BIG IN JAPAN THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE OF NISMO

We look into the history of Nissan's high-performance tuning division, famed for the likes of the 350Z S-Tune and GT-R sports cars, and see what's coming next

- Tom Jervis [e-mail]

THE number of Nismo models that have officially come to the UK can be counted on one hand, but nonetheless Nissan’s performance arm is one that’s well respected within the industry and has been the source of some of the most lauded and legendary Japanese enthusiast cars of the last few decades.

We got behind the wheel of three of Nismo's finest cars — its first in the UK, its greatest and its most recent — and spoke to some of its top officials to understand what makes the performance sub-brand so integral to Nissan’s success, plus what we can expect down the road. But first, let’s begin with a quick history lesson.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF NISMO

DESPITE its name being derived from the words ‘Nissan’ and ‘Motorsport’, Nismo arguably originates from a separate brand altogether: Prince Motor Company (PMC).

Founded in the late forties, PMC was best known at the time for its prestigious saloon car, which was known as the ‘Skyline’. Does that sound familiar?

That’s because towards the end of the sixties, PMC was absorbed by Nissan, and the Skyline — later marketed as the 240K in the UK — along with other Prince models, were rebadged as Datsuns, a brand also owned by Nissan.

However, just before that merger occurred and in an attempt to bolster sales, PMC decided to go motor racing with a souped-up version of the Skyline, badged the GT, thus paving the way for the formation of Nismo roughly 20 years later.

Nismo was officially founded in 1984 as part of a merger between Oppama Works and Omori Works, which were responsible for supporting privateer and factory motorsport teams respectively. The latter remains the home of Nismo's team of engineers today, more than 40 years later.