The UK’s Nissan Skyline GT-R expert: meet Andy Middlehurst

By Ben Barry

| 8 Aug 2024

Classic & Sports Car – Andy Middlehurst: the UK’s Nissan Skyline GT-R expert

Nissan works racing driver, test engineer, main dealer, official importer, master technician, brand heritage expert…

Never mind the Japanese, surely only Andy Middlehurst can claim such a comprehensive working knowledge of the legendary Skyline GT-R.

Nissan stopped importing the most recent R35 GT-R to Europe in 2022, after a 13-year run, but its R33 and R34 predecessors might not have officially come to the UK at all without Andyʼs enthusiasm, nor would the earlier R32 have achieved so much on British race tracks.

The Nissan Skyline GT-R’s success in the UK market is largely thanks to Andy Middlehurst

After 30 years since his first involvement with the Japanese supercar, we travelled to Middlehurst Nissan in St Helens, Merseyside, to hear Andyʼs incredible story first-hand and learn more about his plans, now that the earlier Skyline GT-Rs are becoming bona fide classics – and soaring in value as a result.

The cheapest R32s now push beyond £30,000, while the most sought-after R34s are well above £100,000.

Cars and motorsport run in the Middlehurst blood.

Andyʼs grandad and great uncle raced speedway bikes in the 1930s, while dad Philip campaigned an Austin A40 and Mini Cooper ʻSʼ in the British Saloon Car Championship, racing against the likes of Jim Clark during the 1960s.

Andy Middlehurst, aged 17, with his Formula Ford racer in his first season (left); Andy’s BTCC Nissan Primera eGT

The family business ran in parallel, initially as a salvage yard in the pre-war era, then later as J Middlehurst & Sons from the 1950s.

The dealership first sold new Austins and Rileys, later Renaults, until Middlehurst became a Datsun agent from 1978.

It still occupies the same Jackson Street site to this day.

Andy joined the business in 1980, aged 18, splitting his time in the service and parts departments with a promising motorsport career.

Nissan Skyline GT-Rs pack cross-country pace that few cars can match

Today, we meet in his small office in the corner of the showroom, poring over wall-to-wall family trophies, framed period photos and other related automobilia.

Through the window behind us, Andy keeps an eye on modern Juke and Micra customers to make sure theyʼre being looked after.

Through another window, to our left, sits the restored R32 Skyline GT-R racer in which Andy took the first two of his four back-to-back National Saloon Car Championship title wins from 1995.

The Nissan Skyline GT-R name resonates with enthusiasts all over the world

Itʼs the car that started it all for Andy, but the path that took him to that winning drive is a familiar tale of motorsport snakes and ladders.

“I had been doing Formula Ford originally, as a teenager against Senna,” recalls the 61-year-old.

“I won the Star of Tomorrow Championship in 1982 and was aiming to get to Formula One, but in the end I didn’t have the budget to get to Formula Three.

“So I did some rallying for fun, in an Escort RS 2000, did the RAC, then got selected to be a sort of semi-works driver for Toyota in the Corolla AE86; Per Eklund was the main driver. I won quite a few classes in international rallies.”

The Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R from the 1995 National Saloon Car Championship (left); Andy Middlehurst’s showroom trophy display

Despite Andy narrowly missing out on a works-assisted rally drive in a Volkswagen Golf, the company offered a spot in the National Saloon Car Championship.

He promptly took Class C titles in 1988 and ʼ89 in the Golf GTI 16v, followed by a dominant 1990 season in a Sierra RS Cosworth.

That led to a British Touring Car Championship drive with Graham Goode in the Listerine-sponsored RS 500 and ninth overall in the 1991 championship.

The Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R feels delicate and mechanical on the road

The Nissan connection began in 1992, when Andy campaigned the firmʼs Primera eGT alongside Kieth Oʼdor for Nissan Janspeed Racing in the BTCC.

“Janspeed had run the Skyline R32 in the previous yearʼs Group N National Saloon Car Championship,” he continues.

“Every time I went to Janspeed there was this R32 sitting in the corner of the workshop, and I couldn’t stop looking at this beautiful thing.”

Nissan had produced a long lineage of Skylines, but the 1989 R32 was the first GT-R since 1973, and it was one that combined a 2.6-litre, twin-turbo straight-six engine with all-wheel drive and four-wheel steering.

The Skyline R32’s sparse cabin is lifted by a set of white dials (left); famous tail-lights

It was a mechanical beast that channelled Japanʼs electronic mastery, and the GT-R had already made a name for itself beyond Japan with dominant victories in Australia, where it was dubbed ʻGodzillaʼ and ultimately banned from racing.

The legend quickly spread.

Andy, meanwhile, was struggling in the Primera and found himself in a Sunny GTI for the 1993 National Saloon Car Championship.

“During that season we decided the Skyline was the way to go,” he recalls. “We got Janspeed’s car out of the workshop, together with another one that had a new bodyshell, and we built one car out of the two here.”

