I owned two R31 Skyline sedans - you could balance a 20c coin on its edge on the cam cover while the engine was running. An extremely good highway car that would eat up the miles and yet was confident to drive on twisty roads as well. Best front seats of the era by a country mile too.
Blown away by the example I saw two years ago, this is a charming, stunning slab of earlier JDM sleeperish goodness, the unassuming overhung body on small wheels, that six sounds lovely in the lower revs, the excessive front lighting, the interior design touches, with a dash that screams Hitachi, in many ways it has it all, definitely a special motor, very lucky to have driven. Juicy content!
the wagons were assembled here but the chassis were made in japan as they shared chassis with the japanese wagons, the aus spec 4 doors were made here 100%, japanese 4 door versions are much different then what we got, barely the same car at all!
A nice practical Nissan in tidy condition - if I was given one I wouldn’t say no. If I was asked to pick between the estate or saloon I’d choose the estate, as they’re not that common and seem to have a degree of presence. Many thanks Ian for sharing 😀
A Nissan Skyline was the car that overtook me at the fastest speed that I've ever been overtaken at. I was doing 185 (km/hr), and this gang-looking dude flew past in a bright red Bluebird.
The Aussie built skyline handles fine because Australian demanded that by the time it was built, we were over wallowing, that was until everybody state rated to buy 4wds and forgot what handling was.
It is funny how we went from wallowing, understeering Holdens and Fords (though Falcons were better than Kingswoods until RTS came along, but Commmodores got softer and softer up to the VN in standard kit), has 20 years or so of reasonable Falcons and Commodoes then everyone went 4WD mad. While it might be true that a modern crossover handles at least as well, likely better, than a stock Commodore/Falcon/Camry of 20 years ago, a standard car now handles getter than most "SUV"'s unless you are talking high-end models. We like to laugh at Ameticans and their love of soft, wallowy suspension, but traditional Aussie cars were not so great outside of the Skyline and higher spec models.
If memory serves, I think the Power Shift button turns overdrive on and off, so you won't really notice a difference unless you're at expressway speeds, especially if you don't have a working tach to show you the small change in revs you'd get at lower speeds. I remember it being a thing on cars of that era.
My dad was a truck driver and he took all the tooling for the R31s and other Nissans to be destroyed when Nissan shut down production in Australia in the early 90s. The same thing happened with all of the Holden and Ford tooling a couple years ago, all to be destroyed...
All the Australian assembled R31 Skylines had live rear axle, including the sedans and the sporty trim. Nissan Australia considered that the market leading Fords and Holdens had prehistoric suspension, so no need to go the expense of fitting IRS to their cars too. Story of the Aus auto industry. Down with innovation, onward with mediocre (at a premium price). Also, even though they look the same, there are no crossover body parts with the Japanese HR31.
That triggers my memory. Wheels praised the IRS of the previous (Japanese-built) version in a comparison test, only to encounter the live axle in the new (locally-built) model.
@Tone. Even worse was the 200B,which many in Australia considered was a 180B with 20 more mistakes/faults. I had a friend who had a Nissan 200B,which was a dreadful car in the wet, would easily lose grip at the slightest provocation
@Tone. At least the Australian 180B still has IRS, which was removed shortly after the 200B came, with a few rare examples having the IRS fitted as in overseas markets.
Eghh .. the semi trailing arm suspension in the datsuns was rubbish (as it is on commodores from vp onward) .. just a bad idea for daily driver .. adds virtually nothing in handling or performance over a live axle . Just increases tyre wear .. a tyre scrubbing mess due to constant toe and camber angle changes . Been there bought the hype with my first car a datsun 1600 .. was always wasting money on tyres that wore the inside edge off in a 1/2 the time of other "simpler" designs .. ford with their falcon didnt even bother trying to use a crappy semi trailing arm design and kept live axle till the Ba (2002) and thank god ..
Oh, Tania Oval at Dobroyd Head, Balgowlah Heights . My first driving lesson in a manual was around there. And Roseville Bridge to Wakehurst Pkwy, nice. Great location for a video.
My brother had a 5 speed manual and if you wanted to stay on the right side of the law you could not leave 2nd gear without exceeding 60 KLMs . One of the best cars I have ever driven. Her sister car was a 4 cylinder called Pintara . A lot of Australian engineering went into this cars development but its downfall was its narrow body width in keeping with Japanese taxation legislation . Mitsubishi would widen the Sigma to create the Magna and Toyota widened the Vista and called it the wide body Camry .
I drove a Pintara that had the same body as the Skyline with the 4 cyl Dual fire engine as my company car. The back was very generous for carrying all sorts of parts and books in my technician work. Work changed to many different suppliers for their cars as manufacturing left Australia but everyone still wanted the Pintara as their car. I bought my car and used it for many tears as my family car before giving it to my father. Awesome car!
Built an R31 Wagon Turbo many, many years ago; had a Trust T78 that was so brutal on boost. Very early 2000's...Great fun! Even had the chrome roof racks still on it, and put the later 90/ 91 front end on it. Had bits & pieces off my wrecked 1987 Silhouette (such as the trip computer & power windows)
My dad had a Nissan Silvia, early 80's C reg. 1.8 L turbo very quick, modern even had electric windows and CD player as standard for 1984! Reg was C802 TLR
The designers had a pencil, a ruler, a protractor and a coin to do the wheel arches. As much imagination as a caravan site. Glad to hear they drive well :)
Powershift button was also on the contemporary VL Holden that shared the delicious RB30E powertrain. Enjoyed my time in a VL, and the button on the gearshift alters the shift program of the 4 spd auto. In Power mode you get more revs in first and second, and a sharper shift.
The sedan versions of these were massive in South Africa , although they didn't sell as much as the Toyota Cressida. We had a full range of 2.0l four , 2.0l straight six and the 3.0l "VG" six. They were marketed as the "New Era" Skyline , I have a CAR magazine from I think 86, that had the launch article on these, there was a lot of local engineering work done here around suspension and NVH. The build quality was a great step up from the older model which wasn't the best. I remember though, as a kid , being disappointed that there was no coupe , as the previous model did have a nice shape coupe sold here , with the famous "4 rings" red tail lights , and of course the 2.8 straight six....
Every Australian-made car has one or two little peripheral broken bits ha ha! The “4 speed” automatics in Japanese brands of the era tended actually to be 3 speed with integrated-into-the-case overdrive. Pressing the button disables the overdrive, which is better for gearbox longevity when towing etc; this is the 3 speed base box giveaway. Automatics caught up with manuals fuel-consumption-wise with bonus very relaxing highway cruising with the “4speed” auto 🙂
Those were the good old days of Nissan and manufacturing industry in Australia..sad that it had to come to an end..grew up in Victoria with pulsars, pintaras and skyline...the skyline was sedate and conservatively styled cars but their engine I believed was well engineered and fairly refined as compared to the falcons and commodores of the same era...brings back sweet memories..:)
We first saw these in Australia in 1986. In those days the engine and gearbox was revolutionary compared to the previous rubbish in Holdens and Fords. As you rightly pointed out they were known for being silky smooth and having more than enough power.
I had a GXE manual sedan in 1986. The models were GX, GXE, TI (luxury) and Sihouette (sports). All Australian production R31s had the live rear axle as part of local content. It was a fun car.
This generation of Skyline can be found rotting in almost every household you drive past over here in South Africa. I've never seen a wagon variant thou, it looks neat.
