Year of Nissan Skyline GT-R

This article is for the Nissan sports coupe produced from 1969 to 2002. For the 2007 continuation of the GT-R name, see Nissan GT-R.

The Nissan Skyline GT-R was a Japanese sports car based on the Nissan Skyline range.

The first GT-Rs were produced from 1969-1977. After a 16 year hiatus since the KPGC110 in 1972, the GT-R name was revived in 1989 with the Skyline R32. The R32 GT-R surprisingly dominated the motorsport in Japan, winning a 29 straight victories out of 29 races. The GT-R proceeded to win the JTC Group A series championship 4 years in a row, earning the name "Godzilla". It also had success in the Australian Touring Car Championship winning from 1990-1992, until the GT-R was outlawed in 1993.

The Skyline GT-R became the flagship of Nissan performance, showcasing many advanced technologies including the ATTESA-ETS 4WD system and the Super-HICAS four-wheel steering. The GT-Rs remained inexpensive compared to its European rivals, with a list-price of ¥4.5 million (US$31,000). Today, the car is popular for import Drag Racing, Circuit Track, Time Attack and events hosted by tuning magazines. The GT-R actually is the winner in the 2007 Tsukuba Time Attack held in Japan-- the M-Speed GT-R ( 9 out of the top 15 cars consists of GT-Rs ). Production of the GT-R officially ceased in August 2002.

The Skyline GT-R was never manufactured outside of Japan, and the sole export market was Australia. In 1991, 100 R32s were exported to Nissan Australia, though sold poorly, and were never offered again. Despite this the car has become an iconic sports car, including in countries from the Western World (mainly the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada). It has become notable through pop culture such as cinema and video games like the The Fast and the Furious and Gran Turismo.

The car was named by BBC's Top Gear as the only true Japanese contribution in the line of Supercars. The car was also named by the main presenter of the show, Jeremy Clarkson as one of the best cars in the world.

The Skyline name originated from Prince automobile company, which developed and sold the Skyline line of sedans before merging with Nissan-Datsun. The GT-R abbreviation stands for Gran Turismo Racer while the GT-B stands for Gran Turismo Berlinetta. The Japanese chose to use English when naming the car — as most cars made in Japan at that time used American abbreviation — to further enhance sales. The earliest predecessor of the GT-R, the S54 2000 GT-B, came second in its first race in 1964 to the purpose-built Porsche 904 GTS. The next development of the GT-R, the four-door PGC10 2000 GT-R, scored 33 victories in the one and a half years it raced, and by the time it attempted its 50th consecutive win, its run was ended by a Mazda Savanna RX-3. The car took 1000 victories by the time it was discontinued in 1972. The last of the original GT-Rs, the KPGC110 2000GT-R, used an unchanged S20 160hp (120kW) inline-6 engine from the earlier 2000 GT-R and only sold 197 units due to the worldwide energy crisis. This model was the only GT-R to never participate in a major race despite the sole purpose-built racecar which now resides in Nissan's storage unit for historical cars in Zama.