$40K Is a Lot of Cash for a Nissan Badge From 1997

I see vintage Nismo parts and accessories listed at preposterous prices all the time. For some reason, JDM fanatics and collectors love that stuff, and it’s not unheard of for rare Nismo emblems to trade hands for hundreds of dollars. As far as Nismo-tuned cars go, the R33 Skyline Nismo 400R might be the very coolest, rarest, and most collectible. Case in point: Whoever’s selling this emblem off of one clearly knows what they’ve got.

This 400R badge is posted on eBay at a buy-it-now price of $40,040.00 from Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. That inspired me to do a little comparison shopping, which led me to Yahoo Auctions where I found what I’m pretty sure is the exact same one. The pictures look identical and the location listed is also Kanagawa Prefecture. The price there is ¥4,004,004, which translates to about $26,000 in American money.

My assessment is that the item’s owner isn’t expecting to pull 40 grand or 4 million yen for this emblem—they just put an extremely high number to keep casual collectors away and wait for somebody with real coin (or maybe an owner of one of the few-existing 400R cars) to drop them a DM and ask how much they really need.

The seller includes some details about where the part came from:

“In 1996, when I bought a new car, I had the dealer remove it from the vehicle along with the side decals. This is the emblem on the trunk of the Nismo 400R. It was wrapped in a handkerchief and kept in a safe place, but it may have interfered with other things, and there is a light scratch in the center. The 400 part also has what looks like scratches or spots inside or on the surface, perhaps due to aging.”

Still, the outlandish number gave me a chuckle and I appreciated the excuse to take a lap around the internet looking at specs on the 400R.

The R33 Skyline Nismo 400R is more than just a neat Nissan. It’s an ultra-elite special version of the famous Japanese performance car made with a raft of extremely hardcore racing parts. The entire production run was apparently just 44 cars, with 41 being listed on GTR Registry. Hagerty did a post about them in 2021 and got this good piece of context from Brian Jannusch at Toprank Importers:

“Unlike many other specialty production Japanese cars, the 400R had quite a few parts that were never available for individual sale, which makes creating a replica near impossible … Parts such as the over-fenders, front bumper, double-wing rear spoiler, LM carbon hood, and RB-X GT2 engine have become incredibly coveted. Aside from getting them off of a real 400R, there’s been no other way to source them.”

That RB-X engine was based on an RB26, with a bump in displacement among other significant modifications. Output increased significantly, from 280 metric horsepower to 400, hence the name. According to Nismo’s official Japanese page (which looks like it hasn’t been updated since these cars came out) Skyline 400Rs sold for ¥12,000,000, about $77,748, when they were new in ’97. Adjusted for inflation, that’s around $150,000 in today’s money. I’m not sure what one of these would be worth now—R33 Skyline prices in general are kind of all over the place, with the most expensive one on Bring a Trailer selling for just over $100,000 a couple of years ago.

I’m sure 400Rs won’t be trading hands often at this point, at any rate. Most of us will have to be content with driving them in Gran Turismo. Heck, most of us would even be lucky to see one outside a screen. If you really want a 400R emblem for cheaper, you can get one directly from Nissan for $57.50, but don’t get too excited—that’s just the version of the far less-cool JDM Infiniti Q50 (Skyline sedan) that shamelessly borrowed the 400R name a few years back.

Got any super cool and rare Japanese car parts on your radar or in your collection? Tell the author about them at andrew.collins@thedrive.com.