Attention: this Nissan Pulsar GTI-R is coming up for auction

The fourth generation (N14) Nissan Pulsar, known as the Sunny in the UK and Europe, was not a particularly exciting car.

Thankfully, Nissan in the early Nineties fancied a crack at things like the Lancia Delta Integrale, the Toyota Celica GT-Four, the Ford Sierra RS Cosworth, the Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 and the Subaru Legacy RS. Yep, it went rallying.

The Pulsar was chosen as a donor car, and thankfully for us non-rally drivers, Group A homologation rules at the time meant that 5,000 road cars would also have to be built.

As such, the road-going Pulsar GTI-R was born. It was all-wheel drive (obvs) and was fitted with a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder making 227bhp and 210lb ft of torque.

The 0-60mph sprint was dealt with in under 5.5 seconds and top speed was 144mph. Not bad numbers for a little three-door hot hatch today, let alone for when it went on sale in Japan in 1990.

Being a 1994 example, this one here also began its life in Japan (Sunnys were only sold in the UK in 1992 and ’93, with Nissan only competing in the WRC in ’91 and ’92). This particular example was imported into the UK back in 2013 and currently has just under 58,000 miles on the clock.

Just lovely, isn’t it? It’ll cross the block at Classic Car Auctions’ London Classic Car Sale later this month, with an estimate of between £12,000 and £15,000.

We need that bonnet in our lives…

Images: Classic Car Auctions