1986. The 340-horsepower Audi Quattro A1, the only 4WD car in the field, is dominating the South African rally championship. The Nissan factory team believe its rear-wheel-drive, 310-hp Skyline R30 will be able to give the Audi a run for its money. The Skylines were always spectacular, going sideways in the corners, as the drivers pushed beyond the limits to stay in touch with the 4WD Audi’s. The Nissans were reliable, and scored solid finishes, whereas the Audi factory team ran one not-always-reliable Quattro per rally. And so, Nissan’s star driver, Hannes Grobler, won the driver’s championship.
2021 Nissan GT-R
Base MSRP
$113,540
Engine
3.8L Twin-Turbo V6 Gas
Horsepower
565 hp
Fuel Economy
16/22 MPG
But trouble was brewing for the 1987 season… that trouble was called the Audi Quattro S1. Nissan had to come up with a plan; a car that could take on the mighty S1.
Only one Nissan Skyline R31 V6 Turbo 4WD was ever made. It competed in one season of the South African rally championship before its rally class was canceled (some claim on the insistence of Audi). It went on to compete in circuit racing, winning its first race, then meeting a tragic fate in its second race. This is the story of Super Skyline.
Pickup Truck Inspiration For The Quattro
Hannes Grobler is an unassuming man. In 1986, he became the first South African to win the national rally championship and the off-road racing championship in the same year. By the end of that 1986 season, Grobler was concerned. With news that Audi would be campaigning the new 480-hp Quattro S1 in 1987, Grobler’s 310-hp two-wheel drive Nissan Skyline was up against it. At first, Grobler believed that more horsepower would suffice.
But he had a proverbial lightbulb moment when his team installed the Skyline’s 310-hp 3.0-liter straight-six engine into his Nissan Safari off-road racing pickup. Even though the pickup was heavier than the Skyline, its 4WD drive train provided more traction. It was less spectacular than the Skyline, but faster… The Skyline had to go 4WD.
The Nissan team installed the Safari pick-up transfer case, gearbox and differentials into a Skyline. The Skyline had the traction, but the make-do pickup parts proved unreliable. But, the point had been proven. For the last rally of the season, the team added a low-boost turbocharger, hiking power to 450 hp. The Nissan won stages in a straight fight against the Quattro. Nissan management gave the green light, and the Super Skyline project was a go.
The Super Skyline is Born
With a mandate to build a 4WD car that could beat the Quattro, Grobler set about creating his Skyline R31 monster. Nissan’s 3-liter VG30 12-valve V6 engine would power the Skyline, but Grobler needed many more horses. At the time, US-based company Electramotive Engineering (later known as Nissan Performance Technology Incorporated) built 1,000 hp VG30 engines for the IMSA GT championship.
When Grobler arrived in the USA, late in 1986, and discussed numbers with the Electramotive engineers, he famously inquired: “How many horses can you give me?” The engineer replied, dryly: “Well, how much do you want? We can give you that much.”
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Settling For 650 HP
Grobler settled for 650 hp. The car famously had a dial in the cabin, where Grobler could select between 450 hp (for a laid-back day), 550 hp (for a stage-win kind of day) and 650 hp (for days when the Audi’s were annoyingly fast). The 4WD drive train was a bespoke design, with British company Ferguson supplying a special viscous coupling system with a 60/40 split between the rear and front axles. Local gearbox specialist Gemini Transmissions built a special gearbox system.
Grobler dipped into the NISMO parts bin in the suspension department, using the harder Safari Rally-specification spring and damper set-up that Nissan used in the 240 RS, competing in the world rally championship. Many parts came from Nissan’s commercial 4×4 bin.
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Early in March 1988, the Super Skyline was ready for its first shakedown, two days before its first rally. But disaster struck, and Grobler rolled the Skyline. A local panel beater worked for 24 hours to get the Nissan back into shape for the rally. But, with the custom-made fiber glass front bumper destroyed, and no time to replace it, a production Skyline bumper had to be bolted on to the front of the car.
Two days later, when the Skyline tackled its first special stage, it was clear that the turbocharged V6 engine did not appreciate the restricted airflow afforded by the stock bumper, and to prevent itself from imploding, it massively restricted the power output. But the Super Skyline ran, made all the right noises, and scored third place overall.
Taking On Giants: The Unbeatable Quattro
Nissan Skyline R31 4WD Turbo
Engine
3.0-liter turbocharged V6
Power
650 hp
Torque
480 lb-ft (estimated)
With the custom bumper in place for the next rally, and other small teething issues sorted, Grobler took on the might of the Audi Quattro S1s in the next rally. The Skyline was charging hard when disaster stuck… Grobler hit a ditch at speed, damaging the front differential. There was not enough time to replace the broken part, so Grobler lost about 3 minutes to the leading Audi.
