Prince Skyline S54 GT-B at the Gates

In honor of Shinichro Sakurai, we’ve been poring over images of Skylines both Prince and Nissan. Here’s a quasi-replica of the Prince Skyline S54 GT-B that went up against a purpose-built Porsche 904 race car at the 1964 Japan Grand Prix. Black Wats are a fitting substitute for the original black steelies as it stages for the 2010 Rotary Club Fellowship Rally — sorry, Mazdafarians, this particular rotary club has more to do with community service than trochoids. In a field of Maseratis and Astons, this was the only domestic, a true classic.

[Image: Blue Mercedes]

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9 Responses to Prince Skyline S54 GT-B at the Gates

  1. Whilst that blue GT-B is a beautiful car and potentially a replica of one of the field of GT-B’s that raced that day (though really it’s missing important stickers that would indicate a replica and has other stickers added that further the lack of replication, the blue GT-B that raced that was #39). The car that is known to have had a prolonged battle with the 904 was a beige/cream coloured S54B with two red stripes down the middle and along the length of the car, number #41. Wiki has a hi-res photo of the #39 car http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/S54_Nissan_Skyline_2000GT.JPG

    • Ben says:

      There will be a video up later this week showing that exact battle :). I know there are some differences, most notably the yellow GT-II sticker on the fender (actually I’m not sure if that was a sticker or painted on). Perhaps quasi-replica would be a better word. The beige #41 car dropped to 3rd by the end of the race and the blue #39 car came in second, so it is what most Japanese pay homage to. Not saying that one deserves more recognition than the other, the blue car just seems to be talked about more.

      • Excellent! Looking forward to seeing that. The grid picture is an entertaining one. With the 904 on the front row beside 2 GT-B’s (#39 & #41) and a brace of other GT-B’s following it. If only we could go back in time and be witness to the pride and rapture of the Prince engineers.

  2. Tyler says:

    The kind of proportion difference between this and the hakosuka, mainly the width, is remarkable.

  3. RB says:

    Sakurai, Naganori and Watanabe are my heroes. Me, my father and my grandfather have all had Skylines and we loved them to bits

  4. Pingback: The KPGC10 Nissan Skyline GT-R in Battle | Japanese Nostalgic Car

  5. Pingback: Friday Video: Nissan Skyline S54 GT-B vs Porsche 904 | Japanese Nostalgic Car

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