The Skyline name is well-known to most automotive enthusiasts. The name is often associated with speed, power, handling, and imminent victory for those lucky enough to be behind the wheel. The name has a long history spanning more than 10 generations of vehicles and two manufacturers.
This is the story of the evolution of the Skyline from a humble luxury sedan to a world-renowned sports racing car.
The Skyline originated as a modest luxury sedan offered by the Prince Motor Company of Japan in 1957.
The styling of this early model was heavily influenced by American cars of the 1950s and came to feature Italian body styling as well. The original model was powered by a tiny 1.5-liter engine that made a mere 60hp at 4,400rpm and provided an underwhelming top speed of 87mph. This version was available to the public as either a 4-door sedan or a 5-door wagon.
In October of 1961, the 1.5-liter engine was replaced with a 91hp, 1.9L 4-cylinder motor borrowed from Prince’s Gloria model. 1962 saw the introduction of the first sports-oriented Skyline, the BLRA-3 Prince Skyline Sport. While this model still used the 1.9L motor borrowed from the Gloria it was offered exclusively as either a coupe or convertible with the bodies being hand-built by Italian designer Michelotti.
While only a few hundred Skyline Sports were built it sold well thanks to an aggressive marketing campaign by Prince.
September of 1963 saw the launch of the S50 Skyline Deluxe by Prince. This model was the first of the second-generation Skylines.
This was followed in April of 1964 with the Prince Skyline Standard. The second generation of Skyline also saw the introduction of the first Skyline race car and its accompanying road car in February and May of 1964, respectively.
The Skyline 2000GT race car was produced to win the second Japan Grand Prix “GT ІІ” race, where it took second through sixth place displaying an impressive amount of performance.
The 2000GT was based upon the first-generation skyline chassis but with a longer wheelbase. The 2000GT and its road-going counterpart the Skyline GT were both powered by a 2.0L G-7 motor taken from the 1963 Gloria.
The G-7 was a single overhead cam engine with an inline-six configuration based upon the Mercedes M180 motor. The 2000GT featured three twin-barrel Weber carburetors, a 5-speed close-ratio transmission, and a limited-slip differential.
This allowed the 2000GT to pump out an impressive 147hp at 6,800rpm. This started a trend that would continue throughout the Skyline's evolution of using high-revving, relatively high-power engines.
Following the acquisition of Prince Motor Company by Nissan the third generation skyline debuted in August of 1968. This model, designated by the code C10, began development under Prince before the merger with Nissan.
This model was marketed with the now famous tagline “Ai-no-Skyline” or Skyline of Love. The Japanese nicknamed the third-generation Skyline the Hakosuka, which translates to boxy skyline.
The hakosuka introduced many firsts for the Skyline lineup and used some of the most cutting-edge automotive technology of the time. The hakosuka was the first Skyline to use feature four-wheel independent suspension using relatively new MacPherson struts in the front and a semi-trailing arm setup in the rear.
In 1969 the hakosuka became the first Skyline to wear the venerable GT-R badge. The GT-R variant was powered by Nissan’s S20 2.0L straight-six motor. This was the first mass-produced Japanese motor to feature more than two valves per cylinder and also made the hakosuka the first Skyline to use a Dual Overhead Cam engine.
The GT-R was originally offered as a sedan with a two-door coupe option added in March of 1971. From the time Nissan began racing this model in 1969 until its retirement in October of 1972, it racked up a total of 52 racing victories.
The fourth generation Skyline C110 was produced from 1972 until 1977. This generation is best known by the nickname “Kenmeri” which came from a Japanese commercial of a young couple, Ken and Mary, who simply adored their fourth-gen Skyline. The GT-R variant for this generation was only produced from September 1972 to March 1973. This would be the last GT-R produced until 1989.
The fifth generation C210 Skyline was produced from 1977 until 1981. This generation dropped the GT-R trim, with the top-tier Skyline being called the GT-E•X.
The GT-E•X was powered by Nissan’s L20ET straight-six engine. This was the first production Japanese engine to feature a turbocharger, although it lacked the intercooler found on later turbo Skyline models. This motor used fuel injection and featured 2 valves for each of the six cylinders it housed.
The sixth generation Skyline was launched in August of 1981. It was given the model code R30, a naming pattern that would continue through to the present-day R35 GT-R. The R30 Skyline was based upon Nissan’s 4th generation Laurel platform.
It was also one of the most varied Skylines with a total of 26 variants having been produced. The notable production variants included a two-door coupe, a five-door liftback, and a 4 door sedan or station wagon.
The R30 Skyline was the first Japanese production car to feature suspension dampers that could be adjusted by the driver while operating the vehicle. This generation received a facelift in August of 1983 that saw the addition of 4-wheel disc brakes to all trim levels of the R30 Skyline.
