C10

The C10 series of 1968, which began its development under Prince at the company's Opama R&D centre in the suburbs of Tokyo, was marketed with a Nissan badge. By the time the C10 went on sale, the Prince nameplate had been completely phased out on cars and trucks. The dealer network selling the cars became the Prince channel of Nissan, and the marketing group stayed at the Prince headquarters in Mita instead of moving to Nissan's headquarters in Ginza. The G10 Skyline was launched with Nissan's 1.5 L OHC G15 I4 like the S57. A 1.8 L G18 version was also available.

A station wagon variant was offered in this generation. A hardtop coupé was introduced in 1970.

2000GT

The following year, the GC10 2000GT received a 2.0 L (1998 cc) L20 I6 engine. The chassis was already designed to receive a straight six, to avoid the S54 extension problem. 105 hp (78 kW) was available from this new engine.

GT-R
Nissan Skyline KGC10 GT-X (L20 engine)
Nissan Skyline KGC10 GT-X (L20 engine)

The first GT-R Skyline appeared in February 1969. Called the PGC-10 (KPGC-10 for later coupé version) internally and Hakosuka (ハコスカ) by fans. Hako (ハコ) means Box in Japanese, and suka（スカ） is short for Skyline (スカイライン; Sukairain). It used the 2.0 L (1998 cc) S20 I6. This new DOHC engine produced 160 hp (118 kW, 180 N m), equal to the best sports cars of the time, and was similar to the GR8 engine used in the Nissan R380 racing car.

The GT-R began as a sedan, but a 2-door coupé version was introduced in March of 1971. The cars were stripped of unnecessary equipment to be as light as possible for racing, and performed well at the track. The sedan racked up 33 victories in less than two years, and the coupé stretched this to 50 through 1972.

The C10 raced against many cars including the Toyota 1600 GT5, Isuzu Bellett GTR, Mazda Familia (R100) & Capella (RX-2) - even Porsche. In late 1971 the new Mazda RX-3 became the GT-R's main rival. The GT-R managed a few more victories before the RX-3 ended the GT-R's winning streak. The GT-R was also a favorite of reckless street racers who roamed the streets at night at that time.

It is claimed that the art of drifting began among Japanese racers when they purposely engaged their emergency brakes as a way to oversteer on their GT-Rs.[citation needed] One such driver who is famous for this was Kunimitsu Takahashi.

Models:

* 1500 - 1.5 L G15 I4, 95 hp (71 kW, 128 N m)
* 1800 - 1.8 L G18 I4, 105 hp (78 kW, 150 N m)
* 2000GT - 2.0 L L20 I6, 120 hp (90 kW, 167 N m)
* 2000GT-R - 2.0 L S20 I6, 160 hp (118 kW, 180 N m)
Nissan Skyline KGC10 GT-X (L20 engine)