Noel,
You just went on the wrong day mate. There have been numerous track and drag days organised by SAU if you weren't aware. Every enthusiast have their own groups or clubs who normally organise to attend together with the same type/make cars...u happened to be there on bogan day...If you do a search around, there are numerous Skylines that have broken numerous track and drag records in Australia alone.
On the flipside, "each to their own" is a very valid point. I would take a wild guess and say $$ is the main hindrance to most. People with mortgages, family and kids with a Skyline as a daily drivers for work can't exactly have their cars booked into workshops every 2nd day to fix stuff when something breaks.
There are many nowadays that in a attempt to own a piece of the legendary skyline can't even afford full comp insurance or even an alarm!
I enjoy driving mine as it is knowing that I might do the quarter mile in 14 secs instead of 13.8