The Skyline is a respected model in Japan because it has quite a long history. The first generation was built in 1955 by the Prince Motor Company. At that time, Prince Motor was an independent automaker, having evolved from the Tama Electric Car Company which had been formed by the Tachikawa Aircraft Company.
Prince Motor was merged with Nissan in 1966 when the Japanese government urged the larger car manufacturers to take on the smaller ones in order to make the motor industry stronger and more competitive. However, given the fame of Prince Motor and its Skyline, the company still has a 'presence' as there is a Prince division within Nissan which is responsible for the development of Skyline models.
1957 Skyline
The very first Skyline was the ALSI introduced in 1957. It had a 1.5-litre OHV 4-cylinder engine which produced 60 bhp. Sedan and stationwagon bodystyles were available. There were actually three variants of this first generation which was in production till 1963. A second variant had a more powerful 70 bhp engine.
There was also a sporty 2-door coupe and convertible which had been styled by Michelotti of Italy. This can be regarded as the ancestor of today's Skyline coupe and it certainly had performance to match its sporty looks - a 1862 cc OHC engine which developed 94 bhp. However, it was rather expensive in those days and not many were made.
The Skyline's high-performance roots can be traced by to 1964 when Prince Motor went racing with the second generation. For the purpose, the 2nd generation S50 model's wheelbase was extended by cutting the car off in front of the firewall and adding an extra 200 mm to enable 6-cylinder engine fit in. The use of a 6-cylinder engine would become a dominant powertrain feature of the Skyline. The engine used was the G7, a 1988cc SOHC unit from the S40 Gloria model.
The company made a limited number of cars to gain homologation for Japan GT racing. When enthusiasts started to buy up all the units, the company saw it had a winner and started making more, giving birth to the Skyline 2000GT which came in GT-A and GT-B versions.
The GT-A used an unmodified G7 engine with only a single carburettor and produced 105 bhp. The GT-B had a 5-speed close-ratio gearbox, full instrumentation, LSD, powerful servo brakes, a 99-litre fuel tank and a high compression version of the G7 with three carburettors, and it produced 125 bhp. The GT-B was the obvious choice for racing and finished 2nd in its first race, the 2nd GP of Japan in 1964 - it almost beat the victorious Porsche 904GTS, which was a pure racing car. This was an incredible achievement considering that the Skyline was a 4-door sedan.
Of course, the basic sedan was still offered and as time went on, it was improved in many areas. It was this generation that introduced the characteristic four round tail lights that would be a styling feature of Skylines for many generations.
In 1967, the S57 series was launched with a brand new 1483cc SOHC 4-cylinder which produced 88 bhp, then the most powerful 1500 cc engine in Japan.
By the time, the third generation appeared in 1968, the Skyline was a highly respected sports sedan and the GT-B was a hot favourite. Enthusiasts eagerly waited to see what a new GT-B would be like and in early 1969 came the very first Skyline GT-R (PGC-10).
The Skyline 2000GT-R was powered by the S20 engine, a 1998 cc DOHC inline-six which produced 160 bhp - as much as a Porsche 911 of that era. It was initially a 4-door sedan but in 1971, a coupe GT-R made its debut and this had a shorter wheelbase and was lighter. The racing Skylines clocked a total of 83 victories in a short period before production was stopped in 1972 (possible because of the fuel crisis period as well as stricter emission control standards). With only 197 units produced, this was the last car to have the GT-R badge for more than a decade.
The 5th Skyline generation will be remembered by older Malaysians as it was assembled here in 1980 as the 180K. Though fuel-efficiency was emphasised, there were still 'hot' Skylines and one version had a 140 bhp turbocharged engine, the first Skyline to use the device to boost power.
In the mid-1980s, a new engine family, the RB20, was used in the Skyline. Nissan engineers started to put in high-tech features such as HICAS (High Capacity Active Steering), an all-wheel-steering system which improved the handling of the car immensely.
Nissan Skyline 2000 GT-R [ 1969 ~ 1970 ~1973 ]
In 1969 the first generation Skyline "GT-R" was introduced to win the JAF Japan championship. The GTR is powered by S20 L-6 1989cc DOHC 4valve with 40PHH Solex carburettor that makes 160PS. Top speed is 200km, and 0-400m is 16.1 seconds.
In 1970, the 2-door coupe GTR was introduced. The driving performance has also been improved by having shortened the wheel-base and lightweight-ized. The interior of the design unified black was equipped with bucket seats and 6-meters. The KPGC110 GTR which is called 'KENMERI' is GTR of the phantom by which only 197 units were produced. The KENMERI GTR carried on with the S20 24 valve L-6, along with its 160PS. Also the GTR is equipped with a exclusive black grill, FRP over fender, and 4-wheel disk brakes.
1973:
1980:
1986: The rb20det was the engine that started it all, yep the rb26dett gtr engine was in a way developed from the rb20det, nissan launched the rb20det for the r31 skyline in 1986
