NISMO HERITAGE: A HISTORY OF MAVERICK ENGINEERING IN MOTORSPORT
The launch of Nismo in Europe is the latest chapter in a gripping story of maverick engineering and innovation that began almost 50 years ago. It's a tale of passion for motorsport, pioneering spirit, after-hours vehicle development and a desire to succeed. The engineers' commitment also led to the birth of a name badge that has become legend in Japanese performance car history: Skyline.
The story begins in 1964 when the Prince Motor Company - a local car manufacturer that was taken over by Nissan two years later - realised it was possible to boost sales through competitive motorsport. Engineers took the 2.0-litre six-cylinder block from the Gloria, a large luxury saloon, and shoehorned it under the bonnet of the much smaller Skyline by extending the wheelbase.
With a vastly increased power-to-weight ratio, they realised the racing potential of what they had created - the Prince Skyline 2000GT (S54). Working all hours, they battled to produce 100 examples for customers to meet the strict competition rules.
It was a race against time which they won with only hours to spare. The car was officially launched on 1 May 1964 and competed in its first race just two days later. The performance was bitter-sweet; while victory went to a Porsche 904, the Skyline took every position from 2nd to 6th. They didn't realise it at the time, but these maverick engineers had given birth to what would in time become an iconic performance car brand, a true global star. The spirit of Nismo emerged for the first time.
Prince joined the expanding Nissan family in 1966, and the following year the Skyline (S57) was launched, featuring the most powerful 1.5-litre engine of its day.
More motorsport success followed, and in 1969 came the debut of the now-legendary GT-R badge. Originally a saloon, a coupé called the KPGC-10 quickly followed. For motorsport, the pair were stripped out to save weight and the formula was an instant hit - sharing 50 victories in 1969-72.
Nissan Motorsports International Co. Ltd: Nismo
Nissan's motorsport activities had been split into two divisions, one for works teams and the other for privateer outfits. In September 1984 the company decided to merge them to cement its commitment to all competitive racing. The new unit was called ‘Nissan Motorsports International Co. Ltd', abbreviated to Nismo. It was established as a separate company but a wholly owned subsidiary of Nissan.
The founding ethos was a simple one and is as relevant today as it was in 1984 - and 20 years earlier with the launch of the Prince Skyline. Nismo represents the spirit of Nissan's proud motorsport heritage and its performance ambitions. Nismo's goal is to perfectly embody the Nissan brand: making innovation, technology and excitement for everyone.
In 1986 came Nissan's debut at one of the world's unique motorsport challenges, the Le Mans 24 Hour Race. It was the start of an amazing relationship with the endurance event, which has seen numerous Nismo-prepared GT and prototype cars compete at the famous La Sarthe circuit since.
R32
In 1988 Nissan's first dedicated race car debuted, based around the Saurus roadster, to take part in a single-make series. But the following year saw the launch of a car which brought Nismo in front of a more mainstream audience, both in Japan and with motorsport fans around the world - the iconic Nissan Skyline R32.
Showcasing four-wheel-drive and four-wheel-steering, the R32 made a stunning circuit debut and never looked back. R32s wearing the GT-R badge won 29 straight victories from 29 starts in domestic racing, wrapping up the Japanese GT Championship Group A four years in a row.
However, the R32 is perhaps best known for its total domination of the Australian Touring Car Championship in 1990-93 and the nickname it received. A local journalist christened it ‘Godzilla', alluding to the fearsome Japanese movie monster that strikes terror into all who see it. The name was apt and it stuck; today the R32 racer is known to fans around the world simply as ‘the Godzilla car'. A Group A homologation version of the R32, badged Nismo, was available for enthusiasts to buy.
Its successor, the Skyline GT-R (R33), became the first production car to lap the Nürburgring's famous Nordschleife in less than eight minutes.
With the R34, Nismo produced the V-Spec. The Victory Specification version of the Skyline GT-R R34 was given the addition name of ‘Z-tune' which referred to a road-going vehicle designed to achieve world class top speed and endurance. With more than 370kw (500PS) from the car's 2.8-litre engine, it was the ultimate tuned Skyline for the serious enthusiast. Only 20 were ever made, built by Nismo around a pre-owned R34 with very low mileage.
Nismo awareness grows
Nissan's motorsport prowess was growing in stature and more success followed throughout the Nineties. Awareness of Nismo grew in Europe when the Skyline GT-R (R32) took the overall win in the Spa 24 hours in 1991, Nismo GT-R LM (R33) claimed 10th place at Le Mans in 1995 and the Nissan R390 GT1 finished 3rd at Le Mans in 1998.
Back in Japan, the Skyline GT-R (R34) competed in the GT Championship 1999-2003, clinching the driver and team titles in the first and the final years. In 2004 fans witnessed the arrival of the Nismo-prepared Fairlady Z, sold as the 350Z in Europe. It was an astonishing start; in its debut season in the Super GT series, it won its first race and eventually took the driver and team titles. It retained the latter trophy in 2005.
Away from the race track, Nismo's innovation was also evident in the gruelling world of competitive off-road endurance rallying. It developed the Nissan RAID Truck for the Dakar Rally, most famously in 2004 when British driver Colin McRae was behind the wheel and earned two stage wins on the way to a memorable finish.
True to its motto of accessibility, Nismo products were now available to petrolheads who wanted their own road cars to benefit from the technical innovation they were seeing on the track. Nismo exploited this gap in the market, developing a highly respected tuning business which saw aftermarket performance parts appearing on the streets of Japan.
The ultimate: R35
The launch of the stunning new Nissan GT-R road car in 2008 inevitably led to renewed focus on racing. In the Super GT championship the car won the driver's title that year and repeated the feat in 2011 and 2012.
That summer Nissan finished 1st and 2nd in the LMP2 class at the Le Mans 24 Hours race. The silver-placed team included GT Academy winner Lucas Ordonez, perfectly illustrating just how relevant and authentic the virtual-to-reality race programme had become.
Nismo in 2013
In 2013, Nissan's commitment to global motorsport remains as strong as ever with the mighty GT-R GT3 race car competing in series all over the globe. However, there can be no better illustration of the pioneering Nismo spirit than the award-winning DeltaWing project. At the cutting edge of research into how racing can be more environmentally aware, it's as ambitious a project as the Prince Skyline was almost 50 years ago.
The Nismo brand has expanded dramatically since its official launch in 1984 but the ethos remains the same. There is no better illustration of the brand's passion than the Nismo Festival, staged by the company in Japan. Attended by tens of thousands of devoted fans, it brings together cars and personalities from the entire history of Nissan motorsport in a high-octane celebration of the Nismo brand.
Please follow this link to access Juke Nismo full press kit: www.nissan-live.com/nismo
