The eighth generation Grandea was introduced in 1988 and was well known for being the first generation to introduce the high-performance GTR series.
Ever since the first Grandea GTR came out, each subsequent Grandea GTR had the following: A twin-turbocharged 6-cylinder, a manual transmission, All-Wheel Drive, a custom aero kit, and an aluminum bonnet.
In 1992, Sakurai Racing Team's (a team who Zenshi sponsored and supplied cars for many years) head manager and former lead driver, Takehiro Sakurai, was impressed with the driving dynamics of the Grandea GTR, and made use of it in two seasons, which went well for the team before being shortly dominated by it's rival, the Garou Ginmei, in the 1993 season.
Sakurai then came up to Zenshi and insisted that they "make a better one, one that can dominate many tracks over all opponents, or kiss their support goodbye."
One year later, in 1994, the end result was the Grandea GTR SV1 (Special Vehicle 1).
Exterior wise, it was easy to distinguish an SV1 over a regular GTR. The SV1 was equipped with ForceStar brakes, custom 17" lightweight wheels, had a dual wing setup (one lip spoiler + a larger rear wing), a single exhaust (a regular GTR possessed a dual exhaust setup), a ventilated bonnet, and wider front fenders. The rear window wiper was removed, and the vents of the front bumper were fully exposed.
Instead of the regular VS32DA2T 3.2L V6, under the bonnet was a VS29DA2T 2.9L V6 engine, which was a modified VS26DA engine to have a displacement increase of 300cc, and was equipped with two Gable turbochargers to deliver a power output of 276 HP (actually had 318 HP) and 328 lb-ft of torque.
Inside the SV1, revealed what could be considered a mostly stripped-down interior. SV1s had no rear seats, no A/C, no airbags, no power windows and locks, and no audio system, all of which were removed to save a great amount of weight. A roll cage took up the space of the rear seats, which increased the handling performance and rigidity of the Grandea GTR. The seats were replaced with smaller Samacro sport bucket seats, and the steering wheel was taken from a Mikli RS kei car.
The end result was a 1,355 kg track monster that dominated many races within the next three seasons, under the use of Sakurai Racing Team's (at the time) new lead driver, Miyoko Sakurai, until the revival of Genki Team Racing, who had a young foreign man armed with an unexpected sports car in their sleeve.
The SV1 was produced for a very short time, 200 units were produced, all of which were purchased new within a matter of one year.
... next stop: coil overs to lower it an inch and half and then front splitter next... then side skirts and 99' rear tail light update... tint and spray a few key pieces black... then I have my dream car 
