Encyclopedia
The
Nissan Skyline is an
intermediate-size automobile range sold in
Japan and other countries. It is available in either coupe or sedan body styles. The current Skyline is sold in
North America,
South Korea,
Taiwan, and the
Middle East as the
Infiniti G35.
ALSI-1
The first Skyline was introduced in April 1957, under the Prince marque, and was marketed as a
luxury car. It featured a 1.5 L
GA-4 engine producing 44 kW . It used a
de Dion tube rear suspension and was capable of 140 km/h. The car weighed around 1,300 kg. Prince Skylines were produced as four door sedans and five door station wagons.
The Skyline also spawned
pickup truck and
van lines called the "Prince Skyway."
ALSI-2
The Skyline was updated with quad headlights for 1957. This model was powered by a slightly altered 1.5L engine known as the GA30 OHV producing about 60 hp @ 4400 rpm and was produced through 1961.
S50 or BLSID
In 1961 Fuji Precision Industries changed its name to Prince after the 1954 merger, and the S50 series was launched. This was the second generation car, and became one of the more desirable cars in Japan. It was powered by the
G-1 engine, a 70 hp version of the old GA-4. A 1,862 cm³ engine was also available, delivering 91 hp.
In 1962, this model was restyled as the S21S series.
The S50 was further developed with new styling for 1963, and was sold in some markets with an
A150 designation.
In 1966, Nissan and Prince merged and the S50 also appeared with Nissan Skyline badging. This model lasted in production through 1967.
BLRA-3
The
Skyline Sport featured hand-built Michelotti bodies in stylish coupe and convertible versions. These cars used the 1.9 L
GB-30 engine, producing 83 hp . Only a few were built.
S54
Prince created a racing GT Skyline In May 1964. It was based on the S54 and used the larger 6-cylinder
G-7 engine from the
Gloria S40, though the engine bay needed an 8" extension welded in to fit the straight six. When it entered the 2nd Japanese Grand prix they hoped to win the GT-II class. Competitive against the
Porsche 904, the Skyline managed 2nd through to 6th places.
Largely due to the success of their race vehicle the Prince 2000GT was released to the Japanese market. There were two versions produced:
- S54A - 1988 cc G-7 single-carb I6, 106 hp
- S54B - 1988 cc G-7 triple-carb I6, 127 hp
The B model featured three Weber 40DCOE-18 carburetors, a limited slip differential, 5-speed
manual transmission, and power brakes. Both the B and A used front
disc brakes with dual pistons.
S57
The S50 Skyline was updated to become the S57 in 1967. It used a Nissan engine, the
OHC 1.5 L
G15. At 88 hp , it was the most-powerful engine in the Japanese 1500 cc class.
C10
The C10 series of 1968, probably developed by Prince, got Nissan badging. There was no Prince equivalent on the market. It used Nissan's 1.5 L
OHC G15 I4 like the S57. A 1.8 L
G18 version was also available.
A station wagon variant was offered in this generation. A hardtop coupé was introduced in 1970.
2000GT
The following year, the GC10 2000GT received a 2.0 L
L20 I6 engine. The chassis was already designed to receive a straight six, to avoid the S54 extension problem. 105 hp was available from this new engine.
GT-R
The first GT-R Skyline appeared in February 1969. Called the PGC-10 internally and
Hakosuka by fans.
Hako means
Box in Japanese, and
suka(??) means
Skyline. It used the 2.0 L
S20 I6. This new engine produced 160 hp , equal to the best sports cars of the time, and was similar to the
GR8 engine used in the Nissan R380 racing car.
The GT-R began as a sedan, but a 2-door coupe version was introduced in March of 1971. The cars were stripped of unnecessary equipment to be as light as possible for racing, and the cars performed well at the track. The sedan racked up 33 victories in less than two years, and the coupe stretched this to 50 through 1972.
The KPGC-10's main circuit rival was the
Mazda RX-3. By mid-1972 the RX-3 had surpassed the GT-R, ending the winning streak. The GT-R was also a favorite of reckless street racers who roamed the streets at night at that time.
