Our staff journo Kian Heagney may daily drive an SS Holden ute, but deep down, he has an affection (or affliction?) for dirty old 80s and 90s Nissans. Along with his GQ Patrol, S13 Silvia and a host of R31 Skylines over the years, he has now added this Pulsar to the collection. But, hear him out on this one!

“As if I didn’t already own enough unreliable Nissans, I’ve just added this 1990 Nissan Pulsar GTI-R to the stable.

First published in the June 2025 issue of Street Machine

“For those unaware, this little three-door version of the N14 Pulsar was built by Nissan as a homologation special to take on the World Rally Championship in the early 90s. As such, they’re turbo SR20-powered, manual, and use the same ATTESA AWD system as the GT-Rs of the time. And, they have factory ITBs!

“So, while we got the five-door N14 and N15 SSS Pulsars here in Australia with the aspo SR20, Nissan Australia never graced us with the full-fat GTI-R locally. Regardless, just like Skylines and Silvias, quite a few have made it over as grey imports, just as this 1990 model did in 2001.

“This one had sat in a garage for 10 years before it came to me through some friends. It had a broken rear window, and the clutch hydraulic system needed an overhaul, but for the money, I couldn’t say no.

“We got it running the day after I picked it up. A sticky injector had her down on three cylinders for the first few coughs, but after it cleared up and the ITBs freed themselves up a bit, it was running and indling like a brand newy!

“Finding a rear window replacement wasn’t actually as hard as I feared, with a hatch from a specialist Nissan wrecker sacrificing its rear glass for mine. The dodgy clutch master cylinder was replaced and we got the thing driving, but it became pretty clear on the first drive that the actual clutch – or at least the release bearing in the fork – was completely cooked. It was rattling around, and the clutch engagement was less than a toe’s worth.

“Still, I managed to nurse it with that clutch long enough to pass a roadworthy check to get it on Victorian H-plates. I did get to cruise it around a few times after that until the clutch finally gave up, and given the gearboxes on these are known to be a bit fragile, I’ve since parked it up while hunting all the bits to replace it.

“At the time of writing, all those bits have finally come in, so now I have to commit myself to actually doing it. Everyone has been in my ear saying the clutch on these is a ‘mare of a job, but with a mate’s hoist, I’m hoping we can knock it over on a spare weekend so I can get back on the road and more familiar with this car. Then, Optima Ultimate Street Car 2026!”