Legendary “Hakosuka” covered in carbon “Hakosu-carbon”
The name “Hakosu-carbon” is already remarkable and the Japanese can imagine what is this. Not only the name, but also the displayed product has a great impact on Old☆Star at Tokyo Auto Salon 2023.
The concept is clear to keep the historical Skyline as much as possible, then choose the carbon panels
As the fun of old Skyline can guess from the name, the car on display was a 1972 Skyline hardtop sedan,(nickname Hakosuka, box-shaped Skyline) with carbon body panel. Surprisingly the engine kept the original S20, but not only that the carbon panels were made of dry carbon which is lightweight and extremely tough even the many carbon parts in the aftermarket are made of wet carbon by hand-lay-up.
Now, the price of historical Skyline is going up and up. In that sense, the opportunities to touch and see or experience the old Skyline are quite rare. Old☆Star understands that the situation is getting worse. That is a start to create the carbon parts for the old Skyline, to keep it for the future as much as possible. This is also the reason to choose the dry carbon panels which can realize the precision form in right weight. Those are also usable for racing parts.
The third generation of Skyline
The Skyline has been synonymous with sporty family cars and touring cars since Prince’s production. In 1968 it evolved completely new as a third generation. It was released after the corporate merger, of Nissan and Prince, and the name of Prince was gone. But the first sketch was started by Prince, They created an impressive press line at the side of the body, called “the surf line”. The engine, the G15 in-line four-cylinder OHC, is a masterpiece in the market and was in the spotlight.
The surf line form is the symbol of Skyline in the third generation, it shows off from the wheel arch of the front to the tail end. “Hakosu-carbon” keeps also that form as a factory design.
S20 engine is proud of its racing specs
The story of the engine is also interesting, The “Hakosuka” became a popular model, demonstrating high performance unmatched by family sedans, but there were growing calls for the Nissan Skyline to be given the unique driving feel and prestige that it had gained under the Prince brand. Nissan decided to give the Skyline once again the performance and naming of the 2000GT that has dominated the S54 engine.
However, the engine installed L20 of Nissan, not the famous G7 of the S54 era, many Skyline enthusiasts criticized the second generation 2000GT as too mild, despite its excellent performance as a Ground Touring that could consistently drive in long distances at a high average.
The car was also used in the second Japanese Grand Prix. They began to wish for a straight return of the 200GT-B, which inherited the image of that Skyline GT, which was gobbled up by the Porsche Carrera 904 at the second Japanese Japan Grand Prix at Suzuka.
In response to those expectations, Nissan released the Skyline 2000 GT-R with S20 engine, which was based on the GR8 engine of the R380, a prototype racing car developed by Prince.
The third generation of Skyline “Hakosuka” was born with such a background, It is meaningful that the “Hakosu-carbon” has a surf line as a factory standard and an S20 engine.
