The is a brand of automobile originally produced by the Prince Motor Company starting in 1957, and then by Nissan after the two companies merged in 1966. After the merger, the Skyline and its larger counterpart, the Nissan Gloria, were sold in Japan at dealership sales channels called Nissan Prince Shop.
The Skyline was largely designed and engineered by Shinichiro Sakurai from inception, and he remained a chief influence of the car until his death in 2011.
Skylines are available primarily in either coupé or sedan body styles, plus station wagon, crossover, convertible and pickup/sedan delivery body styles. The later models are most commonly known by their trademark round brake and tail lights. The majority of Skyline models are rear-wheel drive, with part-time all-wheel drive being available since the debut of the eighth-generation Skyline (R32).
While not distributed in the United States until its importation as the Infiniti G-series in the early 2000s (the first generation Prince Skyline was imported, but sold poorly), the Skyline's prominence (particularly for the GT-R variant) in video games, movies and magazines (including The Fast and the Furious, Initial D, Shakotan Boogie, Tokyo Xtreme Racer, Wangan Midnight, Need for Speed, Forza, Driving Emotion Type-S, Test Drive, Gran Turismo and Real Racing 3) resulted in many such cars being brought in as grey import vehicles there, and makes up a large amount of second-hand Japanese car imports to Europe and North America.
Starting with the third-generation Skyline (C10) and up to the tenth-generation Skyline (R34), the chassis, suspension and some of the engines were shared with the luxury-oriented longer wheelbase Nissan Laurel. When the former Prince factory at Musashimurayama closed in 2002 (coinciding with the discontinuation of the Laurel that same year), the Skyline used the then-new FM platform that was shared with the 350Z starting with the eleventh-generation Skyline (V35).
The eleventh-generation Skyline (V35) was another major turning point for the nameplate, as it dropped some of the previous generation Skyline's trademark characteristics such as the straight-six engine (replaced with a V6) and turbocharging (reintroduced in the thirteenth-generation/V37 model), and eventually separated the GT-R into its own line. Nissan decided to retain the Skyline for the luxury-sport market segment formerly held by the Laurel, while its platform-mate, the 350Z, revived the Z line of pure sports cars. The V35 was the first Skyline made for export to North America, being sold under Nissan's luxury marque Infiniti as the G35 in 2002. The Skyline (V36/J50) is sold in Europe, North America, South Korea, Taiwan, and the Middle East as the Infiniti G37 and EX respectively.
, the Skyline is the only remaining sedan in Nissan's Japanese lineup following the discontinuation of both the Fuga and Cima in 2022.
First generation (Prince Skyline, 1957)
ALSI-1 series The first Skyline was introduced on 24 April 1957, at the Takarazuka Theater, in Hibiya, Tokyo, for Fuji Precision Industries, marketed as a luxury car. It featured a 1.5 L (1,482 cc) GA-30 engine (also known as FG4A-30) producing 44 kW (60 hp) at 4,400 rpm, which was previously used in the prototype Subaru 1500, Subaru's first car. It used a de Dion tube rear suspension and was capable of . The car weighed around . Skylines were produced as four-door sedans and five-door station wagons. Two models were available: the ALSIS-1 standard and the ALSID-1 Deluxe. The ALSI-1's appearance seems to be influenced by 1950s American cars, this drew criticism as when it was shown at European auto shows, it was accused of plagiarising the Simca Ariane, which was released at the same time. the car featured rear tail fins, chrome molding and two-tone paint.
The ALSI-1 generation was sold in the United States starting in 1959, but did not sell well, and remain extremely rare. In 2020, a 1960 left-hand-drive model reappeared in an Idaho junkyard.
ALSIS-1 The ALSIS-1 standard model featured a grille with a large center bar with six vertical slats above it. The side strips ran straight from the rear of the car to the front doors, where it dipped into a V-shape, widening and kicked upwards until it hit the front of the car. The side badge said "Skyline".
ALSID-1 Deluxe The ALSID-1 Deluxe featured a different grille compared to the standard model. The large center bar was absent and instead a pair of fog lights are mounted just inside of the front turn signals. Between the fog lights "PRINCE" is spelled out in individual gold letters. A painted side strip, surrounded by a chrome strip ran horizontally the length of the car, widening from front to back. On this side strip was the side badge, which said "Skyline Deluxe".
The Skyline also spawned the ALPE double cab pickup truck and the ALVE delivery van, both marketed as the Skyway.
ALSI-2 series The ALSI-2 series was released in October 1959 and was nearly identical to the ALSI-1 series except for the engine. Higher quality fuel allowed for an increase in compression and a power increase to . This new engine was designated the FG4A-40 (this engine was also known as the GA-4).
The ALSI-2-1 series was released in February 1960. The Deluxe, along with the commercial variants, were updated with quad headlights (the standard model retained the twin headlights). The side strip design was changed on standard models; the V-shape in the side strip was moved from the front doors to the rear doors. On Deluxe models the side strip design remained the same. The standard model gained quad headlights in September 1960 with the release of the ALSI-2-2 series.
BLSI-3 series The BLSI-3 series was released in May 1961. The 1500 engine used in the ALSID Deluxe was dropped and instead used the 1.9L GB-4 (also known as FG4B-40) OHV four-cylinder engine from the Gloria. The BLSI series was otherwise identical to the ALSI series, except for a "1900" badge on the side. The standard model received the new engine in October 1961.
