In a nutshell, this issue of Banzai can be summed up using the words of Monty Python’s John Cleese i his role as BBC continuity announcer: “And now for something completely different.”

Why? Many of this month’s feature cars are a break from the norm; welcome diversions that keep us interested and motivated, and will hopefully keep you entertained. From Japan, we have a close look at the lesserspotted R35 GT-R wagon… or is it? Tuner Kid’s Heart has taken a surgeon’s instruments and performed an extraordinary amount of cosmetic surgery to create what has to be one of our new favourite hybrid (not in the eco-friendly way, thankfully) mash-ups – GT-R looks with estate car practicality.
Read all about it from page 18. The Aussies aren’t shy about disregarding convention, either.

Loyal Subaru fans among us might want to skip to the next paragraph, because the Legacy from Down Under featured in this issue (p66) has rejected its flat-four heritage in favour of an engine from the Nissan fold. And before you start getting ideas about a big capacity RB, we’d recommend that you revise that guess to something a little bit smaller but equally tunable. The Hellaflush movement that has been becoming ever more popular in the USA is showcased with our review of Hellaflush 5 (p106).

As we witness more and more of this movement’s influence on the scene over here in Europe, it still borders on shocking to see some of the extreme stances and setups finding their way on to JDM and European cars in North America. They’re ‘all broke down’ and looking well on it. Moving back to our shores, it’s not every day that we see an R32 like Kyle Chisholm’s (p48). This Nissan is running the baby of the RB engine range; the RB20.

With many Skyline owners forsaking the 2.0-litre straight-six for its GT-R-sourced bigger brothers, it’s refreshing to see a car and owner that are happy just to work with what Nissan intended. In fact, in our opinion Kyle’s R32 nails the enhanced factory look on what is now a modern classic. But ultimately, for something completely different, turn to p78 and feast your eyes on DD Autosport’s Time Attack challenger.

We can’t recall having seen a Pulsar quite as wild and out there as this, and to think that it has been specced, fabbed and built by a father and son team in a modest workshop in rural Cheshire beggars belief. It’s fitting too that the Pulsar marks its 20th anniversary this year – this GTi-R is proof, if proof were needed, that there’s life in the ‘Baby Godzilla’ yet.

Andrew Biddle, Staff Writer

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