Prince
claimed that the 1957 Prince Skyline was the first mass-produced car with a DeDion rear axle (Lancia however had made several thousands
Aurelia from 1954 with such an axle). It
also was the first Japanese car exhibited in Europe (in Paris that year), but
would only be imported in its last year from January 1963, to the Benelux,
rebranded as a Nippon, as NSU objected using the name of its Prinz model. From 1960, the Prince Skyline was imported
into the USA. Michelotti
in Italy started building the bodies for the Skyline Sport in 1962, first shown
in Turin in 1960.
Prince
Skyline (S50)
This
generation arrived in November 1963 and actually was a new smaller car line,
reverting to a rear rigid axle, and not succeeding on the previous
Skyline/Gloria series which was renewed as the Gloria S40 a year before,
keeping the DeDion axle. With a width of less than 1.50 meters
(similar to its Datsun and Toyota competitors) vs 167.5 cm for its predecessor,
the S50 Skyline was rather narrow, especially for the 20 cm extended 6-cylinder
GT model. The official export brand was
now PMC. To not yield for the Bluebird 510,
an ohc four replaced the ohv in the last year.
Nissan
Gloria (A30)
This Gloria,
originally thought to be a Prince, received a rigid rear axle with a tread, 1.5
cm wider than the Cedric. It featured
curved door window glass. A hood
ornament with a “P” was planned, but changed into an “N” when production
started. It was on the Super Deluxe (and
GL) and Super 6 models, and was also spotted on Deluxe export models.
Nissan
Skyline (C10)
This one
with its surf line above the rear wheel is among the best car designs in
history in all three body styles (sedan, hardtop and wagon). With 160 cm, it now was wider than the
Bluebird and Corona. Together with the
President and A30 Gloria, it was never marketed as a Datsun. The 6-cylinder version now was 15 cm longer,
and less out of balance. The even
shorter hardtop apparently never made it to leave Japan. At the very end of its run, the Skyline GT
became available with a 5-speed transmission by May 1972, following the
GT-X. About 4 out of 10 sedans/hardtops
were GTs. In Holland, for a period, the
Skyline GT based Nissan 2400 was sold next to the Cedric 230 based Datsun
2400.
10 August, 2018