When I attended this year's Classic Motor Show at the NEC, I was on the lookout for unusual cars with interesting back-histories and it didn't take long for me to spot the gleaming white 1971 Nissan Skyline GT-R pictured here. It is one of only two in the UK. You may think that displaying it with the bonnet up rather spoils the appearance of the car, but you when you look at the beautiful and superbly presented DOHC straight-six, you may think again!

Prior to seeing this car, I was already aware that the now famous 'Skyline' model name was previously used by Prince, a Japanese car marque which did not survive the 1960s, being the subject of a 'forced merger' with Nissan in 1966. Was this superb car effectively a rebadged Prince, I wanted to know? The two gentlemen standing by the show car were its owner and the owner of the only other such car in the UK, so I had asked the right people! I was assured that the Skyline before me was definitely not a Prince but a Nissan, and, although its engine was similar to the Prince GR8 unit, it shared no components with it.

I absolutely love motoring history, particularly the associations between engines and car designs of different companies. Nissan started out making rather utilitarian small cars and made the Austin A40 Somerset and A50 Cambridge under licence in the 1950s. By the 1960s, the Nissan range was of its own design, but there were echoes of the Austin influence in the engineering. It's probably worth mentioning that the Nissan company also sold cars in various markets under the name of Datsun, which has historical origins. Different names, but the same cars and the same company.

Prior to the merger with Nissan in 1966, Prince were making some rather interesting cars, including high performance models. In the merger of the two companies, Nissan was the dominant force, the union only taking place due to the otherwise imminent collapse of Prince, which the Japanese government was anxious to avoid. The Prince brand was soon dropped, although the Gloria and Skyline ranges were absorbed into the Nissan model catalogue. A small car, under development by Prince at the time of the merger, was introduced in 1970 as the Nissan Cherry front-wheel-drive model.

As a matter of historical interest, Prince had previously been known as Tachikawa Aircraft Company and Fuji Precision Industries. After building a number of aircraft types during WWII, it diversified into automobile production in 1946, initially with an electric vehicle. Curiously, the Prince distribution organisation remained in existence until 1999 as 'Nissan Prince Store'. The Prince manufacturing facility in Tokyo was closed in 2001 and has been repurposed as a 'mega-mall', or huge shopping centre.

It therefore appears that the acquisition of Prince enabled the hitherto rather unadventurous Nissan company to expand their model range with the technically advanced Cherry at the bottom and the luxury Gloria and Skyline  models, with their high-performance derivatives, at the top. In addition a new model, the Laurel, was developed from the Skyline.

Prince Gloria

The second generation Prince Skyline in the mid-1960s was a range of cars, rather than a single model. It included four-door saloons and estate cars with engines ranging from 1.5 litres to 2 litres. A 1.9 litre diesel engine was also offered. The 2000 GT-B model featured a 1988cc straight-six (G7B) with triple Weber DCOE40 carburettors, producing 125bhp at 5600rpm. It had a Nardi steering wheel, servo-assisted disc brakes and torsion bar rear suspension. A limited-slip differential, ZF 5-speed gearbox and racing suspension were extra-cost options. This compact car was an exciting model, but we never saw it in the UK! It enjoyed considerable success in motorsport.

Prince also built a pure racing car, the R380, in 1966. This was a GT racing coupe along the lines of the Ford GT40 and not for mass-production. It featured the GR8 engine mentioned earlier, a six cylinder double overhead camshaft unit with 4 valves per cylinder, developing 200bhp at 8400rpm (later 220bhp). It won the 3rd Japanese Grand Prix, for sports/prototype cars, in 1966.

In 1968 the third generation of Skylines was introduced. Development had begun under Prince, but these cars were badged as Nissans. The range consisted of 1.5 to 2.4 litre saloons, estates and coupes. The 1.5 and 1.8 litre engines were of Prince design, but the L20 and L24 units, of 2 and 2.4 litres, were by Nissan.

In 1969 the first ever Nissan Skyline GT-R was launched, with an S20 2.0 litre DOHC straight-six producing 160bhp at 7000rpm. The engine was similar to the Prince GR8 unit and was designed by former Prince engineers, but was an entirely new unit, sharing no components with the GR8. Initially the GT-R was offered only as a 4-door saloon, but, from 1971, a short-wheelbase coupe was offered. Total production of all types was remarkably low, at 1945 cars from 1969-1972. Like the GR8, the S20 had 4 valves per cylinder with triple Weber dual choke carburettors and was essentially a hand-built race engine. The GT-R also came with a 5-speed gearbox and limited-slip differential as standard.

Probably only 500 remain in Japan. I feel privileged to have seen one here in the UK.

See this:  https:/forbes.com/sites/peterlyon/2018/11/30/classic-cult-car-we-test-a-rare-1969-nissan-skyline-gt-r/

Additional photographs are of the 1967 Prince Skyline 2000 GT-B, and  the 1962 Prince Skyline Sport.