VALLY the wagon was unique to Australia. Nissan Australia wanted to fully compete with GM and Ford in the fleet and family markets, so built their own wagon. R31s were also sold here with a twin-spark, SOHC CA20, but badged as Pintara
Over 14 years I owned a 87 GX Sedan and a 88 GX Station Wagon. Both were 5 speed manual with power steering and air conditioning. I owned the sedan for 8 years until it was stolen, recovered, and written off by the insurance company. The wagon actually belonged to my parents who didn't need the car and sold it to me for $1800 at the time. I owned that car for 6 years and sold it when my then wife and I sold our old cars to buy one good new one. The outside colour of both cars was exactly the same as the one in the video. I can confirm the sedan had the same live rear axel as the wagon (Borg Warner BTR 78). Even the range topping Silhouette Ti model had the same engine and transmission as the base GX. The only change was adjustments to the suspension. The interior of both cars I had was the grey interior. The GX dash lacked the oil pressure and battery charge meters. The dash boards failing was a common issue but my mechanic knew someone who could fix them. A hundred dollars well spent. What were they like to drive? The torque of the 3.0 six was such that the car, even in manual form, was VERY easy to drive. You could put the car in 5th gear at 40-50 kph and it would cruise along quite happily. Fuel consumption was actually better than equivalent 4 cylinder Mitsubishi Magna and Toyota Camry. On extended country driving (and not economy driving) 8l/100km was easily done. Hills such as Mount Victoria were not beaten but flattened. The seats were very comfortable. On the open road it would cruise at 140 kph without a problem. Handling was excellent. Sports Commodores could beat me in the straight but couldn't follow me through corners (even the wagon). The power steering had good feel and feedback and you could feel the car on the road. Gear shifting was very easy. Even my then wife said the car was so easy to drive you did everything by instinct and reflex. If you thought about it you were doing it wrong. The six was always silky smooth. Way smoother than V6s. The sedan also had fold down seats but the gap wasn't very big. The wagon could swallow surprisingly large loads with the slope of the rear window being the only issue. The intermittent wipe was a fixed ratio. But other that than the car had everything it needed and nothing it didn't. Elegant simplicity. I still miss the cars. They were an intermediate size between the medium and full sized cars. They were big enough to be comfortably roomy without being awkwardly large. They were easy to park with the power steering. The station wagon was a "sports wagon" before BMW, Holden, and other companies started the fad in the mid 2000s.
The extra central front driving lights were an Australian feature to differentiate the Six Cylinder R31 Skyline from the four cylinder R31 called Pintara.
Karl Adams . My sister had a 1986 Pintara sedan (which was just a 4cyl version of the Skyline, first of the unleaded cars) - 2.0L four (twin plugs per cylinder) but "NONE of the power" as Ian would say. It wasn't a terrible car, but it made my 2.2L Honda Accord feel sprightly in comparison.
Pintara... now that triggered a memory. I had an ex-girlfriend in the mid 2000s that had a 2nd gen one. I remember driving it... pleasant drive. Soaked up the road well if I recall. And I also recall being accosted at the driver's window by an older Asian lady who got out of her car while we were stopped at the lights - and to this day, I still have no idea what that lady was ticked off about. Maybe she didn't like the Pintara.
Never drove a Pintara myself, though I do recall driving an N12 Pulsar 1.5 auto - and the lack of performance was pretty breathtaking. You could put the boot in and it didn't even have the courtesy to make louder noises while not going any faster, it just ignored you entirely...
@@MattExzy Drove the Ford Corsair badge engineered twin of the 2nd Gen Pintara in sedan form. Very dull red blancmange of a car, though it was ok for just driving around the suburbs. Different nose, and actually a pretty nice looking car in a boringly bland conventional way. But dull as ditch water to drive. 2.0 litre four with a four speed auto. The bigger 2.4 litre engine made a fair bit more power and torque and allegedly way more exciting, in the TRX Nissan. But not sure if the Ford Corsair came fitted with the 2.4 donk. Lovechild of the Button car plan - late 1980s/early 90s, which also gave us such curios as 'The Ute - By Nissan'. An XF Ford Falcon ute with aforementioned Nissan badges. Or the Holden Nova - actually the then current Toyota Corolla, same thing with the Holden Apollo vs the Camry, Conversely the Toyota Lexcen was a VN onwards Holden Commodore. The idea was that too many companies were building cars in the very small market that was Australia. Labor Party Senator John Button devised the plan to model share between what turned out to be a Holden-Toyota alliance, and Nissan pairing up with Ford. Hence the somewhat tackily renamed Falcon ute. I believe also it was designed to toughen up the Australian car industry to cope with what were going to be lower and lower protection tariffs as time went on. Somehow Mitsubishi got sort of left out in the cold in all this and had no one to pair up with.
A friend of my mum's had a revised 1988 sedan version with more luxury features like power windows etc and nice beige interior. She used to let it rip when I travelled in it many times. It was so refined and was burgundy in colour. It had a more sleek looking frontal headlight treatment and cool looking round taillights within dark rectangle lenses. It was really effective at modernising this body shell's appearance and giving it a sporty look at the same time. That is the Roseville Bridge 16:14 completed 1967. Six Aussie assembled (CKD) to unique 10.9m length Leyland Nationals assembled by Pressed Metal Sydney, used to run along this very road for a decade on bus routes for Forest Coach Lines from 1976 -1986 when they were all replaced by new Mercedes Benz 0305s and the regos transferred to them. The Nationals saw further service with various operators in QLD. Here is a photo of one taken in 1976 at the very street corner you are approaching @17:08 to your left. www.flickr.com/photos/25653307@N03/2688363097 Here's a pic of a Mercedes that replaced them, bodied by Pressed Metal Sydney. Superb buses also. images.app.goo.gl/rabpGJVDktBEwFxo7
I was working as Ford mechanic in the early '90s and briefly got to drive a Silhouette sedan, which had more performance than the Ford & Holden sixes. Great tail lights as well. Power-shift is simply renamed Overdrive button, that's typical of Nissan automagics. You NZ Bluebird ZXE I owned at the time was much more luxurious than any of the UK models. My brother had the last of the Bluebird wagons and this Skyline wagon looks like a scaled up version. Note that Japanese cars don't generally have tip-forward rear seat squabs - seems to be a very European thing. I think it took Nissan a long time before they added a mist function to the front wipers!
@Tone. If I recall, all Skylines had the same lights. The early models with the square front hid the rear globes under a horizontal bar, giving the effect of two horizontal bars of stop and brake goodness. The update gained the slopier nose and and the cook-top tail lights. The wagon missed out because wagon, and the Pintara presumably missed out because undeserving of upgrades. It stuck with the boxy front (and no additional driving lights) until the end of that generation.
One story to remember about the engine was how Holden took out full-page advertisements in newspapers proclaiming the VL's greatly-improved performance and economy in a way that suggested their engineering efforts were to be credited. Very soon after Nissan took out their own ads setting the record straight and pointing out that the Skyline (which was then yet-to-be-released) would share the same engine.
i love the fact there was more consideration was made for the smokers with the ash tray and lighter easy to access but the radio needs long fingers to reach. lol
If you want to go maximum Hubnut a Pintara may be just the thing. Same car with a 4 cylinder engine. Drove a few back in the day when I worked for the Vic Govt. Very comfortable but ordinary performance even back then. Mind you they went much better than the Commodore 4. Another Hubnut car for sure - If there are any left.
