The Nissan Skyline GT-R is a name that echoes across the car world with a kind of reverence, similar to a Porsche 911 or a Ferrari F40. The Nissan GT-R was produced in six generations, with the latter dropping the Skyline name. The story of the Nissan Skyline GT-R dates back to 1969, and even the first model featured hardware taken straight out of motorsports. For over 50 years, the GT-R badge has been responsible for most of Nissan’s proud racing heritage, and it all started with this car, which was recently listed on Bring a Trailer for a relatively reasonable price.

You will notice that this 1969 Skyline 2000 GT-R is a four-door sedan. The two-door coupe version of the "Hakosuka" did not arrive until the Autumn of 1970. It’s worth noting that before the R35 GT-R, Nissan’s flagship performance car was not sold outside of Japan. This particular, first-year example of the 2000 GT-R was imported into the U.S. in 2013 by an owner of JDM Legends, Utah. The current owner acquired the car in 2019.

The 1969 Nissan Skyline 2000 GT-R was one of the very first cars to be produced after Nissan’s acquisition of Prince Motors, under the encouragement of the Japanese government. The 1969 Nissan Skyline 2000 GT-R was the immediate successor of the 1965 Prince Skyline 2000 GT. While the Prince model was powered by an OHV inline-six engine with 125 horsepower and 123 pound-feet (167 Nm), the GT-R came with the full-on racing version of the engine, which included a DOHC setup and produced 160 horsepower at 7,000 RPM and 130.5 pound-feet (177 Nm) at 5,600 RPM.

The 1969 GT-R is a homologation special, designed by Shinichiro Sakurai. and the S20 engine it came with was actually a de-tuned version of that in the Nissan R380 race car, built to take on Porsche at the Japanese Grand Prix. In this particular example, the engine is unmodified and still has the triple Mikumi Solex carburetors, which is part of where the distinctive, throaty soundtrack of the inline-six comes from. The transmission is a five-speed manual, although the listing notes that the second-gear synchros are worn out, which requires double-clutching for the smoothest shift.

The car is finished in white and comes with the signature, 14-inch Watanabe wheels, wrapped in 195/60 Falken Azenis RT660 tires with a DOT stamp from 2020. It also has front disc brakes with the rear being drums, independent suspension all-around, Japanese AM radio, and a roll-bar. And let’s not forget the fender-mounted rearview mirrors, which are another signature design element. The 1969 Hakosuka comes with a clean Florida title, spare parts, importation documentation, and ownership registry. The 200 GT-R was serviced by JDM Legends, and the records include brake service and overhaul of the carburetors.

The exterior of the car is in decent shape although the listing notes some dings and rust in the lower areas of the body. The interior is mostly stock, apart from the aforementioned roll-bar, Kameari driver bucket seat with ring-grommet ventilation, and there’s a kill-switch under the passenger side of the dashboard. The odometer shows 84,000 km (around 54,000 miles).

The 1969 to 1972 Nissan Skyline 2000 GT-R was produced in 1,945 examples from all body styles, which makes this 1969 GT-R not just the forefather of all Nissan GT-R models, but also one of the rarest models ever produced. It may have a few kinks that require sorting out, but this is a very rare chance to own one of the very first iterations of the Nissan Skyline 2000 GT-R. At the time of penning this article, the bid is set at $91,000, with seven days to go.