Words: Todd Wylie Photos: Deven Solanki
Every now and then in this scene, a car comes along that stands out from the rest. That could be due to the stance, the power, the creativity, or something else entirely. This GTI-R is one of those cars — a machine ahead of its time that firmly cemented itself in the history books as one of the greatest cars of its era.
While the car is most remembered in the hands of Altaaf Moses — who owned it during its show-winning days—the build actually began before he got his hands on it. The original builder went through the ‘who’s who’ list of well-known businesses to start the car’s transformation. That included the legendary ‘Dr Bob’ from Westside Panelbeaters in, you guessed it, West Auckland. It was Bob who applied the (now) $4000-per-litre harlequin paint, and, weirdly for the time, it wasn’t laid over a wild bodykit but the stock GTI-R panels. Mind you, with the aggressiveness of the factory bonnet, the subtle wheel-arch lips, and the big wing, it’s a hard shape to improve on. The only departure from the stock body is the front bumper, which was chopped into three parts with the middle section removed.
The 600x300mm intercooler that fills the gap was custom-fabricated by Ronnie Lim and the team at RSL Automotive — another business known for involvement in many high-end, high-speed builds. Under Altaaf’s ownership, the rest of the engine bolt-ons were built to the same standard as the exterior. That quest for perfection may have stemmed from him being an engineer by trade — and a perfectionist at that.
Along with the engine package, Fusion came on board to assist with the audio setup — this was the missing piece to make the car into a show winner, and what a winner it was. Being ahead of its time, it really pushed the competition to step up, although not until after the car had collected tinware at Hot Import Nights, the 4&Rotary Nats, and claimed People’s Choice at the first-ever New Zealand Auto Salon in 2001.
From there, the car slipped away from the scene not long after being featured on the cover of Issue 76 of NZPC in early 2003.
The current owner, Peter, was one of the lucky ones to get his hands on a copy of that issue, and for many years had the poster of the car on his wall. While he, too, had lost track of the car, he stumbled upon it again around three years ago. Although it had changed hands a few times, it hadn’t really done many miles. So, two years later, when he heard it was for sale, he knew he needed to have it and was quick to throw an offer in. While he admits now that buying it sight unseen may not have been the best idea, at least it’s now his — and not going anywhere soon.
Whether his memory of the car was a touch rose-tinted or it had been through a hard time in the years prior to his purchase, no one’s quite sure, but sadly, it needed a lot of work.
Somewhat dejected, he pushed the car into the shed with no set plan on when or how to revive it. That was until he got hit up by Toots about displaying it on the Import X stand at the Chrome Showcase earlier in 2025. This was all the motivation he needed to pull it out and get stuck in.
The first step was to bring in Dent Devils to sort out the various dings the car had amassed without repainting it all. Some bits had to be done though, but with Peter being a car painter at Greenpark Panel and Paint, he was the perfect person to make it happen. His touch-ups include both front guards, both doors, the full rear bumper and various smaller fixes. Luckily for him, the front bumper — now a custom made item by Auto Body Therapy — was already taken care of. The same goes for the custom side skirts and custom rear end caps that were added sometime over the last 20 years.
While the car once wore — and apparently may soon again wear — 18×7-inch Enkei Sheurikin wheels, it’s currently looking a little more modern with a set of 17×8-inch Konig Ampliform wheels wrapped in 205/40R17 Nankang AR-1 rubber.
Like the wheels, the engine bay has changed a bit over time — having lost most of the original bolt-ons along the way. These days, the matching-numbers SR20 runs a stock bottom end matched to a stock head with Tomei adjustable cam gears. These days power comes from a Garrett GTX3071R mounted up nice and high in the engine bay. While the car once ran a custom intake manifold and throttle body, these days it’s back to a stock quad throttle body and plenum system. Just like in the glory days, plenty of engine bay components have been polished to perfection by Manukau Metal Polishers. Included in that isn’t just the turbo, intake, and plenum, but also the rocker cover and strut brace.
The remaining mechanicals have been updated from its 2003 287kW setup and now include Bosch 1000cc injectors along with a TI Automotive 350LPH fuel pump. The old MoTeC M48 the car had as part of the first build was high-tech and high-cost at the time, but given the changes in ECUs since then, it’s definitely a museum piece by today’s standards — hence the car now being fitted with a Link G4. That’s supported by a quartet of IGN1A coil packs mounted down on top of the gearbox. Peter tells us he’s well aware the exhaust manifold is now the restriction, so changing that is on the list of things to do, and he knows who’s holding on to the original RSL-built item …
Like the rest of the driveline, the box is stock (clutch unknown), and by today’s standards, the suspension is relatively stock too — just a set of BC Gold coilovers bringing it a bit closer to the ground.
