When Nissan was a manufacturer locally, its Special Vehicle Division made the ultimate out of some mundane family sedans.
Nissan or Datsun was a long-time supporter of local motorsport firstly in rallying where it won multiple Australian Rally Championships during what is regarded as the ‘golden age’ as the likes of Ross Dunkerton, George Fury and Geoff Portman won titles.
In the early 1980s, Datsun transitioned into Nissan and to launch this name change, motorsport leader Howard Marsden went circuit racing. Choosing the rather mundane Bluebird as its weapon of choice as Fury made the transition from dirt to bitumen under the watchful eye of Bathurst winner Fred Gibson.
Gibson took on the operation when Group A began leading to a change to the Skyline.
Although Nissan was known for sports cars such as the 260Z, generally it wasn’t known for its performance variants.
However, this changed in the 1980s as the TRX nameplate arrived for the Bluebird and latter Pintara, the Pulsar ET also emerged, while the Skyline became a favourite of Nissan’s Special Vehicle Division.
The SVD was an in-house skunkworks completing research and development on performance concepts.
Using the Skyline as a base, the SVD released a limited run of the R31 GTS. It was based of a concept revealed at the 1987 Sydney International Motor Show known as the Super Silhouette Turbo
Using the 3.0-litre RB engine producing 140kW mated to a five-speed manual gearbox, the GTS enjoyed bugger front struts, Bilstein shocks at both ends and larger brakes.
Just 200 were produced of the Series 1 in 1988, before another generation followed in the Silhouette GTS the next year.
A loyal customer for these variants was the Tasmanian Police Force as it used these for pursuit work across the state. Models produced for this order can be identified by the identification plate and came with a little extra power.
The main difference between the two generations was the first were in white and the second in red.
Very collectable today, these special edition Skylines highlight an awesome era of local manufacturing history.