Nissan Skyline Returns With Retro Design—and Could Spawn a New Infiniti Sedan

Keeping the Skyline Alive

Nissan CEO Ivan Espinosa is keeping true to his promise of keeping the Skyline alive. After all, it’s one of the longest-running nameplates in the brand’s history, spanning nearly 70 years. Ending its legacy now sounds like a waste, given that the name is revered in its home market of Japan.

During the presentation of its long-term plans, as well as the reveal of the all-new Nissan Rogue and first look at the returning Xterra, the Japanese marque gave a sneak peek of the rebooted sport sedan. Espinosa didn’t say much about it, but the few snippets shown spoke volumes.

This is NOT the GT-R

Before you get too excited and think the car shown will be the next GT-R, hold your horses. Since 2002, the Skyline has been a totally separate model from the GT-R. Before those two lines separated, one had to be aware that the Skyline was more of a sedan with a sporting twist, and that it happened to have a hot version.

The Infiniti G was the actual Skyline, and so was the Q50. With that in mind, the car that was teased could end up as Infiniti’s future sport sedan, plans permitting, although it will remain as the Nissan Skyline in its home market. The GT-R is still a couple of years away.

Dripping With Nostalgia

For those more familiar with the Skyline’s history, the teaser photos show design elements from past models. By the looks of things, this isn’t going to be an evolution of the current model and the discontinued Q50.

At the back, there are the signature round elements that have been a trademark of the car since the ’70s. It’s then encased in a black panel that runs across the width of the rear, likely inspired by the fourth-generation model that was affectionately called the kenmeri (two-door) or yonmeri (four-door) Skyline. The cursive Skyline badge on the quarter panel is another nod to the past.

For the front end, we see some inspiration from the R34 Skyline, with its sharp, aggressive nose. The classic ‘S’ badge has also returned, something that has been absent on the car since 2001. The last model that wore it was, you guessed it, the R34 – the non-GT-R versions, to be exact.

Any Juicy Details?

Well, none so far. Nissan CEO Ivan Espinosa described the car as a “reimagined icon of Japanese engineering and driving passion, with performance and precision.” Now, fingers crossed that the ‘reimagined’ part doesn’t mean it’ll be EV only. That said, it was previously reported that it could get the same twin-turbo V6 engine from the current Z, as well as an option for a six-speed manual.

Nissan dubbed the Skyline as a ‘Heartbeat model model for Japan,’ although it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’ll be exclusive to that market. The company needs every sale it can make to bounce back, and making a sedan for just one market doesn’t make much financial sense. Again, there’s a chance that this car will reach U.S showrooms wearing Infiniti badges, as Nissan said it will be bringing in a ‘performance-oriented V6 sedan’ in the future.

There’s no exact launch date just yet, although some photos from the teaser suggest what we saw was something close to production. But with the Skyline name celebrating its 70th anniversary next year, the reveal of the new car might just coincide with its significant birthday.