I also used to work with the Vic Govt at the time, but as we did a lot of rural driving and we has occasion to have Judges in the passenger seat, we got the Skyline. Four up (and sometime 5) and a boot full of files, you could cover 3 or 4 hours quite comfortably
Nissan made some lovely cars "for the people" in this era; affordable, practical and endlessly reliable. I can't help think they have moved away from their roots somewhat, into the ultra competitive mid-market, perhaps why they are not doing so well these days. I love that old Skyline boat, but you have to be a family man/woman with regular loads to carry to justify driving such a lengthy barge, seems criminal to have one person lost inside such a long car (a bit of a mare to park in the city I imagine). Great vid Hubbers, it seems your tardiness and lack of organisation is actually paying dividends with the lockdown in place; you have new "old stock" to give us but if you were organised the well would have run dry a long time ago. A victory for the procrastinators I feel...huzzah!
Perfect estate car. Still saving my HubNut content up due to lockdown! BTW, big respect to Rachael for posting my 'Elly' hoodie out to me. It's awesome.
The engine and gearbox are really sounding very well in a way that I could get addicted to. Appreciated review, thanks! (Solara taken out from the shed Friday, will drive it again from Tuesday I guess)
Your comment about the Bluebird made me think of my in-laws' late 80s example that I drove once. All blue, inside and out, and it looked a bit sporty from the outside, with BBS-style alloys and a genuine Nissan body kit with skirts and spoilers. But there was no performance whatsoever - you could plant the throttle and be amazed as absolutely nothing happened. I'm fairly certain Waze should tell you your speed, either it needs turning on in the settings, or I'm going mad.
We never got the Skyline here in the US, top range was the Maxima, which went from RWD to FWD. V6 made approximately similar HP figures. The rear styling reminds me of the Sentra wagon of the time, interior very 80's Nissan. GXE also would have had power windows here in the US, so "keep fit" windows while with the other features is so odd. A very unusual vehicle indeed. Of course, we had the Sentra, Stanza, Maxima and a few other vehicles I cannot think off of the top of my head at that time.
Powershift changes the gear map. It means you have to be going faster to shift into the next gear. My 31 will drop into 4th at 60kph with powershift off, and 80 with it on. It also changes the torque converter lock speed. I mostly use it to lock the car in 3rd so i can choose when to be in 4th.
@@millomweb Yes and holds the lower gear for longer. When it's off it will change up and stay in overdrive when the the vehicle speed is suitable....an early sport/econ mode transmission. Didnt seem to be working.
@@millomweb It would have been good if it was....they actually perform quite well with this feature. My father had the sedan version of this vehicle and everything worked :)
I'm going to beg to differ on the reason why Nissan used a live diff on the Aussie R31 Skyline. Cost was probably a factor but Nissan had to comply with Australian content rules to gain local manufacturing status in 80s and 90s and thus it shared the Borg Warner diff used in the Commodore VL plus Aussie brakes and other bits to reach its local content requirement.
You would be correct mate. Another bonus of sharing the Borg Warner diff (and other parts)with Commodore, Falcon and Mitsubishi Sigma, is that the cost per unit of the diffs were driven down due to even larger scale of production. Might be interesting to note that Holden also removed the IRS from the German designed Commodore as part of local development. It was a very similar design to the Nissan IRS, so maybe both car makers encountered durability problems in testing? Was a winner for Borg Warner though!
@@slimshady2777 Tyre wear was a major issue when Holden gradually introduced the original Opel IRS into the Commodore because they did that on the cheap, leaving out the toe-control links that prevented the splay at the rear, which caused the inner edges of the tyres to wear quickly. It was possible to buy a kit to rectify this as all the motnting points were there. Not sure if it was the VY or VZ that finally saw the toe-control links as standard...25 years after the Commodore first hit the road, and just shy of 40 years after the Opel R-platform was introduced with the full IRS.
Here in Australia we had a four cylinder version of these as well. It was called a Nissan Pintara. I had one. It had the Nissan CA20 engine which was a two litre four cylinder twin ignition with eight spark plugs and two coils. These cars had an interesting feature, head phone sockets for the rear passengers.
Iv had both lernt to drive in a bluebird an boagt a saloon version of this car 13years ago was the 3.0 auto man was that a powerful car about 3 foot longer than the bluebird an about six inches wider too never had a car that was able to munch that much fuel in such a short period good fun drifting it around the east coast doing donuts under Sydney harbour bridge 😋
Hi Ian Thankyou so much for your videos they are truly fantastic. I came across your web site by simply typing in 2CV in search then your site came up now I’m hooked, more so since lockdown. I have enjoyed your video of New Zealand Australia. I enjoy you discovering the “ Triangle of Doom “ Keep up the Excellent Work👍
I remember seeing one of these for sale at a local Japanese importer I thought about buying it, wish I did. If I remember correctly it was dark blue. This was in Cornwall around 5 years ago.
Probably a JDM..four door sedan Passage GT HR31. Not much in common with Aus Sedans. The Passage was pillar less, could have 2 litre sohc, 2 litre twin cam rb20de or twin cam turbo rb20det. Front and rear suspension different. Not even the shock absorbers from the aussie skyline would fit..steering gear also different..Aussie Skyline was strongly based on Borg Warner bits and other local parts common to local Ford and possibly GM cars. Aussie skylines were strong, the jdm passage gt was more delicate but an absolute delight...
Back in the late 80's i was driving up the new England Highway at 2AM in my BMW 3.0Si .As no one was about I just went as fast as i could comfortably push it,around 120MPH. I could see a car coming up behind me and eventually it caught and passed me near Guyra on a long straight. it was a Skyline . His round tail lights disappeared into the distance in front of me,at that point the dark suddenly lit up with red and blue flashing lights. A cop with a radar had been sitting in the dark waiting for us...i slowed a bit and kept going as the nissan obviously made some country coppers donut quota fill to the max.
All Australian-made R31 Skylines had live rear axles, whether sedan or wagon. The wagon was an all-Australian design too. GXE was penultimate spec, electric windows were only on the very top-spec local cars back in 86. You also drove on Australia’s most-haunted road (Wakehurst Parkway)
I remember these were very common, back in the day. Nissan manufactured in Clayton, Melbourne. The plant they used was Volkswagen's assembly plant prior. Handy for Nissan, was that the big sign on the building for VW happened to be the same shape for their brand signage as well. Nowadays, Walkinshaws is there, and also the Dodge Ram pick up trucks are converted to right hand drive, for local sale.
@@steved3702 Yes, slightly different power to weight ratio! That W427 is the only one I have ever seen. Most are probably locked up in garages: too precious a collectible to risk on the road. I think they were built in less numbers than the famed GTHO phase 3.
The very comfortable seats in these were an Australian innovation developed at Nissan Australia. They had pivoting "wings" in the back rest that wrapped the side bolsters in closer to you when you settled in towards the back rest. Nissan Australia held a patent on the mechanism. When Aussie manufacture of Nissans ceased the cuddling seats disappeared. A shame, they are lovely, though they can get saggy at high mileage.
Nissan was one of the first car makers to stop making cars in Australia, and yet they are now the last still manufacturing stuff in Australia - aluminium castings used in the Nissan Leaf amongst others.
I miss cars like this. Simple, roomy, comfy, easy to drive. Just drop in and go wherever with no stress. Now we get styling for the sake of it, usually a jacked up hatchback trying to look like an offroader, tiny space, rubbish ride (thanks to those massive wheels we all need) and so much electronic rubbish bleeping away that its hard to imagine how people can drive with it more than without. I get it that a car like this isn't going to be an ideal car for everyone but if you need a daily while your fun car sits in the garage this has got to be up there. Imagine a modern one.