It is claimed that the art of drifting began among Japanese racers when they purposely engaged their emergency brakes as a way to counter understeer on their GT-Rs. One such driver who was known for this was the
Drift King Keiichi Tsuchiya.
C110
The C110 generation was produced from 1972 through 1977. There were four versions of the car:
- 1600GT - 1.6 L G16 I4
- 1800GT - 1.8 L G18 I4
- 2000GT-X - 2.0 L L20 I6, 130 hp
- 2000GT-R - 2.0 L S20 I6, 160 hp
For export in the
1970s, the C110 and GC110 Skyline was sold as the Datsun K-series, with models such as the Datsun 160K, 180K and
240K.
The body styles were, once again, four-door sedan, two-door hardtop coupé, and five-door station wagon. The C110 was more fussy in its styling than its predecessor. This was the first version to feature the round rear lights typical of later Skyline designs.
The C110 Skyline was better known as the "Ken & Mary" or "Kenmeri" Skyline, stemming from the advertisement campaign in Japan at the time which featured a young couple who relaxed and enjoyed the countryside in
Ken and Mary's Skyline . The ads were highly successful and perhaps as a result the C110 was a sold in very large numbers in Japan. It sold just as well in Australia, though few survive today. There, the 240K was about the same price as a
Ford Falcon GT or
BMW 5 series, around $5000.
GT-R
The Nissan Skyline GT-R hardtop arrived in September 1972 but only lasted until March 1973, when Nissan ceased production. The oil crisis saw many people preferring economy cars and high-performance sports cars were looked down upon. Nissan pulled out of Motor Racing, so there was no purpose to the GT-R. It was not officially exported anywhere, although Nissan contemplated exporting to Australia. Only 197 KPGC110 GT-Rs were ever sold in Japan, through specialist Nissan Performance shops . This was the last GT-R for 16 years until the BNR32 in 1989.
C211
The succeeding C211 and GC211 of 1977 continued to split the Skyline range into basic and six-cylinder models, the latter with a longer front end. This line continued through 1981. The Datsun 240K/280K and 240C/280C variants continued for export.
A rare variant would be the wagon version, which had a unique stylng treatment behind the rear doors, of a much smaller window than usual between the C and D pillars.
The GT-ES replaced the GT-R with a
turbocharged engine, the
L20ET. This was the first turbo engine to power a Japanese production vehicle. One notable aspect of the turbo versions was that they were not
intercooled and there was no form of
blowoff valve, only an emergency pressure release valve.
Models:
- 1600TI - 1.6 L L16 I6
- 1800TI - 1.8 L L18 I6
- 2000GT - 2.0 L L20 I6, 130 hp
- 2000GT-EX - 2.0 L L20ET turbo I6, 140 hp
R30
The names were brought into line with the home U.S. and Japanese markets with the launch of the FJR30 series in 1981, which was built on a C31
Laurel platform. The FJR30 was available as a four door sedans, a two door coupe, a 2800 cc diesel , a four door
hatchback version and a 4 door wagon version. The wagon version was the ugly ducking of the range with different lights and no turbo or six cylinder versions available, it more closely resembled a Nissan Sunny than Skyline. In all, there were 26 variations. All versions with the exception of the wagon were usually fitted with the four round tail lights that had become a regular feature to the Skylines' design. The 2 door version had
pillarless doors and the unusual feature of electric roll-down quarter windows for the rear seat passengers. The 4 door had traditional framed door windows.
Models:
KHR30 = Coupe
HR30 = Sedan
1983
The 1983 R30 version now sported four wheel
disc brakes as standard and various engines, the best models being the
twin cam 4 cylinder turbo
FJ20 or the single cam 6 cylinder turbo
L20ET. Although making about the same power, the FJ-engined version was more of a racer without as many heavy extras on the car . Some of the top spec GT-ES models featured adjustable suspension dampers that could be adjusted while driving, this was a first for mass produced JDM vehicles. Nissan Glorias and Laurels also used the LT series engines as well as some diesel variants. In Japan there are still dedicated "one make" drag racing for the FJ20 powered FJR30 Skylines.
