Last week we published one of our favorite JNC stories of all time: the interview with Yoshikazu Sunako, one of the original Skyline GT drivers at the 1964 Japan Grand Prix and a man who not only witnessed, but participated in the pivotal moment that some have called the birth of the Skyline Legend. In honor of Sunako-san, as well as Nissan Jam this Sunday, here are some other Prince Skyline stories we’ve published over the years.
Back in 2013 a replica of Sunako-san’s car was the official JNC booth car at the 2013 Japanese Classic Car Show. The car was built by JDM Legends, and you can see a video of it driving through the Utah mountains here.
There are far fewer Prince Skylines than even Hakosuka in the US, and the car is no doubt the finest example shown in the US thus far. Therefore, we made sure to feature the car in an in-depth profile story.
That same year, we were were lucky enough to be invited to an exclusive Nissan event, where the automaker flew in several cars from the Zama warehouse, including their own Sunako car. For a bird’s eye view of how Sunako’s race fits in with the rest of early Nissan motorports history, check out this story and some of the other cars Nissan brought out.
We were fortunate enough to interview the always dapper Shiro Nakamura, head of Nissan design and chief creative officer, who even wore a shirt that kind of matches the car!
A few years later, our very own Tokyo correspondent Ken Lee ended up acquiring a Prince Skyline GT-B for himself. He even got the personalized license plate “39” in honor of Sunako-san’s car. Here’s Parts 01, 02 and 03 of Ken’s adventures in buying and owning a classic car in Tokyo.
And lastly, should this inspire you to buy your own version, here’s our Prince Skyline GT-A and GT-B buying guide.
Ken Lee is co-founder of Cars on Film and you can see more of his work here on JNC. Skorj is co-founder of Filmwasters and you can find more of his work at Cars on Film and here on JNC.
Sweet looking Skyline. For some reason, the Skyline was never offered here in the USA. We had cars like the Fairlady convertible, the Fairlady 240Z, the Datsun Bluebird PL510 through to the Maxima. But for some crazy reason, some Nissans just weren’t offered in North America, and certainly not the USA.
They kept most of the good stuff for themselves! I imported an R33 GTS-25t from Japan 13 years ago…best car I have ever owned, having performance Alfas an Holdens before.