My cousin had a white c reg Nissan stanza hatch with burgundy velour interior back In the late eighties. I worked at a Nissan dealer as a prep valater so drove many types including my favourite Nissan the sunny coupe and the most hubnut the cherry europe.... oops!! Love eighties Nissans
It looks like a big Sunny estate, reminds me so much of my grandad’s E-reg Nissan Laurel 2.4SGL. Fabulous car and oh so 80s! My dad had a C-reg Camry 2.0GLi with a vivd blue velour interior and a digital dash. Awesome. Great video Ian
Ian, please forgive me for this but I have been waiting a while for these words to flow; Datsu niceun! Tee hee hee. That's a nice one. I'm sorry. I'll see myself out.
Like a lot of Japanese autos from that era, the powershift button probably locks the overdrive out... My early '80s Datsun Violet had a very similar intermittent wipe delay display on the wiper stalk, though, again, no mist function...
Thanks for another great road test Ian. The sound of that smooth RB30E engine brings back memories to me. Never had a Skyline but I had a VL Commodore Wagon with that engine. Was just a nice a ride as the Skyline in my opinion. :-)
oddly enough, we never had the skyline series in north america, maybe because safety and emissions requirements which was started in the us in the early 70's. plus of course a lefthand drive version would be needed
Headcams. Always aim lower than you think in a car because wide angle and roof. And move your head smoooothly, like you're weary to look at something. And move your eyes more. You do get used to them though! I would recommend using it again, but practice a little first. This car fits solidly in the "WANT!" category for me. Styling, interior, driving characteristics from what I hear from you. Good stuff, very good stuff.
The viaduct (16:20) is Roseville bridge which spans Middle Harbour on Sydney's North Shore. You're heading (more or less) north up to Frenchs Forest from Chatswood - prime G-Wagen territory in other words.
Yeah l notice you greeted the snake wrapped around the grille, those little 2 to 3 foot snakes are what we call Tiantewonagongs & they are quite common reptiles usually found in & around most suburbs & have a habit of climbing into the warm engine bays of cars when stopped, generally harmless but if you grab them by the tail some of the older cranky ones will give you a nasty bite! We usually let them stay in or around the car because they eat the deadly funnel web spiders around & inside the door catches & also eat the nasty little red backs, l would say the owner has worded up Hubnut that their is one of the little snakes in the car so probably that is why he did not seem concerned to overseas viewers it probably went along for the drive, cheers everybody l hope you all have learned a bit more of our fantastic wildlife here Australia.
That was the Roseville Bridge there not long after the start of the road test....Warringah Rd....that area is a peninsula where Manly is located so no Motorways up there. Had you stayed on Pacific Hwy side you would have eventually ended up on the M1 Motorway or old Pacific Hwy which heads up to the central/north coasts.
I had the same year skyline wagon & it was a great car, the auto trans was not borg Warner but a Japanese “jatco” unit, the button on the shift was to lock in or out 4th or overdrive, also what a pity you had no kickdown on your drive as obviously there must have been a switch problem or something as it was always good to boot it back a cog when overtaking etc.
In a Toyota i had,the power button held the revs higher through the auto box so i presume that was same on the skyline. that car reminded me of the bluebird in so many ways apart from the engine.... we will wait to see what you have for us next....Take care and farewell.
Seemed to be common on Japenese gearboxes of that time - it just locks out 4th (overdrive). The VL Commodore had the same arrangement since it shared the engine and transmission with this model Skyline.
I was really disappointed when I got a Skyline sedan as a hire car instead of a Falcon/Cromadore back in '89 for a 900km round trip from Canberra to Yarrawonga. I came back a fan. On the way home I did the 450km in under 4 hours and didn't exceed the speed limit for the last 250km. The roads from Yarrawonga to Lockhart was spectacularly straight and flat. My passenger had nerves of steel and casually mentioned that he'd prefer it if I slowed down before the bend when the rear end hopped on a sharpish bend crossing the railway. I'd really eased off and when I looked I was still doing 180kph. I did listen to him. On the other hand that axle was so well located I got stuck when I parked off the street and the wheel didn't have enough vertical movement for the tyre to provide traction.
had the same car with 5 speed manual deep dish chromies cargo barrier used as a work car for years had people fighting over it when i sold it wish i still had it but when you have kids safety comes in to it
I owned two R31 Skyline sedans - you could balance a 20c coin on its edge on the cam cover while the engine was running. An extremely good highway car that would eat up the miles and yet was confident to drive on twisty roads as well. Best front seats of the era by a country mile too.
The rear seats also recline for extra passenger comfort. Had one of these here in New Zealand, perfect for 4 person road trips, loved it
Blown away by the example I saw two years ago, this is a charming, stunning slab of earlier JDM sleeperish goodness, the unassuming overhung body on small wheels, that six sounds lovely in the lower revs, the excessive front lighting, the interior design touches, with a dash that screams Hitachi, in many ways it has it all, definitely a special motor, very lucky to have driven. Juicy content!
One of the best straight 6 engines. Silky smooth.
The saloon had live axle as well. Very nice with manual transmission. And Hubnut > Regular Cars. ;)
Not just assembled in Australia, But manufactured in Australia, Nissan Australia closed their factory in 1992ish
Not long after the R32 GTR was banned from ATCC...Coincidence?
@Merv Stent Didn't HSV use the old Nissan factory after Nissan closed?
@@IpoopThere4IAM The factory closed before the GTR was banned
Oooh spooky. I was about to make the same comment and I am a Chris H too. We are two separate people, I promise.
the wagons were assembled here but the chassis were made in japan as they shared chassis with the japanese wagons, the aus spec 4 doors were made here 100%, japanese 4 door versions are much different then what we got, barely the same car at all!
A nice practical Nissan in tidy condition - if I was given one I wouldn’t say no. If I was asked to pick between the estate or saloon I’d choose the estate, as they’re not that common and seem to have a degree of presence. Many thanks Ian for sharing 😀
A Nissan Skyline was the car that overtook me at the fastest speed that I've ever been overtaken at. I was doing 185 (km/hr), and this gang-looking dude flew past in a bright red Bluebird.
after seeing this was filmed pretty close by, i think i followed that exact wagon on part of my way home tonight
Dad had a GXE auto and I had a Silhouette with a 5spd manual and LSD... One of the last decent Nissan's
Oh man, square overload! I need a moment alone! 😮
The Aussie built skyline handles fine because Australian demanded that by the time it was built, we were over wallowing, that was until everybody state rated to buy 4wds and forgot what handling was.
It is funny how we went from wallowing, understeering Holdens and Fords (though Falcons were better than Kingswoods until RTS came along, but Commmodores got softer and softer up to the VN in standard kit), has 20 years or so of reasonable Falcons and Commodoes then everyone went 4WD mad. While it might be true that a modern crossover handles at least as well, likely better, than a stock Commodore/Falcon/Camry of 20 years ago, a standard car now handles getter than most "SUV"'s unless you are talking high-end models. We like to laugh at Ameticans and their love of soft, wallowy suspension, but traditional Aussie cars were not so great outside of the Skyline and higher spec models.
If memory serves, I think the Power Shift button turns overdrive on and off, so you won't really notice a difference unless you're at expressway speeds, especially if you don't have a working tach to show you the small change in revs you'd get at lower speeds. I remember it being a thing on cars of that era.
