When you think Nissan Skyline, you likely picture something with twin turbochargers, all-wheel drive and four-wheel steering. When you think old-school, images of the oh-so ancient R32 from the late '80s and early '90s pop up in your head. OK, maybe we're not giving you enough credit. You represent the hardcore JDM fanatic. Of course you already know about the first Skyline GT-R created in 1969.
Actually, the first Skyline was made by a company called Prince in 1957, but we'll conveniently gloss over it like we will the V-series Skylines-that means we won't be crediting any of you who have slapped Skyline emblems on your G35s either. No, this guide will focus on the Skylines that have been privilege to Nissan's vaunted "GT-R" badge. That is, the cars to which Nissan applied the badge, not AutoZone.
The first-generation ALSI was sold from 1957-1964.
The first car to receive the honor bore the Nissan name, not the Prince name, and was sold in 1969. Although the first to be named GT-R (called the PGC10), it wasn't the first time a Skyline saw the racetrack. In 1964, Nissan's Prince division built a special Skyline, to meet homologation regulations. Called the 2000GT, the car featured a longer wheelbase and the first six-cylinder engine to be offered in a Skyline.
Like any car that's created to meet homologation rules, the 2000GT quickly amassed a devout following. Nissan decided to roll the car into production. It came in either GT-A trim or GT-B trim. The one you wanted was the GT-B, which featured triple carbs and produced an earth-shattering 125 hp. Right off the bat, the car was a success on the track, finishing second to only the purpose-built Porsche 904 GTS.
The success of the 2000GT meant that it would be another four years before Nissan started building the first GT-R. The GT-R came with a re-style that featured the now memorable, more aggressive quad-headlight front end and bore the nickname "Hakosuka." Powered by a brand-new inline-six, dubbed the S20, the car pushed out 160 hp-remarkable for a 2L engine of this vintage and on par with its international competition. The core engine was very similar to the engine found in Nissan's dedicated race car, the R380.
Further separating the GT-R from its more pedestrian family roots was its unique body trim and of course the GT-R emblem. In addition, both the sedan and later the coupe were stripped of all unnecessary equipment to keep them as light as possible for racing. By 1972, the Skyline GT-R had made its name synonymous with victory, with the coupe and sedan having won 50 races combined.
The Skyline GT-R lived on for one more year as the C110-a car that dwindled in popularity compared to the earlier C10 that raced in the late '60s and early '70s. Nissan's withdrawal from racing combined with the impending oil crisis meant there simply wasn't a market for a GT-R anymore.
Although the GT-R nameplate wouldn't make a comeback until the late '80s (yes, that's the R32), a noteworthy Skyline or two popped out of Nissan's doors in the interim. The C211, which saw production from 1977 to 1981, didn't have the same visual appeal as either of its GT-R predecessors, but a model was available called the 2000GT-EX that was turbocharged. This is, of course, an important milestone in Skyline history. Moreover, the C211 was the first turbocharged Japanese production car ever. It had no intercooler and no blow-off valve and produced 140 hp-quite a feat, given stringent new emissions requirements.
The car to follow the C211 was even uglier, so we'll gloss over the R30 except for a couple of points. One, this was the first Skyline to bear the R-chassis code. Two, the car was offered in both four- and six-cylinder models. The four-cylinder, dubbed the FJ20, was the first Japanese inline-four to have more than two valves per cylinder. Also notable was that some cars had dampers that could be adjusted on the fly-a first for a Japanese production car and a hint that the R-chassis Skylines would be technological test beds for years to come.