R30

The names were brought into line with the home Japanese and worldwide markets with the launch of the R30 series in August 1981, which was built on a C31 Laurel platform. Unlike preceding generations, four and six cylinder versions now shared a front end of same length. The R30 was available as a two door hardtop coupe, a four door sedan, a five door hatchback (available only in the R30 generation) or a four door station wagon. In all, there were 26 variations of the R30 Skyline available.

All versions with the exception of the wagon were usually fitted with the four round tail lights that had become a regular feature to the Skyline's design. The wagon was the ugly duckling of the range, having different tail lights, headlights and no turbo or 6-cylinder versions available - it more closely resembled a Nissan Sunny than a Skyline. The two door coupe had pillarless doors and the unusual feature of roll-down quarter windows for the rear seat passengers (a styling feature of the previous C10, C110 and C211 coupes), while four door versions all had traditional framed windows.

Notably, configurations of the R30 sold in Australia and New Zealand were missing the traditional hotplate tail lights, instead opting for more conventional styling.