For the first time ever, you can walk into a factory-backed NISMO Performance Centre outside Japan. It opened on Sunday 4 October 2026 in Melbourne, Australia, and its first job is clear: keeping R32, R33 and R34 Skyline GT-Rs alive.
The centre sits inside Ferntree Gully Nissan, at 1000 Burwood Highway in Melbourne’s outer east. It gives Australian owners a direct line to NISMO’s legendary Omori Factory in Japan.
Quick Facts
- What: the first NISMO Performance Centre outside Japan
- Where: Ferntree Gully Nissan, Melbourne, Victoria
- Opened: Sunday 4 October 2026
- Services: restoration programs, genuine NISMO performance and heritage parts, technical support, merchandise
- Staff: factory-certified NISMO Meisters
- First focus: Skyline GT-R R32, R33 and R34, with more models to follow
- Next: more Australian centres from 2027
A Direct Line to the Omori Factory
The Omori Factory is where NISMO restores and tunes GT-Rs in Japan. Until now, owners outside Japan had no official NISMO centre anywhere near them. The Melbourne centre is meant to close that gap.
Nissan says the centre will offer advanced restoration programs, access to genuine NISMO heritage parts, and NISMO Meisters trained by the factory. Nissan Oceania’s Michael Hill put it simply: “NISMO has always been about much more than performance.”
The plan follows NISMO’s December 2025 strategy to grow its global restoration, restomod and parts business. That strategy also started with the R32, R33 and R34 GT-R.
Why Australia Got It First
NISMO boss Yutaka Sanada said in a recorded message that “Australia is a natural priority because of its mature performance culture”. The country has a huge GT-R community, and it has a special history with the car.
Unlike the United States, Australia got the Skyline GT-R new. Nissan Australia imported only 100 new R32 GT-Rs, but the car made a massive impact. It won the Bathurst 1000 in 1991 and 1992, and it was Australia’s Wheels magazine that first called it Godzilla on its July 1989 cover. The name stuck forever.
The dealer has GT-R history too. Ferntree Gully Nissan sold the GT-R in the past, and dealer principal Michael Banjanin said the team has “seen first-hand the passion these cars inspire.”
From 80 Parts to a Restoration Network
NISMO did not start this overnight. Its Heritage Parts program began in 2017 with about 80 remade parts for the R32 GT-R. In November 2018, Nissan added R33 and R34 parts and doubled the list to about 160 parts, from exterior and engine parts to weather strips and power window switches.
Back then, those parts were sold only in Japan. Now a dealer in Australia can sell them, fit them and use them in factory-backed restorations.
A quick reminder of what makes these cars special: every R32, R33 and R34 GT-R uses the twin-turbo RB26DETT 2.6-litre inline-six and the ATTESA E-TS all-wheel-drive system. Tuners have pushed the RB26 far beyond factory power for more than 30 years, so finding healthy, original cars is getting harder every year.
How It Compares: Toyota and Honda Do It Too
Japan’s big brands now treat their old heroes as treasure. Toyota’s GR Heritage Parts project has remade parts for the A70 and A80 Supra since 2020. Honda launched Honda Heritage Works in April 2026, with reproduction parts and a factory restoration service for the first-generation NSX at Takanezawa, where the car was built.
The difference is the location. Honda’s restoration service is only for Japan-market cars in Japan, while NISMO is now bringing its know-how to a dealer abroad. With the R35 GT-R out of production and only the Z left as Nissan’s sports car, heritage is now one of NISMO’s strongest cards.
What Comes Next
Nissan says more NISMO Performance Centres will open in Australia from 2027. Earlier reports named Sydney, Brisbane and Perth as likely locations, plus Auckland in New Zealand. Nissan has not confirmed exact sites yet.
NISMO itself goes back a long way. Nissan’s motorsport work started in 1936, the NISMO brand was born in 1984, and in 2022 it joined AUTECH to form Nissan Motorsports & Customizing (NMC).
Our Take
This is our opinion: this is great news for GT-R owners, and a smart move by Nissan. Genuine parts and factory knowledge are worth more than gold when an R32 is over 30 years old. It also shows that Nissan finally understands its heritage is a business, not just nostalgia.
The weak points are price and reach. Nissan has not published any prices, and a NISMO restoration will not be cheap. It is also only one centre, in one city, and fans in Europe and the U.S. still have no official option. We hope Melbourne is the start, not the exception.
Your Turn
Would you trust NISMO to restore your Skyline GT-R, or would you rather go to your own tuner? And which country should get the next NISMO Performance Centre? Tell us in the comments.
Sources: Nissan Australia (opening), Nissan Global Newsroom (May 2026 plan), Nissan Global Newsroom (NISMO Heritage Parts), CarExpert, Carscoops, Carscoops (May 2026), Wheels / WhichCar (Godzilla name), Honda Global (Heritage Works), Toyota UK (GR Heritage Parts).
Photos: 8888Nippon (CC0), Mr.choppers (CC BY-SA 3.0), Damian B Oh (CC BY-SA 4.0), Tokumeigakarinoaoshima (CC BY-SA 4.0 and CC0), via Wikimedia Commons. Photos show R32, R33 and R34 Skyline GT-Rs, not the Melbourne centre.
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