I am japanese. R31 Skyline is popular in Japan.
I am happy if you ride this car carefully.
Oh how I do miss the 1980's colourful interiors. It does come across as a big comfy mile muncher.
Yeh, from the ninetees to now, the favorite color for car manufactories are black and black and off course black.
@@gerardandrew4820 Yeah they think they're getting adventurous if they put some silver or accent colours around the dials etc......its pathetic.
My dad was a truck driver and he took all the tooling for the R31s and other Nissans to be destroyed when Nissan shut down production in Australia in the early 90s.
The same thing happened with all of the Holden and Ford tooling a couple years ago, all to be destroyed...
All the Australian assembled R31 Skylines had live rear axle, including the sedans and the sporty trim. Nissan Australia considered that the market leading Fords and Holdens had prehistoric suspension, so no need to go the expense of fitting IRS to their cars too. Story of the Aus auto industry. Down with innovation, onward with mediocre (at a premium price). Also, even though they look the same, there are no crossover body parts with the Japanese HR31.
That triggers my memory. Wheels praised the IRS of the previous (Japanese-built) version in a comparison test, only to encounter the live axle in the new (locally-built) model.
@Tone. Even worse was the 200B,which many in Australia considered was a 180B with 20 more mistakes/faults. I had a friend who had a Nissan 200B,which was a dreadful car in the wet, would easily lose grip at the slightest provocation
@Tone. At least the Australian 180B still has IRS, which was removed shortly after the 200B came, with a few rare examples having the IRS fitted as in overseas markets.
"onward with mediocre (at a premium price" Why should that matter if that's what us Aussies wanted?
Eghh .. the semi trailing arm suspension in the datsuns was rubbish (as it is on commodores from vp onward) .. just a bad idea for daily driver .. adds virtually nothing in handling or performance over a live axle . Just increases tyre wear .. a tyre scrubbing mess due to constant toe and camber angle changes . Been there bought the hype with my first car a datsun 1600 .. was always wasting money on tyres that wore the inside edge off in a 1/2 the time of other "simpler" designs .. ford with their falcon didnt even bother trying to use a crappy semi trailing arm design and kept live axle till the Ba (2002) and thank god ..
Oh, Tania Oval at Dobroyd Head, Balgowlah Heights . My first driving lesson in a manual was around there. And Roseville Bridge to Wakehurst Pkwy, nice. Great location for a video.
My brother had a 5 speed manual and if you wanted to stay on the right side of the law you could not leave 2nd gear without exceeding 60 KLMs . One of the best cars I have ever driven. Her sister car was a 4 cylinder called Pintara . A lot of Australian engineering went into this cars development but its downfall was its narrow body width in keeping with Japanese taxation legislation . Mitsubishi would widen the Sigma to create the Magna and Toyota widened the Vista and called it the wide body Camry .
I drove a Pintara that had the same body as the Skyline with the 4 cyl Dual fire engine as my company car. The back was very generous for carrying all sorts of parts and books in my technician work. Work changed to many different suppliers for their cars as manufacturing left Australia but everyone still wanted the Pintara as their car. I bought my car and used it for many tears as my family car before giving it to my father. Awesome car!
Before ten years ago I have 1.8 engine power.
Nissan skyline is very strong I still
Loving skyline.
Nissan is super. Thank you your video.
I love the detail of the chrome trim curving to go around the radio Ariel.
Non-functional speedo could mean odometer also n/f, and therefore reading low
or disconnected to stop miles going on reading
Odometers on these were made out of crap. None of them are still working.
I think the R31 GTS-R is the most HubNut 'fast' Skyline. Massive, gawky overhangs each end and super rare. I love them.
Built an R31 Wagon Turbo many, many years ago; had a Trust T78 that was so brutal on boost.
Very early 2000's...Great fun!
Even had the chrome roof racks still on it, and put the later 90/ 91 front end on it. Had bits & pieces off my wrecked 1987 Silhouette (such as the trip computer & power windows)
My dad had a Nissan Silvia, early 80's C reg. 1.8 L turbo very quick, modern even had electric windows and CD player as standard for 1984! Reg was C802 TLR
I love you Hub Nut. I think you are a great bloke and very entertaining with your knowledge of so many different cars. Pete. UK
The designers had a pencil, a ruler, a protractor and a coin to do the wheel arches. As much imagination as a caravan site. Glad to hear they drive well :)
They did drive better than Ford/Holden rivals at the time.
Powershift button was also on the contemporary VL Holden that shared the delicious RB30E powertrain. Enjoyed my time in a VL, and the button on the gearshift alters the shift program of the 4 spd auto. In Power mode you get more revs in first and second, and a sharper shift.
The sedan versions of these were massive in South Africa , although they didn't sell as much as the Toyota Cressida. We had a full range of 2.0l four , 2.0l straight six and the 3.0l "VG" six. They were marketed as the "New Era" Skyline , I have a CAR magazine from I think 86, that had the launch article on these, there was a lot of local engineering work done here around suspension and NVH. The build quality was a great step up from the older model which wasn't the best. I remember though, as a kid , being disappointed that there was no coupe , as the previous model did have a nice shape coupe sold here , with the famous "4 rings" red tail lights , and of course the 2.8 straight six....
Every Australian-made car has one or two little peripheral broken bits ha ha!
The “4 speed” automatics in Japanese brands of the era tended actually to be 3 speed with integrated-into-the-case overdrive. Pressing the button disables the overdrive, which is better for gearbox longevity when towing etc; this is the 3 speed base box giveaway. Automatics caught up with manuals fuel-consumption-wise with bonus very relaxing highway cruising with the “4speed” auto 🙂
Tested this model back in 1986. Was impressed.
Those were the good old days of Nissan and manufacturing industry in Australia..sad that it had to come to an end..grew up in Victoria with pulsars, pintaras and skyline...the skyline was sedate and conservatively styled cars but their engine I believed was well engineered and fairly refined as compared to the falcons and commodores of the same era...brings back sweet memories..:)
Those dash buttons are absolute goals
We first saw these in Australia in 1986. In those days the engine and gearbox was revolutionary compared to the previous rubbish in Holdens and Fords. As you rightly pointed out they were known for being silky smooth and having more than enough power.
I had a GXE manual sedan in 1986. The models were GX, GXE, TI (luxury) and Sihouette (sports). All Australian production R31s had the live rear axle as part of local content. It was a fun car.
Ah yes, the Sihouette was the one where they fitted finned alloys and then added a plastic wheel cover, anyway. 🙄
Glorious car. Love ALL the headlights and the way the chrome trim on the side panel goes around the aerial!
I adored my old R31 1989 model. Amazing engine,.
Aussies: My farm is so big I need a full day to drive around it.
Me: Oh, I also had a car like that once!
This generation of Skyline can be found rotting in almost every household you drive past over here in South Africa. I've never seen a wagon variant thou, it looks neat.
VALLY the wagon was unique to Australia. Nissan Australia wanted to fully compete with GM and Ford in the fleet and family markets, so built their own wagon. R31s were also sold here with a twin-spark, SOHC CA20, but badged as Pintara
@@bafg182 Interesting bit of info there, thanks.
Over 14 years I owned a 87 GX Sedan and a 88 GX Station Wagon. Both were 5 speed manual with power steering and air conditioning. I owned the sedan for 8 years until it was stolen, recovered, and written off by the insurance company. The wagon actually belonged to my parents who didn't need the car and sold it to me for $1800 at the time. I owned that car for 6 years and sold it when my then wife and I sold our old cars to buy one good new one. The outside colour of both cars was exactly the same as the one in the video.