The next morning, with the differential replaced, Grobler was on a mission. With the full-fat 650 hp in the game, and despite having to replace a clutch during the morning, and more differential issues, the Skyline gave everyone a taste of what was to come.
In one stage, the Skyline took a second per 0.6 miles off the Quattro. For the first time in many years, the leading Audi S1 crew were waiting at the marshal points to check on the Nissan’s times. The Audi cage was ever so slightly rattled. After a challenging rally, Grobler and the Super Skyline still finished second overall.
At the next rally, the stars aligned for the Super Skyline, the Nissan winning every stage on the first day ahead of the Quattro S1. The next morning, the Audi crew claimed that they were pacing themselves with the championship in mind, so they were not going to get tangled up in a fight with Grobler. But watching the Audi on the next stage, it was very obvious that it was holding back – star Audi driver Sarel van der Merwe was not going to let the Nissan have its way. His ego would not allow such a thing.
Despite a broken CV, the Super Skyline won its first national rally. It had beaten the mighty Audi Quattro S1, a car that took years and a massive team of engineers to create, costing millions of dollars to develop.
A Shift In Focus
The Super Skyline would end the 1988 season with the solitary victory. But it had fired a clear and obvious warning volley to the rest of the field. After Toyota’s Conquest-hatch-that-is-really- a-Celica-GT-Four-4WD and the Super Skyline managed to beat the mega-budget Audi Quattro on several occasions, Audi’s henchmen apparently whispered in the ears of the motorsport authorities. According to urban legend, they implored the authorities to cancel Class A, citing the cancelation of the Group B class in the world rally championship, highlighting the dangers of the mega horsepower cars (which were not really as applicable in SA conditions).
Whether the whispering took place or not, the authorities did cancel the top class, switching to 2.0-liter 4WD cars for the 1989 season. Nissan had just spent all the effort creating this special Skyline, only for it to land up with an unemployment card.
Nissan Takes It To The Track
So, Nissan decided to turn the Skyline into a track car. With some new aerodynamic bits fitted, the rally suspension was retained, but the ride was lowered considerably. The Nissan lined up for its first Modified Saloon race at the Kyalami racetrack. Up against the likes of the Audi Quattro (yes, again), Ford Sierra XR8, Mazda RX-7 rotaries and a Nissan ZX300.
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Grobler only had one set of tires left for the race. As its competitors retired or spun out, Grobler and the Nissan forged on. But he had major issues… with 650 hp the Skyline was spinning up all four wheels coming out of corners, even in fourth gear. With two laps to go, Grobler took the lead, but the Nissan’s tires were literally down to the metal, the top layers of rubber long gone. Grobler managed to hang on, the Super Skyline winning its first race out of the box.
There were two Modified Saloon heats on the day, but with no tires left, the team parked the Skyline, and watched the action from the sideline. Next, the teams headed to Cape Town for round two of the championship. Armed with the correct size of racing slicks, Grobler and the Skyline unofficially broke the Audi Quattro’s lap record at the track by a second during an early practice session. At the Nissan team’s behest, Grobler backed off in the qualifying session, placing the Nissan in fourth position.
The race started, and Grobler pushed on. Going onto the pit straight, Grobler placed the Skyline on the outside of competitor Ian Scheckter’s Ford Sapphire. A suspension part in the Ford snapped, the Sapphire inadvertently swerved into the Nissan, and both went hurtling over the pit wall. Two spectators were killed and several injured, but miraculously, both drivers walked away from the massive accident.
The Super Skyline was destroyed. Following the terrible accident, along with some ridiculous rules in the Modified Saloon series (like a 330-pound weight penalty for winning a race), Grobler and Nissan decided not to rebuild the Skyline. The damaged engine was removed and mothballed and the remnants of the body destroyed.
Will The Super Skyline Live Again?
Hannes Grobler
The custom-made V6 engine, which cost around $150,000 in 1987 (about $417,000 in today’s terms), was stored in a Nissan workshop basement for many years. The good news is that a Nissan enthusiast who also happens to build hill climbing cars, is in the process of bringing the engine back to life after managing to secure replacement parts from US company Electramotive Engineering. The plan is to restore the engine to the same specification as Grobler used it in the Skyline… and then to use the engine in a replica Super Skyline.
Now wouldn’t that be something.
Sources: Nissan, Audi.
