To expand on those acronyms in the post's title; what we have here is a
Metropolitan Fire Brigade and
Country Fire Authority, Nissan
Special Vehicle Division, Series 3, R31 Skyline... .
..!...; a very rare emergency-vehicle spec'ed variation of an
already low-production variant of R31 - the SVD Silhouette GTS - the sportiest of Australian R31 Nissan Skylines.
This particular car is a 1990-build, series-three; late days for the 1988/1989 facelift for Aussie R31s that brought with it the
second-generation of Nissan's Special Vehicle Division 'Silhouette GTS', and hey, they came exclusively (bar a handful for the Tasmanian Police) in fire-fighting-ready-
red.
Obviously the Victorian government money didn't stretch as far for emergency vehicles as Tasmania's did; as unlike their all-white police versions of GTS2, these Victorian fire-fighters were built with
none of the SVD model's visual flash.
The entirely colour-matched bodykit and mouldings, the foglights, the white 16" alloy wheels... all left right there on the shelf at Nissan/SVD's Melbourne factory. Instead, an import R31 inter-cooler vent is cut right into the base GX front bumper for the oil cooler, and 15" steel wheels (interestingly what is actually the spare wheel for factory 15" alloy-wheeled cars) are used to sit over the larger SVD-vehicle's brakes...
...so that's party-lights, yes...
...but a peek through the cracked driver's window (conveniently provided by the light's wiring!) shows us there's no Special Vehicle Division Momo wheel or GTS-embroidered Scheel seats here. Oh yeah, it's basic. Heavy on that brown GX cloth..
...and I like it just as much for it!
As I know
I've said here at least once before; as someone with a
mighty-delicate soft-spot for the ol' Melbourne-made R31 Nissan Skyline, a SVD GTS(2) is something I'd certainly love to own at some point.
Eventually.
Finger's crossed.
..and honestly, I know I'd be
every bit as happy with the one above!
Was very proud to be the one who restored this car. It is as original as the day it rolled out of SVD. Even with the right Bilstein suspension. This car is the best R31 I have ever driven. Because it was a Bendigo CFA car, it also had no rust. I miss it a lot.
ReplyDeleteYou did a bloody lovely job. If nothing else, be happy that it seemingly went to a good home..!
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