At the 1972 Tokyo Motor Show the most anticipated race car in Japan was unveiled at the Nissan stand. The Hakosuka Skyline GT-R was the most beloved touring car in the country, but its time was coming to an end. Nissan was unveiling the next generation of Skyline GT-R, the Kenmeri, and was so confident of its ability to continue the legacy that it debuted the car in race guise and gold Kobe Seiko 8-spoke wheels. Except, it never raced. However, at the recent NISMO Festival the revived prototype was given a chance to run, just as it was always meant to.
The “73” on the side indicated the year the Kenmeri GT-R was supposed to storm the track. Before it could, though, the 1973 oil crisis happened and Nissan canceled plans to race it. If it had, Fuji Speedway is where it would have done battle. That is why it’s so amazing to see in action, even if modern SuperGT R35s blow past it like it’s standing still. Better yet, legendary Nissan works driver Takahashi Kunimitsu, who would have likely driven one of these beasts, is behind the wheel of the historic machine, slamming through the gears as the glorious S20 sings its clarion twin-cam song.
Original wheels were not Watanabe, but magnesium Kobe Seiko 8-spokes.
Oops. I’m pretty sure you’ve corrected me on this before, too. My memory isn’t what it used to be.
hmm not sure these were ever “meant to” be raced
a tokyo motor show concept with fading hope of production
salvaged by sports corner who installed s20’s into kenmeris to satisfy some elite buyers
(@alant correct me if i’m wrong)
@mister k
None of the ‘Sport Corner’ dealerships were involved in “installing S20s” – they just maintained them. The KPGC110s were built on the assembly line at Musashi Murayama alongside all the other C110 Skyline models. The KPGC110s were no afterthought, having been fully designed and engineered alongside the other C110 models, but they were one of the models hardest hit by the ‘Oil Shock’ caused by the Yom Kippur war and the subsequent OPEC oil embargo and the pressure on Nissan to put such frivolously sporting models on the back burner and scale back their motorsport-related activities. The impact of the ‘Oil Shock’ should not be underestimated. It’s the main reason that the GT-R model was not revived until 1989.
There’s no two ways about it: For the diehard motorsports-loving JNCer, the NISMO TV YouTube channel is a must-subscribe.