Datsun Skyline: the Skyline that wore a Datsun badge

The Skyline began at Prince in 1957 and passed to Nissan with the merger in 1966. Under Nissan the C10 and C110 generations were exported as the Datsun 160K, 180K and 240K, and the cars kept a separate identity in Japan: the C10 GT-R of 1969 became a legend, and the C110 was the “Ken & Mary” Skyline.

Datsun Skyline at a glance

History of the Datsun Skyline

The C10 series of August 1968 began development under Prince at the Ogikubo research centre, but by the time it went on sale the Prince name had disappeared from cars and the dealer network had become Nissan’s Prince channel. It was launched with Prince’s 1.5-litre overhead-cam G15 four and also came with a 1.8-litre G18; a station wagon and, from October 1970, a hardtop coupé were part of the range. The Skyline now shared its platform with the new Laurel and used MacPherson struts in front with semi-trailing arms at the rear.

The GT-R appeared in February 1969 as the PGC10 saloon, known to fans as the Hakosuka — “box Skyline” — with the 2.0-litre S20 twin-cam six of 160 hp, an engine designed by former Prince engineers and related to the unit in the Prince R380 racing car. A two-door coupé followed in October 1970. Stripped for racing, the saloon took 33 victories in less than two years and the coupé stretched that to 50 by 1972, until the Mazda RX-3 ended the run. The 2000GT-X of September 1971 replaced the Prince engine with the 2.0-litre L20SU six of 130 PS.

The C110 of September 1972 was exported as the Datsun K-series, with the Datsun 160K, 180K and 240K. It came as a four-door saloon, a two-door hardtop with a new fastback roofline, and an estate or van, and its platform was basically that of the C130 Laurel. The tail lamps returned to round units, which have been a Skyline trademark ever since, and the styling influenced the smaller Silvia coupé of 1975. From October 1975 cars with the “E” suffix used Nissan’s NAPS emission technology with fuel injection, and in February 1976 the range was facelifted as the C111.

In Japan the C110 is remembered as the Kenmeri, after an advertising campaign featuring a young couple, Ken and Mary, enjoying the countryside in their Skyline; the ads were so successful that the car sold in very large numbers. It did well in Australia too, where the 2.4-litre six was badged Datsun 240K and cost about the same as a Ford Falcon GT or a BMW 5 Series. The C110 GT-R was built only from January to April 1973, and just 197 were sold through Nissan’s performance dealers; it was the last GT-R for sixteen years, until the R32 of 1989.

Design and features

• Hakosuka GT-R: the 1969 saloon with the S20 twin-cam six and 33 race wins.
• Datsun K-series: the C110 sold abroad as the 160K, 180K and 240K.
• Round tail lamps: reintroduced on the C110 and kept ever since.
• Ken & Mary: the advertising campaign that made the C110 a Japanese sales success.
• Rare GT-R: only 197 C110 GT-Rs were built, all in 1973.

Datsun Skyline versions

• C10 (1968–1972): saloon, estate and coupé, with 1.5, 1.8 and 2.0-litre engines.
• C10 GT-R (1969–1972): the Hakosuka, with the S20 six.
• C110 (1972–1977): exported as the Datsun 160K, 180K and 240K.
• C110 GT-R (1973): 197 cars with the S20 engine.

The Skyline shared its platform with the Datsun Laurel and led on to the Datsun 200SX. More models are in the Datsun collection.

Video: Kevin’s Stunning Nissan Hakosuka | Classic Skyline GT-R Tribute

Video by HoonTV on YouTube.

Sources

• Nissan Skyline, English Wikipedia: C10 and C110 generations, GT-R, export names
• Nissan Skyline, German Wikipedia: model history