ONCE upon a time in the land of the rising sun there was a Prince, born a commoner in November 1924 as the Ishikawajima Aircraft Manufacturing Company. It gained royal honour in 1936 when the Imperial Japanese Army took controlling interest in the company.
The name was changed to Tachikawa Aircraft Manufacturing Company and it produced all sorts of aircraft for the army and even ventured to come up with some of their own creations.
Among the more famous products on its roster were licence-built Lockheed Model 14 and the Mitsubishi Zero.
At the end of World War 2, the company was transformed once again and renamed the Fuji Precision Company and, in honour of Prince Akihito investiture as the Crown Prince, was then renamed the Prince Motor Company in 1952.
Then, in a fit of corporate schizophrenia, it changed its name back to Fuji in 1954 and back again to Prince in 1961.
It had success building premium models called Skyline and Gloria, and a 15-seater van it called the Homy, which is nicknamed Homer by some. Automotive historians are not sure whether this is because the van looks like cartoon icon Homer Simpson, but I think the resemblance is uncanny.
Its first Skyline was launched in April 1957 and it was clearly an interpretation of American automotive design at the time with its wide stance, high hooded front lights, wide and low grille, strong sculpted front bumpers, fins and two-tone paintwork.
Like most American cars at the time, it came in four-door sedan and station wagon formats.
Obviously no one was as confident as the Americans, so these cues were toned down to make them more sensible and the result was a neat car that was packed with strong performance.
The engine was a 1.5-litre unit that produced 60 horsepower and could propel the car to a top speed of 140kph, which was plenty those days.
The company even commissioned Italian coachbuilder Michelotti to come up with the first Skyline Coupe. You may be forgiven for thinking that it looks like a lightly powdered Lancia Fulvia, which was also developed by Michelotti. I think Nissan got the short stick on this one.
Then in 1963, it came up with a sleeker more modern replacement that set the design tone for the Skyline for decades, codenamed S50.
It was an immediate hit. The quad headlamps gave the low, wide car an additional racy demeanour while the profile was also low and sleek. Nissan was on the ball when it came to following American and European design trends.
The new car has a new engine, the G-1 units produced 68 horsepower and came with a choice of column shifted three-speed auto or a floor shifter four-speed manual. These cars were hardy, so they were also popular with taxi drivers, who went for the low-spec low output version that was tailored specifically for their needs.
The good looks were not just for show, Prince came up with a GT racing Skyline in May of 1964 based on a S54 variant with engine from the S41 Gloria.
According to Julian Assange’s cousin, it was not a simple case of plonking a straight-six into a four, they actually extended the wheelbase by 200mm to find room for the longer engine.
The front axle was moved forward and the result was an engine that was positioned well within the wheelbase to keep the weight distribution sweet.
The result spoke for itself, When they took part in the second Japanese GP, the car took second through sixth place, beaten only by a Porsche 904.
Winning that Sunday meant they could sell a new variant called the Skyline 2000GT and all the different variations offering between 104 and 123 horsepower.
Some variants came with limited-slip differentials, Weber carburettors, five-speed close ratio gearbox, stronger conrod, crankshaft and power brakes. They even had front disc brakes and finned rear drums.
Despite its success in the premium market and motorsports, Prince could not get the large numbers that they wanted, and by 1966, the Nissan Motor Company which had made a name in the affordable small car market with their successful interpretation of the Austin 7, came knocking on their door with a plan.
Wikileaks, I mean Wikipedia, that exhaustive research base most modern articles are founded, does not indicate whether it was a merger of equals, but on paper, it certainly looked like it started out that way as Prince brought with it considerable engineering expertise as well as a wealth of products and engine design that would help transform Nissan.
As we know, Nissan kept the Skyline and Gloria name after adopting the original Prince models, while the Homy was renamed as the Caravan, which was later sold as Urvan in some markets. Urvan being a contraction of Urban Caravan.
In time, the dominance of Nissan won the day and the Prince name is now history.
The good thing is that we now have ringside seats for the Nissan’s takeover of Mitsubishi. Let’s see what evolution will come out of it.