from such extremes as customized Skyline GT-S models to the R69 project, which recently put an R34 body on top of the R35 chassis. And somewhere in there, there’s a phenomenon called the “GT-R wagon.”
No, it’s not something Nissan built, obviously. You’re looking at a one-off that just emerged out of Malaysia of all places. A local shop must have grafted on the nose of the R35 GT-R with the boxy body of a Stagea wagon.
It’s really interesting how they did that. The fenders of the two cars meet right where they added those air extractors, creating a visible widebody look. The front looks like it belongs to the very earliest GT-R models, the same as those 20-inch wheels and front splitter. Obviously, they had to take a few liberties with the back end, but titanium exhausts do hint at the R35 connection.
My hat’s off to the builders and the YouTube channel Galeri Kereta, which made sure to feature a regular GT-R coupe for comparison. The red wrap looks stunning, even though it makes you think of Ferrari instead of the Godzilla, the Ferrari slayer.
Nissan Skyline GT-R wagon: How?
Nissan introduced the Stagea wagon in 1996, and it stayed in production until 2007, having two generations and several updates. It has several notable engines, including the VQ35, the same as a 350Z, and the RB25 and RB26. Yes, the famous and highly desirable Skyline engines from the Skyline GT-R were fitted to this 4-door family car.
What’s more, a few Stagea wagons even sold with the extra-spicy RB26DETT twin-turbo mill, though I suppose there’s a lot you can do even with a normal 2.5-liter inline-6.
Several people have made R34-based Stagea conversions over the years, but this is an R35 GT-R look. As far as we can tell, it’s only the second Stagea to ever undergo such a transformation after a white one that was for sale in Russia three years ago.
The Nissan GT-R is one of the oldest names in the performance car world. The current R35 is still going strong even after about 15 years in production while its R34 predecessor is one of the most desirable modern classics with some selling for half a million dollars right now.
Before being a GT-R, Nissan’s turbo beast was also a Skyline. And many models belong to the Skyline family. For example, the sedan you know as the Infiniti Q50 (and its G-series predecessor) is a Skyline. And if you google “Skyline SUV” you’ll find that the Infiniti QX50 was once called just that.