One of the things that set the car apart in the early days was the boot, which was jammed full of audio gear, fuel system, and a battery. Sadly, over the years, the moulded fibreglass enclosure that housed a pair of Fusion subs, an amp, a capacitor (weirdly), an MSD 6AL ignition box, and the surge tank has disappeared. For now, a lonely single sub and amp take their place, but we hope Peter has plans to bring the original style back, as it was a key component of what set the vehicle apart.
Likewise, the interior is downscaled from what it once was. The carbon/kevlar wraparound Sparco seats are lost to time, although the custom door pods and Fusion speakers have survived.
Speaking of which — the perspex bonnet. An absolute showstopper and a very trick piece of fabrication is thankfully back with the car. The amount of work that went into the creation of the clear hood scoop is mind-boggling, and Peter is right when he says there’s only one car that it belongs on — although he had to push hard to get his hands on it from one of the car’s previous owners.
Peter’s refresh of the car took place in just two months, and upon completion, he managed to showcase it at Chrome to huge fanfare. The looks, photos, and comments from those who know the car made the hard work worthwhile. And although at times he’s regretted the purchase, seeing the reaction that it got has hopefully inspired him to rebuild the rest of it back to its period look. Regardless of whether that happens or not, as one of the most iconic cars of its time, the most important thing is that the key parts of the car remain — and so do the memories it brings back.
SPEC LIST
1990 Nissan Pulsar GTI-R (RNN14)
Heart
ENGINE: SR20DET, 2000cc four-cylinder
BLOCK: Factory
HEAD: Tomei adjustable cam gears
INTAKE: Factory individual throttle bodies
EXHAUST: Custom RSL top-mount turbo manifold, custom 2.5-inch stainless steel exhaust system
TURBO: Garrett GTX3071R, Funk Motorsport turbo blanket
WASTEGATE: Turbosmart 45mm
BOV: Turbosmart Raceport
FUEL: Bosch 1000cc injectors , TI Automotive 350LPH fuel pump
IGNITION: IGN1A coil system
ECU: Link G4
COOLING: Custom alloy half radiator, Custom water filler neck , custom overflow tank, oil cooler with braided lines, front-mount intercooler with custom piping to suit
Drive
GEARBOX: Factory five-speed
CLUTCH: Factory
FLYWHEEL: Factory
DIFF: Factory
EXTRA: Alien Speed billet shifter stabiliser
Support
STRUTS: BC Gold adjustable coilovers
BRAKES: (F) Factory callipers, drilled rotors, EBC Yellowstuff pads (R) Factory callipers, slotted rotors, EBC Yellowstuff pads
ARMS/KNUCKLES: Factory
EXTRA: Whiteline sway bars, Nismo old-logo strut bar
Shoes
WHEELS: (F) 17×8-inch (40p) Konig Ampliform (F) 17×8-inch (40p) Konig Ampliform
TYRES: (F) 205/40R17 Nankang AR-1 (R) 205/40R17 Nankang AR-1
Exterior
PAINT: PPG Harlequin silver to green paint
ENHANCEMENTS: Custom one-of-one front bumper, side skirts and rear spats, custom one-of-one Perspex clear bonnet with factory-style vents
Interior
SEATS: Sparco Evo
STEERING WHEEL: Sparco
INSTRUMENTATION: Custom white-face factory cluster, Turbosmart boost gauge
ICE: Twin Fusion six-inch doorcard speakers, Fusion powerplant one-inch tweeters, Fusion Encounter 12-inch subwoofer, twin Fusion powerplant FP-504 amps
EXTRA: Factory option Nissan Pulsar umbrella, factory Pulsar gauges,
Performance:
POWER: 266kW
TORQUE: 339Nm
BOOST: 21psi
FUEL TYPE: 98 Octane
TUNER: Dave at Tune Technic
Driver Profile:
DRIVER/OWNER: Peter
AGE: 37
LOCATION: Auckland
OCCUPATION: Car painter
LENGTH OF OWNERSHIP: Just over a year
THANKS: Thanks to Adam, Chris and the team at Greenpark Panel and Paint for helping me tidy up the old girl; Keith Dent (Devils); Matt and Jo at Ken Turner Motors for looking after her mechanically and bringing her up to spec; Manukau Metal Polishers for giving the engine its bling back; Grant at Albany Detailing Dept for bringing back the showroom shine; Falgs and the team at Meguiar’s for supporting the old girl and helping me maintain that $4000-a-litre paint; and to anyone who’s helped with parts and advice — couldn’t have done it without you. And a big thanks to my fiancée Jess and my little ones, Xander and Walker, for putting up with the late nights and empty bank accounts.
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This article originally appeared in New Zealand Performance Car issue 315
