HEADLINER VOLT-ZILLA

EV restomods are controversial at the best of times... but electrifying an R32 Skyline? This could go either way

- TOBY THYER

There's something lurking in the basement of Nissan's global HQ, and it's likely to ruffle a few feathers. Like Bowie, this legend is evolving into something otherworldly, transcending time, space and preconceptions about lightning bolts painted proudly across your face. Deep underground, Godzilla has had a heart transplant and is waiting for the doctor's all clear before being let loose on the streets of Tokyo.

This is the passion project of Mr Ryozo Hiraku, an engineer at Nissan and GT-R owner. He and his small team have designed and built this electric Skyline entirely in their spare time and with a very limited budget. Luckily, Nissan just so happened to have a mint condition R32 lying around, finished in the ineffably cool gunmetal grey. The rest of the conversion is all parts bin donations too - there's a 92kWh battery from the Leaf Nismo RC and two of Nissan's e-Powertrain electric motors. Lifting the bonnet to find a squiggle of wires, inverters and a distinct lack of anything turbo shaped immediately conjures comparisons to Doc's DeLorean.

In period, the R32 had a claimed output of 276bhp under the gentlemen's agreement, although we now know that was probably underselling the car's true power output, and indeed potential. How does this R32 EV stack up? The combined front and rear drive motors make 429bhp, and 251lb ft of torque each, which is enough to give the car a similar power to weight ratio considering the disadvantage of having a small polar bear's worth of batteries on the back seats - 367kg to be precise.