Essence of the Machine.(Column)(sports cars)(Column)

Byline: Kevin A. Wilson

Nissan's GT-R Proto concept ("The Talk of Tokyo,'' Oct. 31) and the tuner-oriented news out of SEMA triggered a memory that came streaming back as if it were yesterday. It was my first encounter with a Nissan Skyline GT-R, an R32 about 15 years ago. I hardly drove at all; it would have been a bad idea.

Let me count the ways: One, it was my first time driving on the left side on public roads in Japan; two, serious jet lag (i.e., no sleep for 30-odd hours); three, a sinus infection I was fighting with medication; four, it was raining; five, there was thick fog and finally; six, we were on narrow, twisting roads in the mountains.

I know, reason six is why I should have done it anyway. Opportunity knocks, carpe diem, etc. Trust me, not driving it hard was the right call. I got behind the wheel long enough to form realistic impressions of the steering feel, the shifter, etc., but the hard driving I left to a cohort from another publication. Which was the best reason to yield the wheel: Driving alone was not an option, and while it's one thing to be stupid on your own behalf, it's quite another to put others at risk. In the circumstances, we and the local populace were a lot safer.

But, dang! It was an R32 in its heyday. The memories are vivid, intense as a fever dream. I had only a vague idea where we were-the Akagi area, I suspect now. There were monkeys in the trees at the base of the mountains, before we ascended from a boggy plain to the true driver's road where Nissan took us to wring out its hottest product. Leaves shone bright green through the mists as if lit from within, the wet rock glistened black, and there was one bit where the road dipped down and the mist flowed over a ridge and streamed above us, like standing behind some ethereal waterfall.

Uphill and down we ...