It never ceases to amaze me how many classic (i.e. 20-plus-year-old) Skylines are out and about in Japan. Some are in perfect as-new condition, some are dying carcasses and others are modded for street racing – the variety is quite stunning, too. Very old ones from the Prince days are rare, of course, but the ‘80s and ‘90s “R-3X” generations (R30, R31, R32, R33, R34) are still incredibly popular.
The funny thing about the Skylines is they really were Japan’s own darling car. I lived in several countries prior to Japan, and I had never really seen any before. I realize that certain countries, such as Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan or Indonesia got some of these Skylines back in the day (sporadically, for some markets), but we in Europe received some anonymous-sounding Datsun 240Ks in the ‘70s and that was more or less it. Virtually nobody outside Japan figured the Skyline was such a hot car.
Well, one exception was Paul Newman. He was kind of putting his acting career on the backburner in the early ‘80s and started getting involved in racing. I’m not sure how he and Nissan found each other, but they certainly did and Newman raced R30 Skylines with a lot of success back then. Paul Newman also featured in the Japanese TV adverts for the R30 Skyline, leading to this generation being dubbed the “Newman Skyline.” This generation Skyline was also raced in Australia quite extensively and had the most convincing racing bona fides since the GT-R days of the early ‘70s.
But even more than Paul Newman, Japanese people associate the R30 coupé with a TV cop show, albeit the pre-facelift and turbocharged R30 RS in red and black – just like the one I wrote up a couple years back. Today’s R30 hardtop is less potent, being a non-turbo car, but it still looks the part.
The facelift was limited but very significant. All Nissan did was to give the Skyline a drastically revised grille consisting in two small slits and those slim rectangular headlights. It kind of makes the car look like it’s squinting, or as if it is wearing a weird kind of medieval great helm. Hence the Japanese nickname for these is Tekkamen, or iron mask.
They also gave the interior a bit of a once-over, while they were at it. Our feature car, being apparently a museum piece (out and about, for some reason), is doubtless in period-correct condition. Seems that a CB radio is included here – perhaps that TV police procedural being referenced again.
It’s a pretty tight fit in the back, but the JDM was always more tolerant of cramped seating than European or North American markets. And it’s a sports coupé after all – not a two-door sedan. The big question, for me, is that carpeting. That blue bit seems like it’s protecting the original (and doubtless grey) floor, but should the transmission hump be wearing stripes like that? If so, that’s pretty bold of Nissan!
Our CC is a sporty RS, though not a 200-some-hp turbo version. All RSs were born with a DOHC 2-litre 4-cyl., but the turbo made all the difference. Our non-turbo car makes do with 150hp, which is still decent for the times and 10hp better than the turbo 2-litre straight-6 available on luxury-oriented Skylines.
Short of really breaking the mold, this 6th generation Skyline still stands out for its slight oddities. The hot engine was the 4-cyl., after years of focus on the 6-cyl.; the traditional coupé, saloon and wagon variants were augmented by a five-door hatchback; the so-called “surf line” that adorned the rear fenders of Skylines past just disappeared.
The 6-cyl.’s dominance was eventually (and justly) re-established and the hatchback was gone by the time the R31 came around in 1985, but the surf line was gone for good. And it’s not like they changed everything. The round taillights remained firmly in place (except for wagons, but those are always slightly apart from the saloon/coupé Skylines) and would stay there until the mid-‘00s, by which time the Skyline had become a rebadged V6-powered Infiniti Q-Something or other, as opposed to a straight-6 JDM sports car.
This loss of essence took place after the Renault merger, when Nissan were forced to give up most of their old-school ways and nameplates. The Skyline name survives, but it is now so zombified as to have become meaningless. The other super long-running nameplate of big JDM cars, the Toyota Crown, has aged more gracefully by contrast. Still, as long as there is a large fleet of R30-R34s prowling the streets here, people will remember what a Skyline used to be, at the very least.
Related post:
Curbside Classic: 1983 Nissan Skyline (DR30) RS-Turbo Coupé – Straight Out Of Central Casting, by T87
Taiwan got locally assembled Cedric, Bluebird, Violet and Sunny. Not the Skyline.
Not even as an import?
Perhaps more recently, as private import. I don’t think the “real Skyline” (not the Infiniti G Skyline) was ever officially imported. Taiwan has no real regulatory restrictions today, so anything available in LHD from the US or Europe can be privately imported, if one is willing to pay for the expense.
Love these squared japanese car dashboards of the 80’s.
One of my bosses has an R32, all hotted up. He’s very proud of it, but he’s having a bear of a time finding a clutch master (or maybe slave?) so it just sits in his garage.
Does CC-in-scale have a tekkamen? Of course! Not the best-proportioned model; better ones are available now.
Seibu Keisatsu…I can remember watching Tetsuya Watari arriving in his souped-up Skyline at the end of each show to take down the bad guy…just like the samurai in a “jidaigeki”…
Older Skylines are a common sight in our neck of the woods of Tokyo also – I like this generation – and the similar linear-styled 1980’s variants.
Nice find – this one is a real time capsule.
To me, this is the most distinctive Skyline. What a find. Thanks for bringing it up, Tatra!
Values on Skylines have gone through the roof in the US and Canada.
I was told those models hitting the 25 year mark this year will be imported into the USA in greater numbers. Modified or stock it seems to matter not as these cars have a very loyal following.
Genuine pillarless hardtop with hand cranked rear quarter windows. Very nice!
The box shaped Skyline raced in touring car series in OZ was the 4 banger but with turbo it did quite well later The Godzilla that won many races was actually built in Aussie not Japan but it was a race car not a road model, Skylines are incredibly popular in NZ but getting quite rare and even the tedious 4 door family sedan types are getting telephone number asking prices
As I recall it, the turbo coupe just like this was allowed to race here in ’85-’87, as the place had adopted international Group A racing rules (the local V8’s had to compete properly now!). It did really well, without ever clinching the famed and terrifying Bathurst race, but was famous for having more power than handling: apparently, not easy to drive at all.
Nissan fully manufactured cars here a that time, but the Skyline was an exxy factory import, and sans coupe version. I’ve driven a few R30’s. In isolation, they’re nice cars, quick, with a smooth six and IRS, but out of iso – so to speak – crappy Japanese recirculating ball steering, poor seats, wind racket, and an under-damped short travel ride. (Man, it took the Japanese eons to learn some of these Euro basics!)
This coupe’s the best looker of the R30’s, being quite handsome, but I don’t fancy one, and certainly not at today’s idiot prices.
Here it is, being chased by a 5.8 litre Falcon sedan, if you please.