Inside The Nissan Heritage Car Collection (Part 3) - Nissan's Magic Kingdom

One of my most vivid childhood memories stems from my first trip to Disneyland. The funny thing is, I don't remember what rides I took, what shows I watched, what I ate, or who I even went with, but what I do remember is the night prior. I remember trying to go to bed, but being so overwrought with excitement, I spent half the night tossing and turning with visions of Space Mountain, Mickey, and Main Street. And having never actually been, my imagination was running wild solely based on tales heard from friends and classmates. The pre-hype combined with the unknown cranked my expectations way past overload, and unlike most things that end up becoming monumental letdowns, the Magic Kingdom did not disappoint.

And since that momentous event, very few experiences have paralleled that magnitude. Dorming my first year at U.C. Irvine, going to Pomona for my first drag race, or to Bob's Classy Lady, the Valley's finest and my first strip club encounter (any establishment that uses adjectives like "classy" earns points in my book) are just a few. But recently, the same butterflies in the stomach, palms sweaty in anticipation, imagination running at redline scenario happened again. But this had nothing to do with Goofy, campus life, 60-foot times, or girls named "Candie" with a "K", rather a secret museum filled with epic Nissans of yore and present. Having only heard about Zama Museum from other journalists and elite JDM tuners in passing, it was the Fountain of Youth of the automotive realm-people talked about it, providing sketchy information about the whereabouts and contents, but no one knew where it actually was or what was in it, or how to get in. If Dan Brown was a car guy, he'd be all over it.

Cue Nissan North America. After a few calls overseas, arrangements were made to allow our staff inside the sacred museum. Located within Nissan's Zama Operations Center in Kanagawa, Japan-the former assembly plant for their vehicles-Zama is Nissan's Global Production Engineering Center and home to the Nissan Heritage Car Collection, the official name of the museum and home to the greatest collection of Nissans in the world. For our third and final installment, we pull the wraps off the stuff you've been most waiting for: Skylines and JGTC gems.

Introduced in April of 1957, the first Skyline appeared under the Prince brand and came equipped with the GA-30 engine, a four-cylinder OHV engine with a displacement of 1,484cc and output of 60 ps. Combined with its advanced-for-the-time suspension comprised of double wishbone and coil in the front, and "de Dion Tube" and leaf spring on the rear, the 1,310 kg Prince Skyline was capable of 125 kph blasts.

If the Skyline Sports has a European feel, it's because the BLRA-3s were designed by famed Italian Giovanni Michelotti, a prolific designer whose works span Maserati, BMW, Lancia, and Triumph, among others. The Skyline Sports boasted a hand-built body on a Gloria chassis, and also utilized the Gloria's larger 1,862cc GB4 engine (94 ps). Sounds like a pricey deal? It was. At 1.85 million Yen (1.95 million Yen for the convertible), the Sports retailed for double the price of the standard Skyline, explaining why Nissan sold only 60 or so units.

The second generation Skyline replaced its predecessor in November of 1963. Powered by a 70ps, 1,484cc, G1 four-cylinder, the new Skyline was much lighter (960 kg versus the first gen's 1,310 kg) and had a smaller chassis. A 2000GT iteration produced for Japan Grand Prix homologation rules (June 2010, 2NR) was stuffed with the more powerful Gloria engine.

The first produced post Nissan/Prince merger, the third Skyline was introduced in 1968 and was eventually offered in three trims: 1500 (1.5L G15 engine), 1800 (1.8L G18 engine), and 2000 (2.0L L20 engine). In September 1971, a more powerful 2000 GT-X model was introduced, boasting a 130ps, SU twin-carb L20 engine. Continuing the extra power theme, the 2000 GT-X came standard with power windows. A KPGC10 GT-R (the first GT-R) was not at Zama during the time of our visit. It was out for exhibition.

By Carter Jung

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