R33 GT-R LM Limited - Blue Champion

The R33 GT-R is often seen as the middle child struggling for attention. It's older sibling, the R32 set the bar high by dominating group A racing in the early 90's and earning the fearsome nickname 'Godzilla'. The R34 on the other hand was catapulted into the limelight by the Fast & Furious franchise and has been worshipped ever since. All the while the less chiseled R33 sat in the shadows seemingly overlooked and under appreciated. 

It may not have a moviestar status or mythical nickname but the R33 Skyline GT-R is an exceptional driving machine. The looks scream that it was born in the heart of the 90's, a decade in the car world that produced so many JDM Heroes and consequently many are becoming hooked upon, seeing value and investment opportunity in limited run / special edition models in particular.

Powered by the legendary RB26 it still sounds and goes like a GT-R plus values are continuing to rise.

Over the years we've seen many special GT-R models, including Nismo's, N1s and Nür's but arguably the R33 generation owns the top spot for the most famous of all GT-Rs... the 400R... but that's for another day. 

R33's came in several flavours and sitting near top in the R33 GT-R hierarchy is the LM Limited. LM standing for Le Mans to celebrate Nissan's participation in the 24-hours of Le Mans it was only available in stunning Champion Blue which was also exclusive to this model. All LMs were series 2 models and registered in 1996 and right up there with the rarest of GTRs with only 188 LM editions released, 86 being GT-Rs and 102 adorning the V-spec badge.

The LM shared some cool elements with the N1 (another rare edition R33) including an N1 carbon fibre rear spoiler, N1 bonnet lip & N1 front ducts. 

When you open up that glorious RB26 on an open road theres nothing quite like it, it's one of those distinctive howls that cannot be mistaken for anything else. The linear surge of power through the revs gives the GTR a very different feel to other high performance JDM metal. 

Everyone will have their own preference to what kind of power delivery they prefer but the RB26 feels unburstable and hugely addictive. The R33 GT-R LM Limited is a perfect example of a time where cars screamed personality. Something that is often seen as missing in modern cars.

Special models such as this reinforce the purity behind driving and why we choose to be petrolheads, it's all about feel and sound, not numbers on a piece of paper... Cars like the R33 GT-R LM should be forever celebrated!

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