There Was Once A Nissan Skyline SUV

There’s a new Nissan Skyline in the works, and with the Japanese brand in some pretty steep financial trouble, we’re not expecting it to take a radical approach with the new car.

Of course, the Skyline name is more than just the R-series GT-Rs – it’s been used by Nissan, and previously the Prince Motor Company, as a nameplate across saloons and coupes. Most recently, it appeared on the car better known to the Western world as the Infiniti Q50.

In chasing a return to profitability, there is a looming question of whether Nissan could wheel the Skyline name out for an SUV this time around, though. Before you grab your torches and pitchforks at the possibility, though, we’re here to tell you it wouldn’t be the first time.

Yes, the name we associate with Bathurst-dominating Godzillas, grinding races on Gran Turismo 4 or seeing Paul Walker’s Brian O’Conner jump a bridge in 2 Fast 2 Furious has already been deployed on a mundane crossover.

In fact, it’s one you’ll likely be familiar with. You see, while North America and Europe had the Infiniti EX50, Japan got that car under the guise of the Nissan Skyline Crossover.

Funnily enough, on paper, the Nissan Skyline Crossover had more power than any of the Skyline GT-Rs. That’s where those comparisons will end.

The crossover was only available as a 370GT, meaning it used the VQ37 3.7-litre naturally-aspirated V6. Here, it produced 321bhp and was available as either a rear- or all-wheel drive car.

It would be built from 2008 to 2016, with the basic figures remaining the same. We could go into incremental model updates, but, quite frankly, it’s really not that interesting a story.

Nissan chose not to sell the following QX50 (the renamed version of the EX)’ as the Skyline Crossover, despite the Q50-equivalent saloon remaining.

For the time being, at least, that’s where the Nissan Skyline Crossover tale ends. Will history repeat itself with a new chapter? Time will tell.