Nissan will build an all-new Skyline with rear-wheel drive, a manual transmission and looks inspired by some of the nameplate’s most iconic iterations. The news comes as Nissan grapples with an extensive reorganisation, which has happily led to a refocus of the brand’s models, and by extension the rebirth of this iconic name plate.
The bad news for UK readers is that this car is likely to only find its way its home roads in Japan – but we can live in hope Nissan might change its mind. It’s also worth remembering that Nissan disconnected the Skyline moniker from GT-R back in 2007, so this isn’t a new R36 GT-R – that’ll come later, and to international markets.
Technically, the Skyline never actually went off-sale in the Japanese domestic market. In fact it was a car we saw in Europe briefly as the Infiniti Q50. In Japan the existing model has been on sale for well over a decade, meaning it’s well overdue for a refresh – and something much more dramatic than that current saloon is coming.
Speaking at the Japan Mobility Show, Nissan’s global design director Alfonso Albaisa told Auto Express that the new Skyline would be inspired by past models, but without falling into being a retro cliche. Instead, this modern, four-door, fastback-shaped model will firmly look forward with just a few references to one of the Skyline’s most iconic eras.
“Think back to the car of 1968 or 1970. That expressive shape. Iconic,” Albaisa told us. This points towards the 1968-1970 era of GT-R, which changed from a traditional three-box shape to a fastback style. “Think big, wide, and blocky. Agressive and not retro,” he continued. While these somewhat cryptic teasers don’t reveal a huge amount, expect a much more distinctive design than many of its current models. “The Nissan Z is on one side, the GT-R is on the other – Skyline will sit somewhere between.”
What’s less certain is exactly what underpinnings the new Skyline will run on. While the car will be all-new, it’s very possible that, like Nissan did with the latest Z sports car, the Skyline will run on the same basic platform as the current model, but come with substantially different sheetmetal and a brand new interior.
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