Saurus Champ NISMO GT-R JTC Group A 1991 [HPI 8588]

Limited Edition HPI Mirage 1/43 scale resin version of the Saurus Champ NISMO GT-R which competed under Group A regulations during the 1991 season of the Japan Touring Championship.

In 1991, the car made one-off appearances in the 3rd round of Group A, RACE DE NIPPON at Tsukuba Circuit, and the 4th round at Nishi-Sendai. The drivers were Eiji "Tarzan" Yamada and Tatsuharu Okitomo. The pair were the 1990 champions of both the East and West Japan one-make races using the name "Nissan Saurus". While the aim was supposedly to develop young drivers, Class 1, which included the GT-R, only had five entries. Five was the minimum required for a class at the time. Losing the FET Sierra RS500 would have meant the class would no longer be viable, so this GT-R also seemed to be a way to address that. Because it was run by NISMO, the car had no sponsors and only minimal stickers. In the third round, at Tsukuba, the driver was unfamiliar with the car , and in the harsh conditions of the two-hour endurance race at Tsukuba in midsummer, he drove off the track and caused a lot of trouble, eventually finishing 21st, 13 laps behind the leader. In the fourth round, they qualified in fourth place, ahead of Team AXIA, and also finished fourth in the final (AXIA retired due to a problem).

- Condition is like new.
- Only opened once for inspection.
- Originally shipped from Japan.
- Clear case is in excellent condition.
- Box itself is in like new condition.
- Car is 100% intact and has never been removed from display base.

*No returns, claims or exchanges. These are all second-hand purchases from Japan and in-stock in the USA. Please consider above factors before purchase.