Commercial variants remained available, also equipped with the new engine.
S21 series The S21 series was released in September 1962. It was in production until November 1963. The front end was redesigned in an attempt to update the look of the car. The result was rather unsuccessful as the car now looked like a 1950s body with a 1960s front end. The S21 continued to use the 1.9L GB-4 engine.
The 3-door van was dropped and replaced with a 5-door station wagon; a double cab pickup truck remained available.
BLRA-3 Skyline Sport The S21 Deluxe-based Skyline Sport featured hand-built Michelotti bodies in stylish coupe and convertible versions. These cars used the 1.9 L GB-4 engine from the S21D. While only a few hundred were built, Prince Motors had a very aggressive product placement group and they can be seen (along the company's mainstream models) in many Toho films of the early 1960s. The canted headlights reflected a similar appearance on the late 1950s through early 1960s Lincoln Continental, Buick, and Chrysler 300. The appearance is similar to the 1960s Lancia Flavia and Triumph Vitesse as Michelotti did contribute to Lancia vehicles during this time; Giugiaro's design of the short-lived Gordon Keeble GT was similarly influenced. Being the first sports-focused model, the Skyline Sport foreshadowed the Skyline GT-R sub-range; its luxurious appearance would later be implemented in its future platform-mate twin, the Laurel.
Prince Skyline
Prince Skyline Sport
Second generation (Prince Skyline, 1963)
S50
In 1961 Fuji Precision Industries changed its name to Prince Motor Company (for the second time). Two years later, in September 1963, the S50 Skyline Deluxe (S50D-1) was launched,Car Archives Vol. 1, p. 19 followed by the Skyline Standard (S50S-1) in April 1964. This was the second generation car, and became one of the more desirable cars in Japan. It was powered by the G-1 engine, a 68 hp or version of the old GA-4. The S50 series were available with a three-speed column shift transmission, or a four-speed floor shift transmission from February 1965 (Deluxe only). A two-speed automatic option was added to the Deluxe in June 1966. The lower priced and equipped Standard model was added in April 1964; aiming at taxi operators and others it also lacked bumper overriders, making it 11 cm shorter. Three main models of the S50 were built: the S50-1 (1964–1966), the lightly facelifted S50-2 (1966–1967) and the S50-3 (1967–1968). These all used the same engine, with the later S57 receiving a more modern unit.
Externally, the S50-1 was installed with rounded brake lights and integrated tail lights, with a centrally installed turn signal, similar in appearance to the Ford Galaxie of 1961. The significant appearance change from the previous generation seems to reflect a similar approach done by German company BMW in 1962 with the New Class series, in deciding to build a small, affordable, performance coupe and sedan.
The S50 was sold in some markets with an A150 designation. In European markets (and other export markets), it was also marketed as the PMC-Mikado A150. The A150 also saw exports to Hawaii. The S50-2 was also sold as the S56SE A190D for export markets in Europe and Asia (such as in British Hong Kong), which was equipped with the 1.9 liter D-6 OHV diesel engine. This model had trim and equipment levels similar to the S50S-2. In Europe, period testers commented on the car's compact size (more like a 1.0 than a 1.5) and its sprightly performance, in large part due to the extremely low gearing. The car's ample lighting was also noted, offering twin headlights, a bevy of warning lamps, numerous engine room light fittings, etcetera. Also lauded were the cars road manners, as evident by the six-cylinder Skyline's competition successes.
In August 1966, Nissan and Prince merged and the S50 also appeared with Nissan Prince Skyline badging. In October 1966, the S50-2 was introduced. This light facelift included a new grille and rectangular taillights, as well as changes to the interior, and with the addition of an extraction vent on the C-pillar. It was sold as Prince Skyline, Prince A150, or PMC A150, depending on the market. All "Prince" dealership locations were added to the existing Nissan/Datsun Japanese dealerships, while retaining the Prince name to become the Nissan Prince Store.
In August 1967 the S50-3 was introduced. The tail lights and front side indicators were changed to a wider rectangular shape, but otherwise the car remained identical to the S50-2 series. The S50-3 was the last Prince model to use the G-1 engine. The Deluxe trim was rebranded as the S57 series.
S54
Prince launched the racing version of the Skyline, the Skyline GT in May 1964. It was based on the S50D-1 and used the G-7 engine from the Gloria S41, though the car needed a extension to the wheelbase (all forward of the cowl) to provide space in the engine bay for the inline six. It entered the second Japanese Grand Touring II (GT-II) on 3 May 1964 and they hoped to win the race. Competing against the Porsche 904, the Skyline GTs managed second through to sixth places. Only 100 units S54A-1 were made for homologation purpose (92 road cars and 8 racing cars) and sold out instantly due to the success of the race vehicle. The S54A-1 was available with the standard single carburetor (G7-A) 2.0-liter inline-six engine (producing and ), 4-speed manual transmission and tachometer as standard. The triple Weber carburetors, a LSD, 5-speed manual transmission, sport steering wheel and oil cooler were available as additional options.
In February 1965, the Prince Skyline 2000GT road car (S54B-2) was released to the Japanese market, followed by the less powerful 2000GT-A (S54A-2) in September on the same year and S54B-2 model was renamed to 2000GT-B.