BBS rims for the V-spec edition of the Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R

Perhaps unsurprisngly, though, it took time to adapt to the Skyline’s near-sentient all-wheel-drive mechanicals.

“The GT-R was always a bit of a handful,” says Andy, “but I raced it with Barrie Williams at Brands Hatch and he said, ʻLet the car do the work, you just control it.ʼ After that it became easy.”

The trick, he explains, was anticipating that the four-wheel-drive Skyline would send power to the front and move into understeer if its numerous sensors detected too much power and steering simultaneously.

Instead, heʼd put the Skyline into a neutral slide, which allowed him to keep the steering relatively straight, even through corners – it is designed to be primarily rear-wheel drive.

The Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R’s RB26 engine is muscular despite the turbo lag

Braking issues, however, were harder to solve.

“The GT-R went through a set of discs every time it went out – they were cross-drilled, theyʼd crack, and after qualifying weʼd just throw them away,” says Andy.

“We were top three against the Escort and Sierra Cossies, but the following year the rules changed and you could use any brakes you wanted.

“We used AP Racing six-pots – and we rebuilt the car down to 1290kg, the lightest homologated weight. First time out, we blitzed everybody.”

This Nissan Skyline R33 GT-R was extensively upgraded from the chassis up

He still has the restrictors they were forced to run in the twin turbos to give the opposition a fighting chance, as well as the lead ballast they carried: first 50kg, then more than 100kg.

He shows us a piece of ballast crudely Tipp-Exʼd ʻTerryʼ – “for Terry Waite,” laughs Andy.

Meanwhile, a number of R32s were already on British roads.

“Janspeed had imported a decent amount but subsequently lost interest, and a lot of the customers followed me racing the Skyline,” he says.

The Skyline R33’s larger bumpers were intended for overseas markets (left); Brembo brakes

“They were dotted around the country, so we ended up picking up and dropping off customer cars at every race meeting,” continues Andy.

“All of a sudden we had a Skyline business off the back of racing.”

Today, alongside the R32 GT-R race car, Andy also owns the white road car pictured here.

Itʼs an incredibly rare V-spec import bought from a UK enthusiast, complete with its standard BBS alloy wheels and Brembo brakes.

This Nissan Skyline R33 GT-R’s interior is slightly plusher than the R32’s

In 1995, Nissan Europe imported an R33 Skyline GT-R to gauge interest and lent it to Jeremy Clarkson.

“Clarkson raved about it and, because Iʼd already brought in 20 R33s from Japan, Nissan asked if Iʼd be the UK dealer in 1996,” says Andy.

“You could import up to 100 vehicles under the Single Vehicle Approval scheme; Nissan asked me how Iʼd manage it all, and I convinced them we would pick up all the cars for servicing.

“It probably cost us to service the cars, but you know, we did sell 100 of them from 1997 into 1998.”

The RB26 engine gained variable inlet-cam timing as the Skyline R33 GT-R entered the digital era

There was no official dealer training, and the Middlehurst MD conducted official testing at Millbrook, discovering first-hand how Skylines would cope in Europe, freed from their 112mph Japanese limiters.

“I went out on the bowl for 20 mins, with all these temperature monitors rigged up and a Nissan employee in the passenger seat,” Andy remembers.

“We got up to about 160mph and the wipers wouldnʼt work, the air conditioning cut out and all the temperatures were going through the roof.”

The Skyline was also understeering…

The Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R feels nimble, with finely balanced controls

“Barrie told me to hang near the top of the banking, because it would be easier than trying to hold it lower down, so I think I was about a foot from the wall,” says Andy, his hands shaking on an imaginary steering wheel.

“We got to 15 or so of the 20 minutes and the guy from Nissan started screaming at me to stop because he thought we were going to kill ourselves, but we only had five minutes left and I wasn’t about to stop.

“Nissan got all this data back and said, ʻWho is driving this thing, itʼs absolutely ridiculous!ʼ.”

The Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R’s engine got new twin ball-bearing ceramic turbos

The result was a special production run of UK-specification cars, all of which received a unique vehicle identification number (VIN) notably distinct from those of their Japanese counterparts.

The spec included an engine-oil cooler, diff cooler and transfer-box cooler, plus optional Connolly leather trim.

“Connolly would pick up the seats on the return run from Rolls-Royce, then bring them back trimmed,” says Andy. “We ended up making leather standard for the R34.

“Nissan did the same with an M-spec car in Japan, using Connolly leather: it claimed the ʻMʼ stood for Mizuno, the Nissan engineer, but perhaps it’s Middlehurst!”

Forged 18in BBS alloy wheels on the Skyline R34

The 100 UK cars took a long time to get on the road due to the upgrades, but all quickly sold out – not only putting a halo on the Middlehurst concern, but also boosting business generally as GT-R buyers referred their friends and family members in search of lesser models.

Middlehurst even offered modified versions, featuring HKS and official Nismo – Nissan Motorsport – tuning parts.

“It was all using what weʼd learnt through racing,” explains Andy.

