25 years ago was a very good time for Nissan in Australia. This is because, 25 years ago in Australia, Nissan won its very first Australian Touring Car Championship, with Jim Richards driving the 1990 Nissan Skyline HR31.
This was the dawning of an era of Australian motorsport domination for Nissan; it went on to win both the ATCC and the Bathurst 1000 for the next two years. As a result of this first victory, three other ATCC victories, and seven Bathurst victories, driver Jim Richards became an Australian touring car legend, and was inducted into the V8 Supercars Hall of Fame.
Now, 25 years later, Nissan is celebrating that moment that started it all, giving its current No. 23 NISMO Nissan Altima V8 Supercar the same race colors as Richard’s No. 2 Skyline.
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“Nissan is happy to celebrate 25 years since our first Australian Touring Car Championship title at this year’s Bathurst 1000 by reviving another one of our famous motorsport paint schemes,” said Nissan Motor Co. (Australia) Managing Director and CEO Richard Emery. “We were really pleased with the reaction to the Bluebird ‘retro’ livery that we campaigned at last year’s Bathurst 1000 and we are confident that the fans will be just as excited to see the Skyline colors return to Mount Panorama this year.”
If you would like to watch, here is Jim Richards himself talking about his 1990 ATCC win:
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Randy Moore is the Internet Manager at Cronic Nissan in Griffin, GA. Cronic Nissan has been serving the Griffin and surrounding Georgia cities since 1975. With an intense focus on customer service and satisfaction, Cronic Nissan is the true hometown Nissan Dealer.