R31
The HR31 Skyline of 1986 was a natural evolution on the HR30 shape. The design was slightly larger and squarer than previous Skylines.
The R31 Skyline was also produced in Australia, with a 3.0 motor available in sedan or wagon form, as well as a four-cylinder version called the
Nissan Pintara. The wagon had the same front style as the coupe and sedan—the only difference being that it lacked the four round brake lights that had been a consistent element of Skyline design. These cars were manufactured in Australia due to the heavy import laws which made it expensive to bring cars into Australia.
29,305 R31 Skylines were also manufactured and sold in South Africa in 4-door sedan form between 1987 and 1992. These were the last Skylines seen in South Africa. Power came from either the RB30E 3.0 straight-6 motor, RB20E 2.0 straight-6 motor or the CA20S 4-cylinder powerplant.
The R31 Skyline introduced many new technologies and features. The HR31 was the first Skyline to be equipped with the new
RB-series of engines. The R31 RB engines are often referred to as "Red Top" engines because of the red cam covers. There were three variants. The earliest series of DOHC RB engines used the NICS injection system with 12 very small intake runners, and a butterly system to divide the intake ports in half for better low RPM performance. Later versions used ECCS engine management, discarded the twelve tiny runners for six much larger ones , and received a slightly larger turbocharger. The ultimate version of these motors was the RB20DET-R Group A homologation motor, found in the HR31 Skyline GTS-R , which incorporated a much larger turbocharger on a stainless steel exhaust manifold, as well as a much larger front mounted intercooler boosting power to 210ps . Nissan's
RD28, a 2.8 straight-6 engine, introduced
Diesel-power to the line-up. Another technological first for the R31 was the introduction of Nissan's proprietary 4-wheel steering system, dubbed HICAS . The R31 series were also the only models in the Skyline family to feature a 4-door
hardtop variation. These models were generally badged as the
Passage GT.
Models:
'Japan'
...
DOHC I6, 155 hp
...
DOHC turbo I6, 180 hp
...
DOHC I6, 155 hp
...
DOHC turbo I6, 190 hp
...
DOHC turbo I6, 210 hp
'Australia'
- Pintara - 2.0 L CA20E I4, 102 hp
- GX, Executive, GXE, Silhouette, Ti - 3.0 L RB30E
...
SOHC I6, 155 hp
...
SOHC I6, 176 hp
...
SOHC I6, 190 hp
'South Africa'
- 2.0GL, 2.0GLE - 2.0 L CA20S I4, 106 hp
- 2.0SGLi - 2.0 L RB20E
...
SOHC I6, 115 hp
...
SOHC I6, 171 hp
R32
The HR32 Skyline debuted in May 1989. It was available as either a
hardtop 2-door or 4-door sedan/saloon. It featured several versions of the
RB-series straight-6 engines, which had improved heads and used the ECCS injection system. Also available were an 1800 cc 4 cylinder
GXi model. Most models had HICAS four wheel steering, with the rear wheels being
hydraulically linked to the front steering. The 2.5 litre version became one of the first cars made in Japan to feature a 5 speed automatic transmission. All 2 litre turbo and non turbo versions with automatic transmssions were 4 speed.
R32 Models:
- GXi Type-X - 1.8 L CA18i I4, 91 hp
- GTE Type-X - 2.0 L RB20E
...
I6, 125 hp
- GTS Type-X, S, J - 2.0 L RB20DE
...
I6 155 hp
- GTS-25 Type-X, S, XG - 2.5 L RB25DE
...
DOHC I6, 180 hp
...
turbo I6, 212 hp
...
turbo I6, 212 hp
4WD ...
twin-turbo I6, 280 hp
4WD also NISMO, VSPEC and VSPECII variants
Also based on the Skyline platform were the A31
Cefiro and C33
Laurel. All 3 cars are very popular in Japan for drifting. In Japan