I can confirm the sedan had the same live rear axel as the wagon (Borg Warner BTR 78). Even the range topping Silhouette Ti model had the same engine and transmission as the base GX. The only change was adjustments to the suspension. The interior of both cars I had was the grey interior. The GX dash lacked the oil pressure and battery charge meters. The dash boards failing was a common issue but my mechanic knew someone who could fix them. A hundred dollars well spent.
What were they like to drive? The torque of the 3.0 six was such that the car, even in manual form, was VERY easy to drive. You could put the car in 5th gear at 40-50 kph and it would cruise along quite happily. Fuel consumption was actually better than equivalent 4 cylinder Mitsubishi Magna and Toyota Camry. On extended country driving (and not economy driving) 8l/100km was easily done. Hills such as Mount Victoria were not beaten but flattened. The seats were very comfortable. On the open road it would cruise at 140 kph without a problem. Handling was excellent. Sports Commodores could beat me in the straight but couldn't follow me through corners (even the wagon). The power steering had good feel and feedback and you could feel the car on the road. Gear shifting was very easy. Even my then wife said the car was so easy to drive you did everything by instinct and reflex. If you thought about it you were doing it wrong. The six was always silky smooth. Way smoother than V6s.
The sedan also had fold down seats but the gap wasn't very big. The wagon could swallow surprisingly large loads with the slope of the rear window being the only issue. The intermittent wipe was a fixed ratio. But other that than the car had everything it needed and nothing it didn't. Elegant simplicity.
I still miss the cars. They were an intermediate size between the medium and full sized cars. They were big enough to be comfortably roomy without being awkwardly large. They were easy to park with the power steering. The station wagon was a "sports wagon" before BMW, Holden, and other companies started the fad in the mid 2000s.
I like a big estate. Mind you there's alweays a lot of grass to cut. Oh bugger, I've done it again!
reminds me of my dad's 86 toyota cressida he had it for 34 years till he passed.
I had my 86 Cressida for 27 years. Such an amazing car
Some pretty satisfying wiper action that tailgate I have to say....
Oh man! THIS IS SO COOL!! - It's like a U11 Nissan Bluebird and a Nissan 300C estate had a baby, what a majestic thing this is!
The extra central front driving lights were an Australian feature to differentiate the Six Cylinder R31 Skyline from the four cylinder R31 called Pintara.
The snake on the grille was a limited factory fitment, it denotes that this is in fact, a Nissan Skyline SSS.
So sweet sounding an oh so smooth 👍👍
Perhaps a Pintara would have been even more HubNut?
Karl Adams
. My sister had a 1986 Pintara sedan (which was just a 4cyl version of the Skyline, first of the unleaded cars) - 2.0L four (twin plugs per cylinder) but "NONE of the power" as Ian would say. It wasn't a terrible car, but it made my 2.2L Honda Accord feel sprightly in comparison.
I hired one in Sth Aust. It was terrifying...
Pintara... now that triggered a memory. I had an ex-girlfriend in the mid 2000s that had a 2nd gen one. I remember driving it... pleasant drive. Soaked up the road well if I recall. And I also recall being accosted at the driver's window by an older Asian lady who got out of her car while we were stopped at the lights - and to this day, I still have no idea what that lady was ticked off about. Maybe she didn't like the Pintara.
Never drove a Pintara myself, though I do recall driving an N12 Pulsar 1.5 auto - and the lack of performance was pretty breathtaking. You could put the boot in and it didn't even have the courtesy to make louder noises while not going any faster, it just ignored you entirely...
@@MattExzy Drove the Ford Corsair badge engineered twin of the 2nd Gen Pintara in sedan form. Very dull red blancmange of a car, though it was ok for just driving around the suburbs. Different nose, and actually a pretty nice looking car in a boringly bland conventional way. But dull as ditch water to drive. 2.0 litre four with a four speed auto. The bigger 2.4 litre engine made a fair bit more power and torque and allegedly way more exciting, in the TRX Nissan. But not sure if the Ford Corsair came fitted with the 2.4 donk. Lovechild of the Button car plan - late 1980s/early 90s, which also gave us such curios as 'The Ute - By Nissan'. An XF Ford Falcon ute with aforementioned Nissan badges. Or the Holden Nova - actually the then current Toyota Corolla, same thing with the Holden Apollo vs the Camry, Conversely the Toyota Lexcen was a VN onwards Holden Commodore. The idea was that too many companies were building cars in the very small market that was Australia. Labor Party Senator John Button devised the plan to model share between what turned out to be a Holden-Toyota alliance, and Nissan pairing up with Ford. Hence the somewhat tackily renamed Falcon ute. I believe also it was designed to toughen up the Australian car industry to cope with what were going to be lower and lower protection tariffs as time went on. Somehow Mitsubishi got sort of left out in the cold in all this and had no one to pair up with.
Love the enthusiasm. It's contagious! ;)
A friend of my mum's had a revised 1988 sedan version with more luxury features like power windows etc and nice beige interior. She used to let it rip when I travelled in it many times. It was so refined and was burgundy in colour. It had a more sleek looking frontal headlight treatment and cool looking round taillights within dark rectangle lenses. It was really effective at modernising this body shell's appearance and giving it a sporty look at the same time.
That is the Roseville Bridge 16:14 completed 1967. Six Aussie assembled (CKD) to unique 10.9m length Leyland Nationals assembled by Pressed Metal Sydney, used to run along this very road for a decade on bus routes for Forest Coach Lines from 1976 -1986 when they were all replaced by new Mercedes Benz 0305s and the regos transferred to them. The Nationals saw further service with various operators in QLD.
Here is a photo of one taken in 1976 at the very street corner you are approaching @17:08 to your left.
www.flickr.com/photos/25653307@N03/2688363097
Here's a pic of a Mercedes that replaced them, bodied by Pressed Metal Sydney. Superb buses also.
images.app.goo.gl/rabpGJVDktBEwFxo7
I have a 1987 2.0 l sgli car. still a beautiful car today. It has IRS and still runs very well.
I was working as Ford mechanic in the early '90s and briefly got to drive a Silhouette sedan, which had more performance than the Ford & Holden sixes. Great tail lights as well. Power-shift is simply renamed Overdrive button, that's typical of Nissan automagics.
You NZ Bluebird ZXE I owned at the time was much more luxurious than any of the UK models. My brother had the last of the Bluebird wagons and this Skyline wagon looks like a scaled up version. Note that Japanese cars don't generally have tip-forward rear seat squabs - seems to be a very European thing. I think it took Nissan a long time before they added a mist function to the front wipers!
@Tone. If I recall, all Skylines had the same lights. The early models with the square front hid the rear globes under a horizontal bar, giving the effect of two horizontal bars of stop and brake goodness. The update gained the slopier nose and and the cook-top tail lights. The wagon missed out because wagon, and the Pintara presumably missed out because undeserving of upgrades. It stuck with the boxy front (and no additional driving lights) until the end of that generation.
@@steved3702 The series 2 was often preferred because of the driving lights. They literally turned night into day when driving outside urban areas.
@@andrewthorpe3219 Nice. I've got an SY Territory which I think got the best ever performance out of a standard halogen bulb.
One story to remember about the engine was how Holden took out full-page advertisements in newspapers proclaiming the VL's greatly-improved performance and economy in a way that suggested their engineering efforts were to be credited. Very soon after Nissan took out their own ads setting the record straight and pointing out that the Skyline (which was then yet-to-be-released) would share the same engine.
