Nissan · Skyline

Nissan Skyline 2nd generation GT-R (KPGC110)

Years: 1973–1973
Chassis: KPGC110
Drivetrain: FR

Image: Tokumeigakarinoaoshima / CC BY-SA 4.0

Story

Launched on the basis of the hardtop 2000GT of the fourth-generation Skyline (Kenmeri). Because the S20 engine could not meet the Showa 48 emission regulations, it went out of production and sale three months after launch.

Stories

"This Engine Can't Meet the Emissions Regulations"

Even in the Kenmeri era, Sakurai always had a GT-R plan in mind. Based on the hardtop 2000GT of the fourth-generation Skyline (Kenmeri), the GT-R came out. But the S20 engine could not meet the Showa 48 emissions regulations, and production and sales ended at the end of April, three months after launch. Sakurai looks back that the decisive blow was the words of the excellent engineers themselves: "This engine can't meet the emissions regulations." Total production was 197 units. He also says he thinks the GT-R would have continued for a long time had it not been for the oil shock.

Shinichiro Sakurai

Chassis

Front

Strut

Rear

Semi-trailing arm

Width1,695 mmHeight1,380 mm

Length4,460 mm

Wheelbase: 2,610mm
Curb weight: 1,145kg

Production plants

Murayama Plant
Musashimurayama, Tokyo

US import eligibility

Earliest cars: Eligible since January 199825 years after sales began in January 1973
Last cars: Eligible since 199825 years after sales ended in 1973 (month not recorded)

Eligibility depends on each car's month of manufacture on its build plate, not on the sale dates shown here (NHTSA).

Japanese cars by US import year →

Engineers

Shinichiro Sakurai

Hometown: Kanagawa Prefecture

Head of development (chief engineer) of the Skyline. He led its development without a break from partway through the second generation until near the end of the seventh generation's development, and was called "Mr. Skyline".