“Thereʼs probably fewer than 10 of them, but they made 350bhp as standard and weʼd go to 500bhp, which they coped with easily.”

This Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R’s interior is trimmed in Connolly leather

Following the R34 generationʼs launch in 1999, Andy was back racing the Skyline GT-R, this time for Nissan Europe at that yearʼs Nürburging 24 Hours, teamed with Matt Neal and Tim Harvey (turbo failure put them out of contention).

The buzz had subsided a little, and sales slowed to 80 or so from the hoped-for 100 units.

Andy attributes that to some customers wanting The Next Big Thing rather than being Nissan diehards: theyʼd started to move on.

Playstation-era dials in the Nissan Skyline R34

Today, R34s are typically the most valuable of all the Skylines Andy deals with (prices regularly vary between £100,000 and £300,000).

Now he expects even stronger interest as the USAʼs 25-year import-exemption rule kicks in, and R34s have already been sent Stateside.

“Iʼd not heard of Fast & Furious at the time,” Andy says, “but filming had damaged so many cars that they needed more, and downtime was so expensive that it made sense for me to fly cars out there for them.

“I remember getting a call one night, asking me about weight distribution before a bridge jump: it was pretty much exactly 50:50. They kept damaging things, and we kept supplying parts.”

The Nissan Skyline R35 GT-R’s huge performance still feels raw

Following the R34ʼs demise in 2002, there was a large wait before the R35 Skyline made its debut, for the first time as an official European car.

Big changes included a 3.8-litre V6 twin-turbo engine and dual-clutch transmission.

Domestic-market cars were available from late 2007, with the UK having to wait until 2009.

Behind the scenes, Nissan refused to allow cars out of the country and warned shipping companies not to freight them, but Andy wrangled two via a racing contact.

The Nissan Skyline R35 GT-R has 380mm disc brakes

He sold one to Nissan Europe after giving in to its pleas, and he kept another for UK customer viewings.

But, despite its head-start, Middlehurst wasnʼt a shoo-in for a GT-R allocation.

“I was desperately trying to be a dealer, but Nissan said theyʼd only use big dealer groups in towns and cities,” he recalls.

“St Helens is halfway between Liverpool and Manchester so they said there was no market, but I argued that enthusiasts would come from wherever they were.”

The R35 GT-R’s 473bhp, 3.8-litre V6 engine replaces the old straight-six

“In the end I started letting potential buyers see the car I had tucked away and got a database together,” he recalls.

“When I told Nissan I could put 500 orders on the database straight away, they had no choice!

“We were here for three days, 24 hours a day, inputting the orders.”

For the first time, Andy even travelled to Japan to be officially trained on the new GT-R.

The Nissan Skyline R35 GT-R’s cabin is a sensory overload, with a complex display and lots of buttons

The R35 pictured here is Andyʼs everyday car, one of the 20 handbuilt, pre-production prototypes, and the one that set the original 7 mins 38 secs Nürburgring lap time – itʼs a car he plans to keep for ever, although that is partly because heʼs not allowed to sell it.

Andy has now been joined by son Chris, a Formula Renault and Formula Ford champion who raced against and sometimes beat George Russell in his pre-Formula One days.

Managing director Andy has chosen to avoid the expense of upgrading the business premises to new corporate guidelines, and Middlehurst is now an authorised repair and service centre rather than a new-car dealership.

Some of the first GT-Rs he sold still come back for servicing.

The fixed wing on the Skyline R35 GT-R

There are plans for an on-site heritage division, and owners are already offered ʻlight restorationsʼ, but Nissanʼs refusal to import the range of classic parts available in Japan doesn’t help.

“Other dealers have forgotten about Skylines, but Iʼm still an enthusiast and I feel as though it falls on me to keep them going,” says Andy.

“I want to make myself a kind of Nissan heritage centre; we’ve got all these archives, even on Bluebirds and Stanzas.”

The competitive spirit still burns, too: Andy is a three-time winner at the Grand Prix de Monaco Historique in Jim Clarkʼs old Lotus 25, a seven-time winner of the Glover Trophy at the Goodwood Revival, and is still racing (and winning) in the Historic Touring Car Challenge, driving Jonathan Baileyʼs Group A works R32.

“We were picking up and dropping off customer cars at race meetings. All of a sudden we had a Skyline business”

He has dealt with four generations of Skyline, but for Andy the R32 will always be The One: “Itʼs the only Skyline homologated for Group A competition.

“Itʼs the lightest, the purest, itʼs the one I always thought would be worth the most money.

“The Group A car Iʼm racing is so powerful and quick, itʼs dominant now, and itʼs still as fast as a modern Porsche 911 GT3 on slicks even though itʼs 30 years old.

“I keep the R32 in the office over there and look at it every day, because it tells a million stories.”

After a day in Andyʼs company, itʼs clear the R32 isnʼt the only one with a colourful tale to tell – and that this story is far from over.

Images: Max Edleston

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