It’s no secret that the Japanese car industry has used American machines as inspiration for many decades, especially in terms of the styling. And few examples speak louder than the 1973 Nissan Skyline GT-R, which even comes with an U.S. nickname, being dubbed Kenmeri thanks to an advertising campaign featuring a modern couple, Ken and Meri, enjoy life aboard the sporty coupe. Well, what if somebody took the connection to the next level by giving the second-gen GT-R a Mopar makeover, albeit a virtual one?
Codenamed KPGC110, this iteration of the Skyline GT-R, which predates both the introduction of Nissan’s Nismo go-fast division and the Godzilla nickname that Australians gave to the R32 that succeeded it after a 16-year hiatus, was built in extremely limited numbers.
Alas, ariving in an oil crisis era meant buyers didn’t exactly flock to grab one, which meant production was limited to 1973, with only 197 units being brought to the world.
What are the quarter-mile specs of the 1973 Nissan Skyline GT-R?
The Kenmeri GT-R need about 16 seconds to complete the quarter-mile sprint, which means it would’ve been no match for the Mopar machines that donated parts to it for this virtual build. You see, even with the said styling influences of American machines, Japan had it own way of building cars, which involved more compact dimensions and smaller engines.
So, the 1973 GT-R tipped the scales at just 1145 kg (2524 lbs), which meant its 2.0-liter N/A inline-six, which was borrowed from its predecessor, the Hakosuka GT-R, could provide an engaging driving experience via its 160 PS (158 hp) and 177 Nm (131 lb-ft) of torque.
This is the “Kenmeri Muscle” GT-R
We’ve decided to nickname the Nissan in this fashion thanks to the two-door receiving an infusion of Mopar parts
, which come courtesy of digital artist Egor Bessonov (aka op80), It all starts right in between the quadruple round taillights of the GT-R, which already remind one of the hardware found on the 1970-launched Dodge Challenger, so why not borrow the front grille of the muscle car?
Other Challenger features, this time coming from the T/A derivative that was the street version of the Trans Am racer, involve the quick-release, air scoop-gifted hood and the side exhaust.
And once this Nissan passes you, you won’t be left with a bad disposition, since your mind might be busy wondering why the rear clip feels so familiar, yet somehow out of place—the piece comes from the Challenger’s E-body platform mate, the third-generation Plymouth Cuda.
Are the SSR wheels American?
The rolling hardware is an important part of this pixel build, albeit with the goodies coming from SSR, or Speed Star Racing, which is one of Japan’s aftermarket wheel pioneers, having entered the business back in 1971. And these are the specialist’s famous Mk 1 wheels.
You might expect the RPM (real project in the making) Potential of this build to be fairly low—sure, people mod Kenmeri Skylines these days, but who would give it an American flavor? Well, we’ll stick with a 6/10 for this rendering and that solid score is explained below.
It all has to do with Japanese pro drifter Daigo Saito (he also competes in the U.S.), who used last month’s 2022 Tokyo Auto Salon to unveil a Hakosuka Nissan GT-R drift car animated by a Dodge NASCAR V8 with some 800 hp on tap.
And, as you can see in the second Instagram post below, Saito has recently got a hold of a Kenmeri Nissan Skyline GT-R (these fetch six-figure sums when in good condition, so it may or may not be original) and has already started cutting the body to install overfenders. So, who knows what the final form of the project will look like?
