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Skyline GT-R 1970 Hardtop Detailed GT4 road-test
When the first Skyline GT-R was released in 1969, the Skyline could already trace
its lineage as far back as 1957, the version released in 1969 was the PGC10, and
was only available in sedan form, in 1971 the KPGC10 was released, and is the
one that I am testing here, the KPGC10 was a "hardtop" or as most of us know it
a coupe.
The PGC10 and the KPGC10 were built and designed for one single purpose, to
race, these were the first Nissan's to be honoured with the "GT-R" badge, a
badge which still today says power and performance (although I believe the
power behind the badge has become diluted in recent years), this wasnt the first
"fast" skyline, as the previous models, the GC10 GT-A and GT-B were fairly quick
for the day, but nothing like the new GT-R, its was about to write history.
The key to the GT-R's success is its engine, it was a beautiful piece of
engineering, the S20 was already a tried and tested engine, as it had been used
in Nissan's (Prince's) R380 Group 8 race car, a car that had already won the 3rd
Japanese Grand Prix in 1966 beating a Porsche Carrera 6.
The S20 was a 1998cc, 6 cylinder, double overhead cam unit, with 4 valves per cylinder, it
would produce 160bhp at 7000rpm and 130 lb/ft (180nm) of torque, pretty
impressive specs for a 30+ year old road car.
The racing version of the PGC10/KPGC10 managed to secure 50 victories in the
years up until production was stopped in 1972, and even today the JGTC drivers
say the KPGC10 was the best balanced Skyline GT-R ever.
The interior of the KPGC10 was pure race car, it was stripped of all mod-cons
such as a heater and a radio, anyone stepping into these back then must have
know that they were stepping into something special.
The KPGC10 also gained some other modifications over its 4 door brother, the
car was wider, had been given an optional rear spoiler, wider tyres and a shorter
wheelbase, these was done because the 4-door PGC10 had a very strong
understeer problem, for drivers to drive this car quickly they had to adopt a
strange form of driving which we today know as "drifting", could it be possible
that the PGC10 had invented "drifting"?.
I couldnt find any hard figures for acceleration, the only figure I could find was
the factory quoted speed of 125mph, similarly I couldnt find any real-life roadtest.
So how does it drive in GT4?, very nicely, it can produce a standing 1/4 mile in 16
seconds, and on to 139mph, which like most GT4 cars is a little optimistic.
Driving it round my default test track, Tsukuba, it shows itself to be a very
balanced and capable car, when you first step in it the exhaust and engine note
give away its racing heritage, even in standard form it sounds raw, throaty and
raspy, 3rd gear is a little tall, which means you need to push through the redline
in 2nd so as not to lose to many revs for the upchange to 3rd.
The handling is extremely predictable, with a slight understeer if you attempt to
take a corner to fast, and a small amount of power-on oversteer if you are a little
over ambitious with the throttle on the way out of the corner, all in all a very nice
drive, which if you are into "modding" the car (I am not), would probably give you
a very nice racing machine.
So how does the first GT-R look?, it looks awesome, its low muscular stance tells
you it means business and the back end is broken up nicely with a surfline
above the rear arch, some black plastic bolt on arch spats, and a smart little
deck-lid spoiler (which is not shown in GT4 for some reason), I think the KPGC10
is one of the best looking classic Japanese cars
around, infact I like it so much I built a plastic model of one, a link to some pics of
it here if you are interested
>
http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=415832
All in all you NEED to drive this car, it made the GT-R what it is today, and
changed the face of Japanese sports saloons, not only was its presence on the
road big, but it also had a very good, if short-lived racing career, how many cars can say they did all that?.
Dan.
When the first Skyline GT-R was released in 1969, the Skyline could already trace
its lineage as far back as 1957, the version released in 1969 was the PGC10, and
was only available in sedan form, in 1971 the KPGC10 was released, and is the
one that I am testing here, the KPGC10 was a "hardtop" or as most of us know it
a coupe.
The PGC10 and the KPGC10 were built and designed for one single purpose, to
race, these were the first Nissan's to be honoured with the "GT-R" badge, a
badge which still today says power and performance (although I believe the
power behind the badge has become diluted in recent years), this wasnt the first
"fast" skyline, as the previous models, the GC10 GT-A and GT-B were fairly quick
for the day, but nothing like the new GT-R, its was about to write history.
The key to the GT-R's success is its engine, it was a beautiful piece of
engineering, the S20 was already a tried and tested engine, as it had been used
in Nissan's (Prince's) R380 Group 8 race car, a car that had already won the 3rd
Japanese Grand Prix in 1966 beating a Porsche Carrera 6.
The S20 was a 1998cc, 6 cylinder, double overhead cam unit, with 4 valves per cylinder, it
would produce 160bhp at 7000rpm and 130 lb/ft (180nm) of torque, pretty
impressive specs for a 30+ year old road car.
The racing version of the PGC10/KPGC10 managed to secure 50 victories in the
years up until production was stopped in 1972, and even today the JGTC drivers
say the KPGC10 was the best balanced Skyline GT-R ever.
The interior of the KPGC10 was pure race car, it was stripped of all mod-cons
such as a heater and a radio, anyone stepping into these back then must have
know that they were stepping into something special.
The KPGC10 also gained some other modifications over its 4 door brother, the
car was wider, had been given an optional rear spoiler, wider tyres and a shorter
wheelbase, these was done because the 4-door PGC10 had a very strong
understeer problem, for drivers to drive this car quickly they had to adopt a
strange form of driving which we today know as "drifting", could it be possible
that the PGC10 had invented "drifting"?.
I couldnt find any hard figures for acceleration, the only figure I could find was
the factory quoted speed of 125mph, similarly I couldnt find any real-life roadtest.
So how does it drive in GT4?, very nicely, it can produce a standing 1/4 mile in 16
seconds, and on to 139mph, which like most GT4 cars is a little optimistic.
Driving it round my default test track, Tsukuba, it shows itself to be a very
balanced and capable car, when you first step in it the exhaust and engine note
give away its racing heritage, even in standard form it sounds raw, throaty and
raspy, 3rd gear is a little tall, which means you need to push through the redline
in 2nd so as not to lose to many revs for the upchange to 3rd.
The handling is extremely predictable, with a slight understeer if you attempt to
take a corner to fast, and a small amount of power-on oversteer if you are a little
over ambitious with the throttle on the way out of the corner, all in all a very nice
drive, which if you are into "modding" the car (I am not), would probably give you
a very nice racing machine.
So how does the first GT-R look?, it looks awesome, its low muscular stance tells
you it means business and the back end is broken up nicely with a surfline
above the rear arch, some black plastic bolt on arch spats, and a smart little
deck-lid spoiler (which is not shown in GT4 for some reason), I think the KPGC10
is one of the best looking classic Japanese cars
around, infact I like it so much I built a plastic model of one, a link to some pics of
it here if you are interested
> http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=415832
All in all you NEED to drive this car, it made the GT-R what it is today, and
changed the face of Japanese sports saloons, not only was its presence on the
road big, but it also had a very good, if short-lived racing career, how many cars can say they did all that?.
Dan.
