There's no car more tied to Tokyo than the Nissan Skyline. On our last trip we set out to photograph as many generations as we could find, in every colour and every flavour. Some were built Mid Night Club style, some Top Secret style, and all of them were part of the culture and clean.
The classics: Hakosuka and Kenmeri
The story starts with the C10 Skyline, nicknamed Hakosuka ("boxy Skyline"), the car that launched the GT-R name in 1969. We found a silver one on the move under the ginkgo trees of Meiji Jingu Gaien, the same part of town as the BINGO Sports window with the LFA and 2000GT. Another was built in full kaido racer style, with a carbon bonnet, bolt-on arches and deep-dish Watanabe wheels.
Its successor, the C110 Kenmeri, named after the "Ken and Mary" ad campaign, appeared as a white coupé parked along the same avenue, and a blue classic Skyline held court at Nissan Crossing in Ginza.
The 80s: the R30
The R30 is the Skyline people forget, and it's one of our favourites. We found red-and-black two-tone RS models on display and another with its bonnet open. Nissan didn't put a GT-R badge on the R30. It went racing anyway, and its red-and-black colour scheme is one of the great liveries of the decade.
The RB era: R32 and R34
The R32 GT-R brought the RB26DETT twin-turbo straight-six and all-wheel drive, and Australian press nicknamed it Godzilla after it won everything in touring cars. We caught a gold R32 at night, glowing under the office towers. The R34 needs no introduction. We found a Bayside Blue one under the ginkgo trees.
There were silver and white R34s under the Shibuya lights, and a dark R34 parked on the pavement with its owner leaning on the rail. That's the Wangan aesthetic made real. If the Wangan is your thing, read about Isao Mizota's 328 km/h Z32 and the Mid Night Club.
The modern Godzilla: R35
The R35 GT-R dropped the Skyline name in 2007 but kept the spirit. Silver R35s on big-lip wheels and an aggressive aero kit held their own against the heritage cars around them.
Why it matters
No other nameplate tells the story of Japanese performance from start to finish like this one. For the generations of enthusiasts who first met these cars in magazines, video games and Wangan Midnight, seeing them on the streets they were made for still hits differently. And you don't have to fly to Tokyo: we've found Tommy Kaira Skylines in New Jersey too.
Photos: One Breath Pictures
Comments