01
Cut It Down and It Became a Two-Door
To Sakurai, the Skyline was above all a sedan with excellent dynamic performance, and the four-door was the basis. That is why the Hakosuka two-door GT-R (KPGC10) is also based on the four-door. He had felt the need for a two-door with a shorter wheelbase since he was developing the four-door. Pursuing the ideal driving meant shortening the wheelbase, and when he cut it down to the limit that still left the rear-seat space the regulations allowed, it became a two-door. The grille is the same as the four-door's, and apart from the rear over-fenders there is nothing flashy. Sakurai says the Skyline's original style did not change at all.
02
Driver's Seat 70, Passenger 20, Rear 10
From the development stage, Sakurai's Skylines spent a little extra on the passenger seat, but made the rear seats simpler the higher the performance. The savings went to the driver's seat, with emphasis on position and support so the driver could feel the joy of control. In his sense of it, if the driver's seat was 70, the passenger seat was 20 and the rear 10. He felt that if the two-door's rear seat could truly be treated as space for "a dog or a cat, or a place to put things," the car would drive even more nimbly. Sakurai looks back that the two-door was ideal in terms of driving. The two-door GT-R was the ultimate form that refined dynamic performance to make the most of the strongest engine.
