…it’s almost like a barn find, but not quite.

The background: my friend’s father (who’s a bit of a tinkerer) recently did a bit of maintenance work on a vehicle for a lady he knew, and she happened to mention that it was probably time for her to retire said vehicle in order to get something slightly more modern. To cut a long story short, it turns out her car is a 1981 DR30 Skyline RS sedan with the FJ20E naturally aspirated engine – she’s the 2nd NZ owner and has owned it for a number of years blissfully unaware of any “significance” it may have had!

genuine DR30, it is!

The car: Judging from the manufacture date and build number it’s one of the very first RS models made, as they were released in October 1981. The car itself is a bit rough around the edges but I’m confident it will clean up well with some effort. The important thing is that it still drives well, and the FJ20E is still as smooth and perky as one might expect for a twin cam 4-valver (although it’s no match for the turbo version). To me, it was surreal seeing another genuine DR30 on the ground here in NZ, and cool yet strange to see one that’s been here living a very honest life for the last 20-odd years and hasn’t been destroyed yet.

Anyway, enjoy a selection of photos after the jump, and if anyone happens to be interested in purchasing this DR30, give us a yell and arrangements can be made on your behalf – I’m fairly sure its current owner would appreciate it going to a worthy home.

Alert readers will note the absence of the tell-tale 3 slat front grille in the following photos; the only plausible explanation is that sometime in the past it was stolen or broken and thus replaced with a regular HR30 honeycomb (because DR30 grilles aren’t exactly common here). It sure helps disguise the fact that this is the real deal from far away, as only the badging remains (and the paint scheme, if you know what to look for).

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