In 1964, the idea of a Japanese high performance sedan meant almost a contradiction in terms

There’s no doubt that Japanese cars brought new standards to the automotive industry in the ’60s — they were well made, well equipped, most had radios and heaters as standard fittings, were reliable and represented great value for money. However, in Japan, where a blanket speed limit of 60kph existed until the ’60s, there wasn’t much call for high performance vehicles in the home market.

But in 1964, a car appeared that put itself on the map as a top-notch sports/racing sedan. Forty years later its heritage lives on, now attached to some of today’s genuine performance vehicles.

That 1964 car was the Prince Skyline GT. It came from an unlikely source, with its beginnings to be found in the Tachikawa Aircraft Company, established in 1952.

Tachikawa went into vehicle production, beginning with small electric-powered commercials. Somewhere along the way, Tachikawa Aircraft Company became the Prince Motor Company, named after Crown Prince Hirohito, the Japanese Emperor. By 1955, Prince had added the Skyline family car with a four-cylinder 1500cc motor to its range. A further addition came in 1961 with the larger, more luxurious six-cylinder Prince Gloria.

Breathing on Gloria

The Japanese government increased speed limits in 1964, and around that time, motor racing began to gain popularity in Japan. To raise its image, the Prince Company decided to go racing. But how to be competitive with a range consisting of a 1500cc family sedan and a heavy sixcylinder luxury car? The answer seemed simple — drop the six-cylinder engine into the smaller car.

Prince engineers, however, found the practicalities of the operation somewhat complicated. The Gloria six was a large motor, and the Skyline sedan was a smallish, Japanese family-style of car. To achieve the transplant, the Prince engineers added a 200mm extension ahead of the front bulkhead, thereby increasing both the wheelbase and overall length.

The Prince Skyline GT made its public debut at the Suzuka motor racing circuit in May 1964. Five Skyline GTs fronted up in the 1000-2000cc Grand Touring Car class. A Porsche won the race, ahead the Skyline GTs which fi lled the next five places.

In 1966, under pressure from the Japanese government to rationalise the car industry, the small Prince concern became part of the much larger Nissan organisation. Nissan continued to produce the Skyline GT under the Prince name until the model finished its run in 1968.

After the Nissan take-over, a third series of Skyline GTs appeared with several enhancements to the design, although the power output remained unchanged.

Perhaps the most signifi cant improvement was the fitting of a Prince-designed five-speed gearbox with an overdrive fifth gear. Other changes included standardising the previously optional limited slip differential, seat belts and flow-through ventilation. After the demise of the Prince name, Nissan still retained the Skyline moniker for its performance models, and it continues to grace some real performance cars almost 40 years later.

Skylines down under

Prince built the Skyline GT in right hand drive form only. Exports are thought to have been limited to about 300 sent to Australia and New Zealand between 1965 and 1968. The Skyline GT soon found its way into the clutches of contemporary motoring magazines. One test recorded its top speed at 179kph (111mph), an impressive fi gure at the time for what was in essence a Japanese family sedan. A Prince GT competed at the annual 500- mile race at Bathurst in 1966 and 1967 — A DNF in 1966, but one fi nished the course in 1967.

About 30 Prince Skyline GTs are thought to have survived in Australia. John Ellis owns one of them, and has had a painstaking restoration carried out on his car to bring it back as close as possible to its ex-factory condition. John bought a Prince Skyline GT just after he left school in the early 1970s. “I was looking to buy my fi rst car,” he recalls, “and our extended family and some family friends had a couple of Skyline GTs. They suggested that it would make something different for a young bloke’s first vehicle.

“I bought a non-runner and got it going, but then because of over-zealous tuning by a professional tuner it burnt a hole in a piston. With the ignorance of youth, I sold the car, not running, in the late ’70s. By the mid-1990s, I was living in Sydney and saw a Prince advertised for sale at Alstonville, in northern New South Wales. I bought that car, and used it for a few years. It was a bit rough around the edges, and I decided to improve it and began advertising in the wanted ads in Australian Classic Car for parts and information.

Shed-bound

“A chap rang from Canberra and said he had a Prince in his dad’s shed. It was part of a deceased estate, and it had been sitting unused for 10 years. His dad was a car enthusiast, and the Prince was completely original but very worn. I bought it, of course, and trailered it home. Through the Prince club I heard about the Prince museum at Gosford, north of Sydney, and the owner, Col Lee, got the car running and I then put it on club registration. “Then, in 1998, we moved to Townsville and the Prince just sat in a shed. In 1999 we moved to Batemans Bay, on the NSW south coast, and, of course, the Prince remained unused. We moved to Cooma in 2000.

