Ayrton Senna helped Honda develop the NSX, this is true. And, yes, Kissy Suzuki did chauffeur 007 in a 1967 Toyota 2000GT in “You Only Live Twice.” But if your criteria for a supercar includes more than a Hollywood cameo or a sprinkling of racer DNA—if you believe supercars must possess a true racing pedigree—there is no question: Japan’s first supercar is the Nissan Skyline GT-R. It has the requisite purity of purpose: Skyline GT-Rs were born to race and raced only to win. Just look at the results: The original Skyline GT-R won the very first race it entered. Its first defeat came after a string of 49 consecutive victories.
From the earliest models to those resurrected in 1989, race-trimmed GT-Rs didn’t just beat their opponents—they deprived them of any hope of winning. After strings of losses with margins of victory measured not in seconds, but laps, competitors protested to have GT-Rs reined in or banned outright. In some cases, the competition simply abandoned the racing series entirely. Yet it’s more than just a race car. That the Skyline GT-R is now synonymous with the very concept of Japanese high performance—advanced technology employed to produce astonishing results—is no accident. It’s all in the name, if you parse it carefully.
Skyline refers to the series of sedans produced in rapidly industrializing postwar Japan. It aptly captures the optimistic spirit that created not only the cars, but the very skyscrapers for which they are named. The last three letters stand for Gran Turismo Racer and further define the vehicles’ objectives: high-speed, long-distance driving, and racing. The Italian inflection is no coincidence, as Japan has always been curious and outward-looking, especially when it comes to automobiles. In the era in which the first Skyline GT-R was conceived, there was no better place to look for inspiration than Europe.
Keyword: The History of Japan’s First Supercar: The Nissan Skyline GT-R