Nissan Skyline C110 (1972–1977)

From Hakosuka to Kenmeri: what changed

The C110 moved away from the hard-edged C10 towards a rounder, heavier-looking car. It grew in every direction: a 2000GT hardtop measured 4,460 mm (175.6 in) long, against 4,330 mm (170.5 in) for the C10 hardtop, and weighed around 1,150 kg (2,535 lb). The platform was shared with the C130 Laurel, as the C10's had been with the first Laurel.

The most lasting change was at the back. Nissan says the C110 was the first Skyline with four round tail lamps, inspired by jet-engine nozzles; that detail stayed on Skylines for decades. The C10's "Surfin' Line" crease on the rear wing survived in a gentler form, and the hardtop adopted a fastback roofline.

The market also changed while the car was on sale. The first oil crisis and tougher Japanese emissions rules arrived within a year of launch, and Nissan withdrew its works Skyline racing programme to concentrate on cleaner engines. That decision shaped the rest of the C110's life, from the brief GT-R to the fuel-injected L20E.

The full Skyline history from 1957 to today shows how the C110 fits between the C10 and the C210.

The Ken and Mary campaign and the sales record

The nickname comes from television and print advertising built around a young couple, Ken and Mary, travelling in their Skyline. Nissan's heritage notes say the campaign followed the earlier "Ai no Skyline" adverts and that its T-shirts became a hit in their own right. The result was the highest production of any Skyline: 670,562 cars across the C110 and the facelifted C111, a figure that Nissan rounds to more than 660,000.

The range was wide. Saloons came as Standard, Deluxe, Sporty Deluxe, Sporty GL, GT and GT-X; the hardtop from Sporty Deluxe to GT-X; and the estate only as a Sporty GL, alongside commercial vans. Gearboxes were three-, four- or five-speed manuals or a three-speed automatic.

Four-cylinder and six-cylinder chassis

As on the C10, the six-cylinder saloons and hardtops used a longer wheelbase and a longer nose than the four-cylinder cars. German Wikipedia states that the fours kept a rigid rear axle, while the sixes had independent semi-trailing arms. All C110s used MacPherson struts at the front, and Nissan's specification sheets list front discs and rear drums for the 2000GT and GTX-E.

L-series sixes and the S20: C110 engines

The table shows the main engines. Outputs are rated figures in kW, followed by the PS figure the source quotes. Japanese sources often give two figures for the L20, depending on whether the car was set up for regular or high-octane fuel, and outputs fell as emissions equipment was added.

Nissan describes the switch from carburettors to Electronic Gasoline Injection, which turned the L20 into the L20E, as part of its response to the new emissions rules. Wikipedia dates fuel injection on the "E" models to October 1975, under Nissan's NAPS emissions programme, ahead of the 1976 limits. The export L24 was the same 2.4-litre six that powered the Datsun 240Z, the export version of the Fairlady Z.

KPGC110: the GT-R that never raced

A racing version of the new GT-R was shown at the October 1972 Tokyo Motor Show wearing the number 73, a hint at the 1973 season. Nissan restored that show car in 2007 and ran it at the NISMO Festival. The production car, a two-door hardtop coded KPGC110, carried the S20 engine and five-speed gearbox over from the C10 GT-R, added disc brakes on all four wheels and wore 175HR14 tyres.

It never got its season. The S20 could not meet the tightening emissions rules, the oil crisis hit demand, and the works team had already been stood down. Production ran only from January to April 1973, with 197 cars sold in Japan and none officially exported. Wikipedia says that rarity is behind the "Phantom GT-R" name. The next Skyline GT-R did not arrive until the R32 of 1989.

Datsun 240K and other export versions

Outside Japan the C110 used the Datsun K-series names: 160K, 180K and 240K, according to English Wikipedia. Australia received the 2.4-litre six as the Datsun 240K. In Germany, the 240K-GT was sold from June 1973 to July 1978 as a saloon and, until 1975, as a coupé. German Wikipedia gives it 83 kW (113 PS DIN), a five-speed gearbox, semi-trailing-arm rear suspension with gas dampers and a top speed of 180 km/h (112 mph).

The European cars therefore skipped the Japanese 2.0-litre range altogether and used a larger, lower-tuned six, closer in spirit to a touring saloon than to the high-revving GT-X.

C110 dimensions

The table uses Nissan Heritage Collection data for the 1974 2000GT hardtop (KGC110) and the KPGC110 GT-R production car.

Safety equipment of the period

No independent crash test exists for the C110, which predates any formal rating programme. Braking was the main advance: the standard sixes used front discs, and the GT-R had discs front and rear. The heavier GTX-E shows how emissions and comfort equipment added weight during the car's life, a point worth remembering when judging the brakes of a well-optioned late car.

Choosing a Kenmeri today

• KPGC110 GT-R: with 197 built, examples rarely change hands, so documentation and chassis-plate checks matter more than anything else.
• 2000GT-X and GTX-E: the strongest regular sixes, with twin carburettors or fuel injection and 96 kW (130 PS) at best.
• 2000GT: the mainstream six-cylinder Kenmeri, and the version most often restored with the four round tail lamps that define the generation.
• Datsun 240K / 240K-GT: the European and Australian route into the C110, with the larger L24 engine that Japanese cars never received.

To compare the C110 with other classic cars and Japanese models, or to browse the rest of the Nissan catalogue, use the links in each section.