At Ultrace, I saw these three incredible Nissan Skylines. Each one represented a different generation of GT-R history and they all belong to one owner. He was more than happy to share some knowledge and why these cars are so special.
The first car was a beautiful 1971 Nissan Skyline 2000 GT-R (KPGC10) powered by the legendary S20 engine. Nissan built only a little over 1,900 of these cars. The car already sits on KW suspension and classic Watanabe wheels. As a result, it has that perfect old school JDM look.
Left-hand-drive Nissan Skylines from the factory are rare. Like, “finding-a-Walkman-in-a-2025-Apple-Store” rare. But a genuine Dutch-delivered 1971 Nissan Skyline GC10 2000GT sedan, with four doors. That’s rarer than a unicorn moonwalking across the Veluwe.
According to its new custodian, Carlo de Grundt this is one of only three left-hand-drive Hakosuka sedans left in the Netherlands. “Hako” means box in Japanese, and “Suka” is shorthand for Sukairain. Yes, Skyline. Don’t feel bad if you had no idea Skylines were officially sold here. We didn’t either. Apparently, around 40 of the HGLC10-series 2000GTs and 2400GTs were sold new in the Netherlands, mostly the bigger-engined 2400s. But this one? According to the papers, an original 2000GT.
And it was a proper barn find. Tucked away indoors for two decades, waiting for someone to bring it back from the brink.
Carlo first stumbled across this crimson 2000GT online back in 2011. “I found photos and started digging. I knew it still existed somewhere in the Netherlands” he recalls. The trail went cold until 2014, when Jan Manenschijn, a Nissan dealer from Daarle, and owner of the largest Datsun collection in the country, posted a familiar photo on Facebook. There it was. The long-lost 2000GT. Jan, having just completed restoration on his own Belgian-market 2000GT, decided one was enough. That was Carlo’s cue so after a phonecall he made the trip to Daarle and bought it.
