The Nissan Skyline GT-R is an iconic Japanese sports coupe in the Nissan Skyline range that has earned the nickname "Godzilla" from Wheels magazine in Australia when it was released there in 1989. It had a reputation in the motoring magazines of being able to compete with European icons like the Porsche 911 and the Ferrari Testarossa in terms of performance and handling but at a fraction of the cost. Some of its competitors in the Japanese market were the Honda NSX, Toyota Supra, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, Subaru Impreza WRX STi, and Mazda RX-7.
History of the brand
The Skyline name originated with the Prince automobile company which developed and sold the Skyline line of sedans prior to merging with Nissan-Datsun. The original S54 2000 GT-B was the predecessor to the GT-R, and came second in its first race in 1964 after the purpose-built Porsche 904 GTS. The next development of the GT-R, the 4-door PGC10 2000 GT-R, was later replaced by the KPGC10 version which won 33 consecutive races before being stopped by the Mazda Savanna RX-3. The car racked up 54 victories until it was discontinued in 1972. The last of the GT-R models was the KPGC110 2000GT-R which used the same S20 160 hp (120 kW) inline-6 engine as the earlier model but sold only 197 units due to the worldwide energy crisis. The unit also never participated in any races and now resides in Nissan's former factory turned storage unit for historical cars in Zuma.
The Skyline model became popular in the 1990s primarily because it was one of the few cars at the time that was still rear-wheel drive, while most other models were front wheel drive. This was significant since rear-wheel drive cars had certain advantages when it came to power and handling when compared to front-wheel drive.
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