THE EVOLUTION OF THE NISSAN SKYLINE GT-R

The Nissan Skyline GT-R is a car steeped in legend, from humble beginnings to supercar-beating performance, it's earned respect and deserves its Godzilla moniker.

With the impending release of the 50-units-only Nissan GT-R 50th Anniversary Edition, it's the perfect time to reminisce, to look back on a vehicle that has become synonymous with Japanese performance vehicles, and how it's changed the world for the better.

It was 1957 when the Japanese manufacturer lifted the lid on what they called the Prince Skyline. It was a small car with just a 1.5-litre powering either a four-door sedan or five-door hatchback. It stayed that way until 1964 when Nissan launched its first ever racing GT Skyline.

In 1969, the GT-R road-car was revealed to the world and the rest, as they say, is history. This vehicle – developed as a touring car – carried the S20 DOHC 2.0-litre in its engine bay, had four-wheel independent suspension and took the Japanese racing scene by storm.

This car, name the Hakosuka, would be the inspiration for innovation at Nissan, which led to the creation of many awe-inspiring race-bred sports cars. Not always carrying the Skyline or GT-R badge, what followed that first GT-R were a string of technological evolutions until, in the 1980s, we received Godzilla; the first four-wheel-drive, four-wheel-steering, Skyline GT-R.

Since then, evolution has granted the Nissan GT-R with more power, speed, technology and unique styling that has put it in the same company of much more expensive supercars. The legendary R32, R33, R34 and R35 versions each have their own fanbases, but regardless of which is your favourite, there's no denying that the Nissan Skyline GT-R changed the idea of what a performance vehicle can be.

And that will make the four guys, called the Tukumi, who are responsible for hand-building each vehicle very happy. Click play on the video below and learn something new, right now!

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