My old e28 2.8 had a viscous fan. I had to replace it. Once it warmed up it made the straight 6 sound more like a v8, I loved it haha
i love the fact there was more consideration was made for the smokers with the ash tray and lighter easy to access but the radio needs long fingers to reach. lol
If you want to go maximum Hubnut a Pintara may be just the thing. Same car with a 4 cylinder engine. Drove a few back in the day when I worked for the Vic Govt. Very comfortable but ordinary performance even back then. Mind you they went much better than the Commodore 4. Another Hubnut car for sure - If there are any left.
I also used to work with the Vic Govt at the time, but as we did a lot of rural driving and we has occasion to have Judges in the passenger seat, we got the Skyline. Four up (and sometime 5) and a boot full of files, you could cover 3 or 4 hours quite comfortably
Nissan made some lovely cars "for the people" in this era; affordable, practical and endlessly reliable. I can't help think they have moved away from their roots somewhat, into the ultra competitive mid-market, perhaps why they are not doing so well these days.
I love that old Skyline boat, but you have to be a family man/woman with regular loads to carry to justify driving such a lengthy barge, seems criminal to have one person lost inside such a long car (a bit of a mare to park in the city I imagine).
Great vid Hubbers, it seems your tardiness and lack of organisation is actually paying dividends with the lockdown in place; you have new "old stock" to give us but if you were organised the well would have run dry a long time ago. A victory for the procrastinators I feel...huzzah!
for such a large car they have a good turning circle
Perfect estate car. Still saving my HubNut content up due to lockdown! BTW, big respect to Rachael for posting my 'Elly' hoodie out to me. It's awesome.
The engine and gearbox are really sounding very well in a way that I could get addicted to. Appreciated review, thanks! (Solara taken out from the shed Friday, will drive it again from Tuesday I guess)
You really have to try the Skyline in a manual. They are a great driving car.
Your comment about the Bluebird made me think of my in-laws' late 80s example that I drove once. All blue, inside and out, and it looked a bit sporty from the outside, with BBS-style alloys and a genuine Nissan body kit with skirts and spoilers. But there was no performance whatsoever - you could plant the throttle and be amazed as absolutely nothing happened.
I'm fairly certain Waze should tell you your speed, either it needs turning on in the settings, or I'm going mad.
We never got the Skyline here in the US, top range was the Maxima, which went from RWD to FWD. V6 made approximately similar HP figures. The rear styling reminds me of the Sentra wagon of the time, interior very 80's Nissan. GXE also would have had power windows here in the US, so "keep fit" windows while with the other features is so odd.
A very unusual vehicle indeed. Of course, we had the Sentra, Stanza, Maxima and a few other vehicles I cannot think off of the top of my head at that time.
Powershift changes the gear map. It means you have to be going faster to shift into the next gear. My 31 will drop into 4th at 60kph with powershift off, and 80 with it on. It also changes the torque converter lock speed. I mostly use it to lock the car in 3rd so i can choose when to be in 4th.
That shift button on the gear lever makes the down change more responsive and locks out overdrive.
Maybe. If it was working.
You mean it changes down sooner.
@@millomweb
Yes and holds the lower gear for longer. When it's off it will change up and stay in overdrive when the the vehicle speed is suitable....an early sport/econ mode transmission. Didnt seem to be working.
@@AUmarcus I have my doubts about the whole car for things (not) working !
@@millomweb
It would have been good if it was....they actually perform quite well with this feature. My father had the sedan version of this vehicle and everything worked :)
I'm going to beg to differ on the reason why Nissan used a live diff on the Aussie R31 Skyline. Cost was probably a factor but Nissan had to comply with Australian content rules to gain local manufacturing status in 80s and 90s and thus it shared the Borg Warner diff used in the Commodore VL plus Aussie brakes and other bits to reach its local content requirement.
You would be correct mate. Another bonus of sharing the Borg Warner diff (and other parts)with Commodore, Falcon and Mitsubishi Sigma, is that the cost per unit of the diffs were driven down due to even larger scale of production. Might be interesting to note that Holden also removed the IRS from the German designed Commodore as part of local development. It was a very similar design to the Nissan IRS, so maybe both car makers encountered durability problems in testing? Was a winner for Borg Warner though!
Not that mention the semi trailing design is pretty rubbish .. adds weight .. messes up the tyre wear ..
@@slimshady2777 Tyre wear was a major issue when Holden gradually introduced the original Opel IRS into the Commodore because they did that on the cheap, leaving out the toe-control links that prevented the splay at the rear, which caused the inner edges of the tyres to wear quickly. It was possible to buy a kit to rectify this as all the motnting points were there. Not sure if it was the VY or VZ that finally saw the toe-control links as standard...25 years after the Commodore first hit the road, and just shy of 40 years after the Opel R-platform was introduced with the full IRS.
Here in Australia we had a four cylinder version of these as well. It was called a Nissan Pintara. I had one. It had the Nissan CA20 engine which was a two litre four cylinder twin ignition with eight spark plugs and two coils. These cars had an interesting feature, head phone sockets for the rear passengers.
Yeah I was watching an auzzie cop show when they pulled one over. And I recognised the skyline body shape.
i was happy with my CA20E.
That's a handsome beast with typical etch-a-sketch styling of the era.
Such an 80s machine totally different to what they became. although my r33 was a basic model still with the rb20 such reliable engines
Don’t worry it’s a very HB one !!!! Brilliant
Had a 1982 Mitsubishi Sigma with a wholly green velour interior. It was hard on the eyes!
Looks like my old 2ltr Nissan bluebird estate I had in the late 90s👍
Iv had both lernt to drive in a bluebird an boagt a saloon version of this car 13years ago was the 3.0 auto man was that a powerful car about 3 foot longer than the bluebird an about six inches wider too never had a car that was able to munch that much fuel in such a short period good fun drifting it around the east coast doing donuts under Sydney harbour bridge 😋
Hi Ian
Thankyou so much for your videos they are truly fantastic. I came across your web site by simply typing in 2CV in search then your site came up now I’m hooked, more so since lockdown.
I have enjoyed your video of New Zealand Australia.
I enjoy you discovering the “ Triangle of Doom “
Keep up the Excellent Work👍
Never seen one of these before. Remarkable condition, very tidy 👌
I remember seeing one of these for sale at a local Japanese importer I thought about buying it, wish I did. If I remember correctly it was dark blue. This was in Cornwall around 5 years ago.
Probably a JDM..four door sedan Passage GT HR31. Not much in common with Aus Sedans. The Passage was pillar less, could have 2 litre sohc, 2 litre twin cam rb20de or twin cam turbo rb20det. Front and rear suspension different. Not even the shock absorbers from the aussie skyline would fit..steering gear also different..Aussie Skyline was strongly based on Borg Warner bits and other local parts common to local Ford and possibly GM cars. Aussie skylines were strong, the jdm passage gt was more delicate but an absolute delight...
Back in the late 80's i was driving up the new England Highway at 2AM in my BMW 3.0Si .As no one was about I just went as fast as i could comfortably push it,around 120MPH. I could see a car coming up behind me and eventually it caught and passed me near Guyra on a long straight. it was a Skyline . His round tail lights disappeared into the distance in front of me,at that point the dark suddenly lit up with red and blue flashing lights. A cop with a radar had been sitting in the dark waiting for us...i slowed a bit and kept going as the nissan obviously made some country coppers donut quota fill to the max.