“In 2002, I read an article in Australian Classic Car about a Prince Skyline GT owned by Barry Jarred in Queensland. That inspired me. I rang Barry, and he told me he’d had his car restored by Marque Restorations in Adelaide. On the basis that, if they had already done one Skyline GT, they would know something about them, I rang Gerard Miller at Marque Restorations — the short version of the story is that I put it on a truck and got it back in restored condition two years later.” Many of the problems faced by a restorer of a Prince Skyline GT revolve around the inability to source spares, and many parts had to be made from scratch for the restoration.

New pistons were unobtainable, so Gerard Miller had a sample of an oldone sent to a metallurgist for analysis todetermine its composition, and then had an ingot made in the correct specifi cation.

From that, the pistons were recast from a pattern. A sample of the carpet travelled the world looking for a match, finally finding an almost perfect replacement in New Zealand. The Prince Club has remade the tool rolls, and tyre pressure and jacking placards. Originally, John’s Skyline GT came with the optional 99-litre, boot-mounted, competition fuel tank that had provision for direct churn filling. There was no provision for external fi lling, as a blanking cap covered the place whre the fi ller neck would usually be located. The optional tank limits boot space, and the fi rst owner took it out and replaced it with a home-made tank for more luggage room. “When it came to the restoration, I had a normal fuel tank on hand, but Gerard made a few phone calls and was able to source an original racing tank. It really fi nishes off the car,” John says.

On the road

First impressions are that the interior accommodation was intended for a Japanese family. Adjusting the front seat to suit a 1.8-metre driver removes almost all of the rear seat legroom. Nevertheless, it’s possible to get quite comfortable behind the ’60s-style wood rim, alloy-spoked wheel. The driver is confronted with a full set of instruments, including calibrated oil pressure and temperature gauges. The lever controlling the four-speed gearbox has an odd pattern — first is to the left and back, right and forward for second, straight back for third and towards

The Prince Gloria motor came in two capacities: 1998cc and 2494cc. No doubt mindful of the various engine size classes used in motor racing, Prince engineers chose the smaller motor for the transplant.

Prince produced a GTA-model Skyline using the Gloria motor in standard (78kW, or 105bhp) form, but the performance version was known as the GTB, and Prince set about making the 2.0-litre six perform for this application. The compression ratio of the square (75mm bore and stroke) engine went up from 8.8:1 to 9.3:1, triple Weber 40DCOE-18 carburettors put the mixture in and an extractor exhaust helped to get it out. All this boosted power from 78kW in its Gloria and GT A applications to 95kW (127bhp) in the Skyline GT B form.

The motor was mated to a licence-built ZF fully synchronised four-speed gearbox. The Skyline GT retained the coil and wishbone front suspenson and rear leaf springs of the four-cylinder car, although a rear torque rod was added, along with heavier components, and anti-roll bars front and back. Steering was by the much-favoured Japanese system of recirculating ball. Power assisted Dunlop disc brakes were fi tted to the front of the car, with drums at the rear.

A brief drive confi rmed that the Skyline GT runs at least as well as it must have done when it fi rst hit the road back in 1965.

It’s no problem to drive this competition- inspired car around town. Despite the three dual-throat Webers, the Skyline GT will potter about in top gear at 1500rpm, then accelerate smoothly to whatever speed you might like — or is legal!

Pressing on the throttle produces a smooth surge of acceleration in the lower gears, with the six running easily up to 5500rpm — redline is at an indicated 6500rpm. The ride is firm but not uncomfortable and corners presented no problems at the modest pace imposed by local speed limits. The steering is accurate, not always a characteristic of recirculating ball systems.

Given his time over, John says he is not sure whether he would go down the Prince road again. “I think that I might rather have something more mainstream and exotic,” he laughs. “I’m not sure I would really want to part with the Prince.

It’s now a most unusual car, and very much part of the development of the Japanese car story. I guess that everything is for sale, but my price for the Prince would be this — think of a value that would be expensive for a car like this, and then multiply it by five!”

Words: Col Gardner Photos: Col Gardner & Jon Ellis