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1977 - 1979 Skyline 1600TI, 1800TI - C210
The new four cylinder, short wheelbase C210 fifth-generation Skyline
(nickname: "Japan") was launched in August 1977. It was popular for
its straight bodylines. The basic versions were called 1600TI (Touring
International) and 1800TI now and featured L16 and L18 engines with the
option of EFI on the L18, respectively, instead of the preceding "G" engines.
Nissan's original plan was to upgrade the C210 Skyline "TI" to high
performance specs by fitting the newly developed 150ps FJ20E 2.0L DOHC 16
valve 4 cylinder engine, but latter decided to wait until they developed
the 6th generation R30 series Skyline's to utilise the high performance
FJ20 engine exclusively.
The four cylinder cars had live rear axles and came as either a four
door sedan or hardtop coupe but in either case didn't have the now
characteristic twin round tail lights, only the six cylinder cars came
with those. The cars featured an odd looking centrally divided grille.
This was changed in July 1979 for a more conventional design although
the twin round headlights remained.
By the end of 1979 there was a wagon available, based on the short
wheelbase chassis Those rare variant wagon versions, had a unique styling
treatment behind the rear doors, of a much smaller window than usual
between the C and D pillars.
1980 - long wheel based Skyline2000 GT Family - GC211
The GC 211 six cylinder, long wheelbase Nissan Skyline, introduced in
1980 following a minor change, but still no GT-R version this time. Again,
four door sedan and hardtop coupe were available with a slightly better
looking grille and dual round tail lights.
The GT family included GT(115PS), GT-L, GT-EL(125PS), GT-EX, and GT-ES models.
The Japanese cars were fitted with L20A six cylinder engines but a lot of
exported models came with larger L24E engines as standard. Most domestic and
all European C211's had independent rear suspension but some other markets got
live axles on coil springs. These were sold in some countries as 240K-GT's. In
mid 1979 the cars were face lifted with new grilles and large rectangular headlights.
1980 - Skyline 2000GT-E - KHGC-211
In April 1980 a turbo version was added to the Japanese market called the 2000GT-E Turbo
(S20ET -145PS). This first generation turbo engine - was the first turbo engine to power
a Japanese production vehicle - was not yet intercooled and there was no form of blow
off valve attached, only an emergency pressure release valve.
This engine might have been less powerful than the GT-Rs, but in contrast to the S20,
obeyed to emission regulations and marked a new milestone in Skyline history: for the
first time a turbo engine powered a Skyline.
By June 1980 a 2.8L diesel version was offered.
This line continued through 1981. The Datsun 240K/280K and 240C/280C variants
continued for export.
There were four versions produced:
• 1600TI - 1.6 L G16 I4, 95 hp (71 kW, 132 Nm)
• 1800TI - 1.8 L G18 I4, 115 hp (86 kW, 152 Nm)
• 2000GT - 2.0 L L20 I4, 130 hp (97 kW, 167 Nm)
• 2000GT-E - 2.0 L L20ET turbo I4, 145 hp (108 kW, 206 Nm)
Source: Prince - Nissan
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Fifth
Generation Skyline GT