It’s almost time for the Tokyo Auto Salon, and that means students from Japan’s technical colleges are getting their projects ready for the show. Nissan Automobile Technical College usually turns out some fairly wild stuff, and this year is no exception. For 2026 they’ve created three retro-flavored rides, starting with an R30 Skyline sedan built to resemble a Group 5 race car.
The original Nissan Skyline Group 5 race car is one of the most beloved and recognizable race cars from Japan. It was based off of a Skyline two-door, but students at the Aichi campus of Nissan Gakuen used an R30 Skyline sedan as their foundation. Over a period of two and a half months they aimed to recreate a Super Silhouette racers in an age where even sedans are rare, and convey the thrill of 1980s motorsports to younger generations.
Students created aero parts that paid homage to the Group 5 cars, including the deppa chin spoiler and wide body box flares. According to Nissan, the doors actually open despite the widebody. Unlike the race cars, the interior has been kept largely intact, and red paint has been given a bit of modern flake for added vibrance.
Over at the Kyoto campus, another group of students created a modern Pike Car. Like the Pao, Be-1, and Figaro, the so-called Eloura uses a Nissan March as its base. In this case, it’s a K13 March rather than a K10, and the retro aspect was inspired by a 312 Bluebird. The project took six months to complete, and the biggest challenge was combining the narrow face of a Bluebird from the early 1960s to the wider body of the March.
Also hailing from the Kyoto branch is the Sunny Skyline, which took students six months to build. Based on a B10 Sunny chassis, the front has been converted to resemble a Hakosuka Skyline. This had the opposite challenge of the Eloura, as the much wider Skyline visage had to be narrowed to fit on the Sunny body. Massive overfenders were fabricated from scratch. Under the hood lies an SR20 from an S15 Silvia. The interior features some woodgrain panels to capture a 1960s upscale feel.
All three cars will be on display at the 2026 Tokyo Auto Salon, which begins on January 9.
Images courtesy of Nissan.
