Happy 40th, NISMO. 2024 marks four decades since the founding of Nissan Motorsport, a division with a label that's been applied to performance machines tackling great tracks worldwide. Endurance racing, rally racing, GT machines, formula cars and even hillclimbers were on display at this year's event.  

Nissan dug deep into its various museums and collections to bring out a lineup of classics spanning its entire history, and the fans responded in kind. Scattered across Fuji Speedway's many parking lots was an amazing assemblage of customer-owned machines, from the so-called Hakosuka — the earliest GT-Rs, from the late 1960s and early ’70s — up to the latest Fairlady Z and Nissan GT-R.  

The tuners showed up in force, too, with major brands like Top Secret and Mine's rolling out wildly customized cars that set a template for anyone with a deep passion for customizing and the pockets to match. It was an amazing event. Here are 10 favorites from the day's festivities, plus a few extra vehicles in the photo gallery. 

1985 Fairlady Z 300ZX 

Nissan isn't exactly known for its rally efforts — the brand focuses most of its motorsports efforts on the asphalt — but still it brought out a pair of rally cars from its heritage fleet. The first is this 1985 Fairlady Z 300ZX, which competed in the Japanese Rally Championship that year. This machine, bearing Nissan's classic racing number of 23 (two is "ni" and three is "san" in Japanese) and adorned with the funky early NISMO logo, won the Japanese championship. 

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1991 Pulsar GTI-R WRC 

Nissan's other rally machine on display originally competed on an even bigger stage. This Pulsar GTI-R, which debuted at the 1991 Safari Rally, faced off against WRC greats like the Toyota Celica GT-Four and Lancia Delta Integrale. The car only ran for a couple of seasons and, sadly, was never threatened to win. Campaigned by Stig Blomqvist, it had been in storage for decades before a team of Nissan volunteers dug it out and began a long restoration. The finished car looked a bit tall and awkward on the circuit compared to the many prototypes and GT racers, but the rally lights hanging off the nose and those urethane mudflaps flopping in the breeze were certainly enough to make this rally fan appreciate the work of those volunteers. 

1998 Pikes Peak R33 Skyline GT-R 400R 

There was one more racer there that had seen time on the dirt: this 1998 GT-R, campaigned by Akira Kameyama in the open division of the 1998 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. Pikes Peak was mostly unpaved in those days, making for a very different experience from the modern event, and indeed there's an amazing video of Kameyama-san sliding the thing to the top. Each of the 40-odd R33 road cars still known to exist is worth millions of dollars; the 400R is an incredibly rare version and, clearly, a lot more special. 

1989 Calsonic Skyline GT-R Group A 

Of the many iconic Skyline GT-Rs on display, few drew more excitement than this 1989 Calsonic-sponsored machine. Any fan of the early Gran Turismo games will likely know the full history of this car, which has had a major presence in that series. The R32 GT-R dominated the Group A class of the All Japan Championship for years, winning every single race from 1989 to 1993. This specific car won the championship in 1990 and again in 1993.  

1999 Pennzoil Skyline GT-R  

Another classic livery on another classic GT-R, this 1999 R34 was campaigned by Erik Comas. Despite the GT-R's famous all-wheel-drive layout, this car was modified to be rear-drive to suit the rules of the Japan GT Championship. That number one on the fender isn't there for show — this car won the championship two years on the trot.  

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2024 Z NISMO GT500 

Nissan still actively competes in Japan's top GT motorsport series, Super GT. This 2024 Z competes in the GT500 class and has been graced by a set of the most epically pronounced fenders you're likely to ever see on a car. It's powered by a 2.0-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder NR4S24 engine that makes somewhere north of 550 horsepower. It weighs just 2,250 pounds. 

2018 Leaf NISMO RC 

Did you know Nissan made a Leaf race car? It made quite a few of the things, actually. This example is the second-generation car, unveiled in 2018. Making 322 hp from two motors with a combined 472 lb-ft of torque, and weighing just 2,700 pounds, this sakura-painted Leaf NISMO RC looked wickedly quick out on track, handily keeping up with the other, much louder racers on the circuit. 

1988 R88C Le Mans Prototype 

Nissan has a long history of running purpose-built prototypes at Le Mans, with varying degrees of success and, sadly, no overall victories. Though lovely to behold, this 1988 entry, the R88C, wasn't among Nissan's most successful efforts. Another R88C came in 14th overall, but this car failed to finish. It did a little better in the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship, where it managed a third-place finish. 

1992 Skyline GT-R R32 

It wasn't just race cars that caught my eye at Nismofest. This R32 is owned by Toshihita Abe, a car he purchased new in 1992. He told me that he had a Sylvia before that, but when a GT-R blew by him on a rainy day, he decided to upgrade to something with more grip. His car has seen many upgrades since then, including a set of HKS GT2530 turbos. The car now makes over 500 horsepower and revs to 8,000 rpm.   

2002 Skyline GT-R R34 M-Spec Nür 

The owner of this R34 was nowhere to be found, but I couldn't help admiring his machine. The R34 is perhaps the most desirable of the Skyline GT-Rs of the moment, and the M-Spec Nür is surely among the most desirable edition thereof. Nissan made fewer than 300 of these, outfitted with retuned suspensions and an upgraded version of the iconic 2.6-liter twin-turbo inline-six. This one's been taken even further, courtesy of some degree of fiddling from the tuning house Mine's. A Veruza body kit adds some extra flare to the car's stock pearl white paint.