1971 Nissan Skyline C10

The Prince Motor Company introduced the first Skyline in April of 1957 and was marketed as a luxury car in Japan. The power produced by the four-cylinder engine was modest and aesthetic updates were made throughout the years, including the Michelotti-styled Skyline Sport. In September of 1963, the second generation (S50) was introduced, and it continued the tradition of being marketed to the luxury segment in Japan.

In May of 1964, the perceptions of the Prince Skyline were drastically altered with the introduction of the S54 Skyline 2000GT. Intended for competition in the GT-II class at the second Japanese Grand Prix, its wheelbase was extended by 20 centimeters in order to house the larger G7 six-cylinder engine. Prince engineer Shin'ichiro Sakurai (a.k.a. Mr. Skyline) developed the S54B 2000GT and it would dominate the Suzuka Circuit that year, finishing second only to a Porsche 904 Carrera GTS. After capturing 2nd through 6 places, the Skyline legend was born.

The third generation of the Skyline was introduced in 1968. Known as the C10 and nicknamed 'Hakosuka' (pronounced Hak-OH-skaa and loosely translated as Boxy Skyline), it was conceived by Prince and badged and marketed by Nissan after the company's merger. The Skyine version was developed with the triple-carbureted 2000GT-X and, the 2000GT-R.

The first GT-R (the Type PGC10) was introduced in February 1969 as a four-door sedan. Power was from the race-derived S20 inline-six with dual overhead camshafts, a cross-flow head with four valves per cylinder, and a hemispherical combustion chamber that was fed by triple dual-throat Mikuni-Solex side-draft carburetors. A two-door coupe version (the type KPGC10) was introduced in October of 1970.

In preparation for the Japanese Grand Prix series, Nissan removed all non-essential items from the GT-R and took it racing. The Hakosuka Skyline racked up 46 straight and outright class wins and more than 50 overall wins over a three-year run. Having proved its point, Nissan ended GT-R production in the early 1970s and did not revisit the concept until the 1980s.

Production of the C10 Series lasted from1 968 through 1972 with 310,447 examples sold. The replacement was the C110 was produced until 1977.

by Daniel Vaughan | Feb 2020