GT-Time

The '80s also saw the start of Nissan's prototype racing endeavors with the introduction of the Lola Cars-chassis GTP ZX-Turbo for the IMSA series in the US. Developed by Electramotive Engineering, the sleek racer was equipped with a turbo VG30 V-6 making 641hp, motivation similar to what came in the R85V in '86 (top photo above), Nissan's debut into the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The VG30T era gave way to the turbo VRH V-8 phase later in the '80s, first in 3.0L and then in 3.5L form, while Lola and March Engineering seemed to alternate in chassis development as Nissan challenged in Japan and around the globe.

The '80s were a culmination of sorts for Nissan rally racing. In the early part of the decade the Violet continued to shine, especially in the hands of Shekhar Mehta, who drove a Nissan A10 (first as a Datsun 160J, then as a Violet GT) to four Safari Rally titles in a row, concluding with the victory in '82 when the Group 4 ruleset was phased out. The latter wins came with LZ20B 2.0L inline-4 power in the engine bay, but that same year everyone got a glimpse at the future with the S110 and its FJ motivation. An S110 Silvia finished third (with an LZ20B) in the '82 Safari Rally, while over in the WRC the above S110 240RS was built for a little something called Group B competition, outfitted with a 2.3L FJ24 generating 240hp plus from the factory. Later in the '80s, VG30 V-6-powered 300ZX and S12 Silvia made a splash in rally.

The no-Fs-given approach to car creation made Super Silhouettes popular, so popular that singer/actor/racer Masahiko "Matchy" Kondo had a K10 March hatchback done up in the boxy widebody style in '82. Nissan took part in the category via Violet (710A10), Bluebird (910), Silvia (S110) and Skyline (R30), and all of them ran similarly built turbocharged LZ20B inline-4 making north of 560hp. (For an updated take on the Tomica R30, check out what Liberty Walk did with an ER34 Skyline 25GT for the '20 Tokyo Auto Salon.)