In Japan, our Infiniti Q50 is the hallowed and venerable Nissan Skyline. In a bit of tangentially related badge-swapping earlier this year Nissan borrowed the 400R moniker once applied to a now-legendary version of the R33 Skyline GT-R for a top-tier trim for the Skyline. The Skyline 400R strips all frisson from the forebear – Le Mans inspiration, RX-X GT2 engine, Midnight Purple paint, Rays LMGT2 wheels – but it does get an equivalent 400 horsepower from its twin-turbo, 3.0-liter V6, becoming an Infiniti Q50 Red Sport 400 for Nippon. Taking that further for the local market, Nissan has lined up the Skyline 400R Sprint concept for the 2020 Tokyo Auto Salon, as well as the luxury-centered Skyline Deluxe Advanced Concept and a dozen other vehicle displays.
The automaker's being demure regarding most details of the Skyline concepts. What we can make out so far on the 400R Sprint are the matte black hood, greenhouse, and sills sandwiching a matte white body with green highlights, a GT4-looking front splitter and front scoops, 20-inch forged wheels wrapped in tires with green sidewalls, and a rear wing pulled from a GT-R Nismo. Engine specs will be revealed at the show, but Nissan pledges "overwhelming engine output and the driving potential pursued to the limit." Well OK, then.
The Skyline Deluxe Advanced concept pretends to a finishing school graduate taught by Rolls-Royce, with a matte silver paint above matte brown, separated by a character line that runs through the grille accent. The package sits on brown, multi-spoke wheels, the showmanship continuing inside with two-tone leather seats. The hybrid badge leads us to believe Nissan's got its 3.5-liter V6 hybrid under the hood.
The rest of the Nissan posse will include the GT-R50 by Italdesign, the Nissan GT-R and Fairlady Z 50th Anniversary Editions, a tuned Elgrand (our erstwhile Quest) AUTECH minivan that's been lowered and decked out, a MOTUL AUTECH GT-R from Japan's Super GT series, a Serena e-Power AUTECH Multi-Bed concept, the Leaf Nismo and Note e-Power Nismo S Black Limited, and an NV350 Caravan Premium GX Urban Chrome concept van.
The Tokyo Auto Salon runs Jan. 10-12 at the Makuhari Messe Convention Center in Chiba. Still the largest custom show in Japan, it's counted more than 300,000 visitors for each of the past five years, all coming to see more than 900 cars and heaps of other wares on display.
