When life presents you with rare opportunities, you jump on them. As far as test drives are concerned, I've been fortunate to have driven some really fantastic automobiles over the years, but none as rare, fascinating and as much a Japanese sports car icon as the original Skyline, most commonly referred to as the Hakosuka. Though it's often the GT-R that's most revered, it's also the most rare, with only two actual vehicles belonging to owners stateside (I've seen a third in person, but it was brought over from Costa Rica for the most recent JCCS event and is heading back later this year).
A friend of mine recently picked up a GTX model, a mostly original car (with a matching numbers engine), and offered me the opportunity to drive what will be the closest thing to a GT-R as I'll most likely get. To drive any model Hakosuka is a real treat for me—a true bucket list item that I can now cross off.
Watch this special edition of "Drive Thru" that we did with Bowls Films in the video above, and enjoy a handful of photos of Rick Ishitani's 2000 GTX Hakosuka below.