A special Paul Newman Version commemorative Skyline was produced to celebrate the actor-turned-racer’s success in racing Nissan’s both for the company and with Bob Sharp racing.
The seventh generation R31 Skyline was produced from July 1985 to April 1989. This was the first Skyline to feature Nissan’s famous RB line of inline-six engines. This generation saw the introduction of electronic fuel injection to the Skyline as well. Another notable advancement was the introduction of HICAS (High Capacity Active Steering), Nissan’s proprietary 4-wheel drive system.
The top trim for the R31 generation was the GTS-R coupe powered by the RB20 DET-R engine. This was a two-liter straight six motor featuring direct electronic fuel injection in addition as well as an intercooler system. The GTS-R trim was homologated by Nissan to participate in the FIA-sanctioned Group A Touring Car race series. Race-going versions of the R31 produced over 430 horsepower at the wheels compared to the street car's 212 horsepower.
The eighth-generation Skyline R32 is possibly the most famous. It introduced many advancements that would be standard equipment on future Skyline models. This generation also saw the revival of the GT-R badge.
The R32 GT-R was the first Skyline to come standard with all-wheel drive, four-wheel steering, a limited-slip differential, and antilock brakes. The R32 was considered a compact car under Japanese law which is partially responsible for it only being available in two body styles: coupe or sedan.
The R32 GT-R proved to be one of the winningest racecars of all time, as well as the most successful race-going Skyline. It was entered into the Japanese Touring Car Championship in 1989 where it won all 29 races in which it started over the next four seasons of the championship.
The R32 became the first Skyline to be offered with a NISMO variant as designed by Nissan’s motorsports division. The Nismo GT-R was rated at a mere 276hp due to the “Gentlemen's Agreement” between Japanese automakers of the time, however stock models have dynod at 316whp.
The R32 Nismo is probably best known for its Godzilla nickname, given to it by the people of Australia for its absolute dominance in Australian Group A racing, having lost few if any races in the series.
The race-going Nismo GT-Rs produced approximately 500 wheel horsepower, while even a road-going version was capable of running a sub-13-second quarter mile at speeds in excess of 100mph. The R32 GT-R also set a world record lap time of 8 minutes and 20 seconds at the infamous Nurburgring track in Germany. In Japan, the R32 absolutely dominated with 50 wins in 50 starts from 1991 to 1997 in the N1 Super Taikyu series. It was also responsible for the Japanese Touring Car series being split into the Super Touring and GT500 categories that are still used today.
In August of 1995, Nissan debuted the ninth generation R33 Skyline. This model saw the introduction of airbags and new internal crash bars to improve the safety of the GT-R. In addition to no longer being a compact model all trim levels of the new skyline came standard with a 6-cylinder RB series engine. This was also the first R series Skyline to offer a four-door GT-R sedan.
In 1996 the R33 was given a facelift along with some safety improvements such as driver and passenger side airbags. The facelift also added an improved turbocharger and ignition system with the RB25DET. The R33 V-Spec GT-R was the first production car to post a lap time under 8 minutes at Germany’s Nurbgring track. The R33 dominated the Japanese Grand Touring Championship GT500 class from 1995 through 1997.
One other variant of the R33 is worth mentioning and that is the R33 GT-R LM. This model was built to compete in the GT1 class at the 24 hours of LeMans in France. Only one road-going version of the car was built for homologation purposes.
The GT-R LM was built by Nissan’s Nismo division and was practically a brand-new car. Only the roof, doors, windows, and tail lights remained from the normal R33, everything else was modified by Nismo with performance in mind. Some of these upgrades included widebody fenders in the front and rear, double-wishbone suspension on all four wheels, and the removal of the all-wheel drive system.
The tenth generation R34 Skyline was also the last to receive that nameplate with its production running from May of 1998 to August of 2002.
The R34 received several safety updates such as driver and passenger airbags standard, aluminum pedals, genuine leather on the wheel, and a gear shift for all trims. In January 1999, the GT-R debuted with upgraded ball-bearing turbos, a carbon hood, and race-tuned suspension. The R34 is most well known as the car Brian O’Connor started with in the movie The Fast and The Furious.
The final generation of the GT-R dropped the Skyline name from its badge in 2007 with the all-new R35 GT-R. This was the first GT-R to be sold globally, it was called “One of the most incredible cars of any kind ever built” by Top Gear. The R35 dropped the RB series in favor of an all-new front-mid mounted engine, the VR38 DETT V6.
This engine produced 480 horsepower at the wheels and used drive-by-wire throttle with a multi-port injection system. This was one of the first production vehicles to come with both launch control and a dual-clutch transmission. The six-speed Borg Warner transmission can shift in as few as fifty milliseconds. In 2009 the R35 set a record as the fastest accelerating four-seater production car.
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