Mention the words Nissan Skyline GT-R to anyone with the slightest interest in fast sports cars, and you’ll no doubt be talked through its legendary status in Japan and its Ferrari- and Porsche-bashing performance levels — not to mention its limitless tunability. This is, of course, all true.
Starting in 1989 with the BNR32 Skyline GT-R, Nissan blitzed its rivals both on and off the track. This success continued with the BCNR33 and BNR34 models until 2002, when the Skyline GT-R was put out of production. Since 2007 the R35 GT-R has impressed the motoring world with its supercar-slaying performance. But, for once, we aren’t interested in the technological masterpiece that the modern-day GT-R proved to be. We’re taking a big step back to 1970, the first year the Skyline name wore the GT-R badge.
The history of the Skyline dates back all the way to 1957 with the ALSID-I, a sporty 4-door family car still built under the Prince name. It wasn’t until the PGC10 of 1969 that the Skyline was given the “R” nomenclature and turned into a street-going racer. The first GT-R, called hakosuka — “hako” for box and “suka,” short for Skyline (due to its boxy design) — wasn’t available as a 2-door coupe until the following year when the car you see on these pages hit Japanese dealerships. The impossibly tough-looking KPGC10 Skyline GT-R still featured the boxy design of the 4-door, but thanks to its fastback lines, it appealed more as a true sports car. We were lucky enough to meet up with the owner of one of these rarities, an example in absolutely perfect condition, packing a few surprises under its painstakingly restored exterior.
Like in the second-generation Skyline GT-Rs (R32, R33 and R34) it was the engine that made the Rs of the ’70s stand out from the rest. The mighty S20 developed a reasonable 160hp punch from a naturally aspirated 1,989cc (2.0-liter) straight-6 engine. This was good for a top speed of 200 km/h, and thanks to a contained 2,425-lb curb weight, allowed the Skyline to become one of the best Japanese driver cars of its time.
The owner of the example you see here, however, had the engine rebuilt to race car–like levels with forged pistons, lightweight H-type connecting rods, high-lift camshafts and a considerable amount of porting and polishing to the head. This, together with the larger-diameter Solex carburetors and custom exhaust system, allows it to rev higher and produce 200 hp, or an even 100 hp per liter. This little red-topped engine is considered one of Japan’s most remarkable engineering masterpieces, and there are so few left that they fetch ridiculous amounts of money. The owner tried hard to keep his car looking as standard as possible, but he wanted to give a few personal touches to differentiate it from the rest.