Someone, somewhere on Oz has done a turbo install on one of these wagons and it would be too amazing for words.
All Australian-made R31 Skylines had live rear axles, whether sedan or wagon. The wagon was an all-Australian design too. GXE was penultimate spec, electric windows were only on the very top-spec local cars back in 86. You also drove on Australia’s most-haunted road (Wakehurst Parkway)
Thanks Hubnut. Those have been on the list of cars I think I should own sometime. More so now. Cheers.
I remember cutting the plastic panels on the HVAC controls!
I remember these were very common, back in the day. Nissan manufactured in Clayton, Melbourne. The plant they used was Volkswagen's assembly plant prior. Handy for Nissan, was that the big sign on the building for VW happened to be the same shape for their brand signage as well. Nowadays, Walkinshaws is there, and also the Dodge Ram pick up trucks are converted to right hand drive, for local sale.
The sign still stands, but with no logo anymore.
@@steved3702 I used to do regular deliveries there: more than 7 years ago now. Once, I did see a white W427 Walkinshaw there.
@@railtrolley HSV used to go 'round the block on a shakedown run as the cars were built. Un-Kombi speeds may have been achieved on Kombi Road! 🙊
@@steved3702 Yes, slightly different power to weight ratio! That W427 is the only one I have ever seen. Most are probably locked up in garages: too precious a collectible to risk on the road. I think they were built in less numbers than the famed GTHO phase 3.
The very comfortable seats in these were an Australian innovation developed at Nissan Australia. They had pivoting "wings" in the back rest that wrapped the side bolsters in closer to you when you settled in towards the back rest. Nissan Australia held a patent on the mechanism. When Aussie manufacture of Nissans ceased the cuddling seats disappeared. A shame, they are lovely, though they can get saggy at high mileage.
Nissan was one of the first car makers to stop making cars in Australia, and yet they are now the last still manufacturing stuff in Australia - aluminium castings used in the Nissan Leaf amongst others.
Very refined for the mid 80s. The Japanese certainly know a thing or two about making cars.
I miss cars like this. Simple, roomy, comfy, easy to drive. Just drop in and go wherever with no stress.
Now we get styling for the sake of it, usually a jacked up hatchback trying to look like an offroader, tiny space, rubbish ride (thanks to those massive wheels we all need) and so much electronic rubbish bleeping away that its hard to imagine how people can drive with it more than without.
I get it that a car like this isn't going to be an ideal car for everyone but if you need a daily while your fun car sits in the garage this has got to be up there. Imagine a modern one.
Nissan used the same body for the 4 cylinder Pintara with a 2L fuel injected engine. The main visual difference was smaller headlights.
My cousin had a white c reg Nissan stanza hatch with burgundy velour interior back In the late eighties. I worked at a Nissan dealer as a prep valater so drove many types including my favourite Nissan the sunny coupe and the most hubnut the cherry europe.... oops!! Love eighties Nissans
It looks like a big Sunny estate, reminds me so much of my grandad’s E-reg Nissan Laurel 2.4SGL. Fabulous car and oh so 80s! My dad had a C-reg Camry 2.0GLi with a vivd blue velour interior and a digital dash. Awesome.
Great video Ian
Love the imprint of the headcam left on your head!😎
Ian, please forgive me for this but I have been waiting a while for these words to flow; Datsu niceun! Tee hee hee. That's a nice one.
I'm sorry. I'll see myself out.
Like a lot of Japanese autos from that era, the powershift button probably locks the overdrive out...
My early '80s Datsun Violet had a very similar intermittent wipe delay display on the wiper stalk, though, again, no mist function...
Thanks for another great road test Ian. The sound of that smooth RB30E engine brings back memories to me. Never had a Skyline but I had a VL Commodore Wagon with that engine. Was just a nice a ride as the Skyline in my opinion. :-)
oddly enough, we never had the skyline series in north america, maybe because safety and emissions requirements which was started in the us in the early 70's. plus of course a lefthand drive version would be needed
If you look carefully you can just make out the Manly Ferry in the distance as he in playing with the aerial.
Headcams. Always aim lower than you think in a car because wide angle and roof. And move your head smoooothly, like you're weary to look at something. And move your eyes more. You do get used to them though! I would recommend using it again, but practice a little first.
This car fits solidly in the "WANT!" category for me. Styling, interior, driving characteristics from what I hear from you. Good stuff, very good stuff.
The viaduct (16:20) is Roseville bridge which spans Middle Harbour on Sydney's North Shore. You're heading (more or less) north up to Frenchs Forest from Chatswood - prime G-Wagen territory in other words.
Yeah l notice you greeted the snake wrapped around the grille, those little 2 to 3 foot snakes are what we call Tiantewonagongs & they are quite common reptiles usually found in & around most suburbs & have a habit of climbing into the warm engine bays of cars when stopped, generally harmless but if you grab them by the tail some of the older cranky ones will give you a nasty bite! We usually let them stay in or around the car because they eat the deadly funnel web spiders around & inside the door catches & also eat the nasty little red backs, l would say the owner has worded up Hubnut that their is one of the little snakes in the car so probably that is why he did not seem concerned to overseas viewers it probably went along for the drive, cheers everybody l hope you all have learned a bit more of our fantastic wildlife here Australia.
That was the Roseville Bridge there not long after the start of the road test....Warringah Rd....that area is a peninsula where Manly is located so no Motorways up there. Had you stayed on Pacific Hwy side you would have eventually ended up on the M1 Motorway or old Pacific Hwy which heads up to the central/north coasts.
Ooo slightly quirky, cheap powerful enough and both warty and sporty, I want one.
I had the same year skyline wagon & it was a great car, the auto trans was not borg Warner but a Japanese “jatco” unit, the button on the shift was to lock in or out 4th or overdrive, also what a pity you had no kickdown on your drive as obviously there must have been a switch problem or something as it was always good to boot it back a cog when overtaking etc.
Get the saloon (sedan) with the big rear "hotplate" lights (if you can find one that hasn't been ragged to death), they're a riot to drive.
In a Toyota i had,the power button held the revs higher through the auto box so i presume that was same on the skyline. that car reminded me of the bluebird in so many ways apart from the engine....
we will wait to see what you have for us next....Take care and farewell.
Seemed to be common on Japenese gearboxes of that time - it just locks out 4th (overdrive). The VL Commodore had the same arrangement since it shared the engine and transmission with this model Skyline.
I was really disappointed when I got a Skyline sedan as a hire car instead of a Falcon/Cromadore back in '89 for a 900km round trip from Canberra to Yarrawonga. I came back a fan. On the way home I did the 450km in under 4 hours and didn't exceed the speed limit for the last 250km. The roads from Yarrawonga to Lockhart was spectacularly straight and flat. My passenger had nerves of steel and casually mentioned that he'd prefer it if I slowed down before the bend when the rear end hopped on a sharpish bend crossing the railway. I'd really eased off and when I looked I was still doing 180kph. I did listen to him. On the other hand that axle was so well located I got stuck when I parked off the street and the wheel didn't have enough vertical movement for the tyre to provide traction.
Maybe you could move the headcam down a bit !!!!great car reminders of the 80s ....... 😄😄😄😄😄😄🇬🇧🇬🇧👍👍👍
had the same car with 5 speed manual deep dish chromies cargo barrier used as a work car for years had people fighting over it when i sold it wish i still had it but when you have kids safety comes in to it