Awesome 1:18 AUTOart Nissan Diecast Model Cars

Nissan has a spectacular run on the performance car market by producing great cars such as the Skyline GT-R and the Zs (300z, 350z, 370z).  These are fast, high performing cars that we’d like to be driving someday.  We see them in The Fast & The Furious movies and dream of the possibilities.

Skyline GT-R

The Skyline GT-R, especially the 1999 model driven by O’Conner in the second movie, 2 Fast 2 Furious, is a legendary car.  For one thing, it is highly-advanced using four-wheel steering to manuever quickly in the tight streets of Tokyo.  Lightweight and compact, O’Conner’s 1999 Nissan Skyline GT-R R34 rolls around in precision powered by the famed 2.6-liter RB26DETT twin-turbo inline-6 engine.

American fans of the Skyline GT-R are having a tough time acquiring the  beautiful machine because it is not available in United States.  Luckily, newer models of the Skyline are available in North America under the Infiniti brand.

The Zs are my favorite Nissan cars. In fact, they were first marketed under the Datsun brand which was already owned by Nissan for a few decades. I recall the 280Z that a neighbor had as I was growing up. They are quite the collector car now. And a close friend has a Datsun 240z that he rebuilt for shows.

In any case, the Datsun brand was phased out in the 80s. And the Z line continues on under the Nissan brand. The distinction between the Fairlady and the Z is a matter of marketing. They are called Fairlady Z in Japan and 240Z, 280Z, 300Z, 350Z, 370Z, etc, everywhere else.

In the movie, The Fast & The Furious: Tokyo Drift, the 350Z is heavily featured. They are driven by the bad guys, DK and his gang. DK, himself, drives a black 2002 Nissan Fairlady Z. With twin turbochargers, it could put out 460 horsepower at the rear wheels. Perfect for drifting.

His second in command, Morimoto, drives a golden 2002 Nissan 350Z. To me it’s the best looking car in the movie. A third member of DK’s gang who also drives a 2003 Nissan 350Z is Tea Hair. His car is silver and blue with some nice Toyo Proxes tires. The Zs that these guys drive are equipped with a NOX system to give an extra boost to win a close race.