Meet the Owner – Simon Frith and his Datsun Skyline 240K GT

Owners of once-familiar 1970s saloons are very familiar with the opening line ‘my dad/mum/grandfather/uncle/headmistress/postman had one of those’. By contrast, few people seem to recognise Simon Frith’s 1975 C110-Series Skyline 240K GT and he reveals: “everyone who’s seen it says ‘I’ve never seen one of those’.” Given that there are now only two roadworthy examples in the UK, such reactions are quite understandable.

The Skyline name dates from 1957 as a prestige offering from Prince Motor Company. Nissan acquired the Suginami firm in 1967 and, five years later, the new C110 bridged the gap between the C130 Laurel and 230-Series Cedric. Japanese buyers had a choice of four-door saloon, coupe or estate bodies and engines ranging from 1.6-litre to 2.4-litre.

By 1973, Datsun GB began importing a small number of 240K GT saloons, providing their showrooms with an alternative to the Ford Consul GT, the Triumph 2000 Mk 2, the Rover 2000 and the Vauxhall VX 4/90 FE. Power for the 240K was from the 240Z Coupe’s 2,393cc straight-six engine, albeit with a lower compression ratio and a single Hitachi carburettor.

According to Datsun, the GT was the perfect car for someone who was ‘old and intelligent enough to have succeeded, young enough still to enjoy driving’. Their message was clear – this was a vehicle for sophisticates who appreciated fine motor cars as opposed to those vulgarians who attached fluffy dice to their rear-view mirrors.

The brochure also rather charmingly warned the prospective buyer that ‘the Skyline interior is roomy but not vast’ and ‘the back is no place to hold a party as that would have meant a bigger clumsier car’. Furthermore, the 240K had no pretensions to being a full five-seater as it was ‘a sporting four seater’. Naturally, the specification included a wooden-rimmed steering wheel, and the proud owner would have probably worn driving gloves for a journey along the A36.

Car magazine of September 1973 evaluated the 240K GT opposite the Consul GT, which was probably the Skyline’s closest UK competitor. The test concluded, ‘If we were in an ostentatious mood when the cheque book appeared on the table, we might plump for the Datsun’. For £1,997.24, the buyer gained a very appealing saloon with adjustable steering, a radio and tinted glass as standard. Such detailing further enhanced the Skyline’s appeal, and the sole extra was automatic transmission for another £169.21.

The C210 replaced the C110 in 1977 and Simon believes that less than 2,500 240K GTs found buyers in the UK. His car is also a reminder of an era when large Japanese cars were unashamedly pan-Pacific in their appearance. Those round taillights, the splendidly elaborate fascia, along with the ornate upholstery, combine to make the Datsun look different from its European rivals.

On the road, Simon finds the Datsun ‘amazing - very smooth with the three-speed automatic. It is obviously no racer like the modern Skylines but plenty of pokes’. He also remarks of his splendid 240K GT ‘it took me a very long time to prise it from the previous owner’. And such a car was well worth the wait. 46 years ago, a new Skyline would have almost certainly provoked vast amounts of gossip from Ford Cortina 1600L driving neighbours.

With Thanks To: Simon Frith

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