Fairlady and the 1st Japan Grand Prix

In May 1963, the 1st Japan Grand Prix Race was held at the recently completed Suzuka Circuit, watched by a huge crowd of 200,000 fans. It was Suzuka’s first big race and the atmosphere was electric.
Driven by G. Tahara, the Fairlady 1500 (SP310) was entered in the Sports Car Race B-II (1,301-2,500cc). Having come in 3rd in the official qualifier, Tahara managed to dash ahead at the start of the main event, taking the lead and staying there all the way to the checkered flag. In this class the foreign cars had been considered to enjoy an absolute advantage, but the Fairlady 1500 had succeeded in shaking off the pursuing Triumph TR4, MGB, Fiat and other renowned sports cars. And with the best lap (3min. 14.4sec.) also to its credit, the Fairlady’s victory was complete. It was a memorable day in the history of Nissan, but it was also a glittering achievement for the Japanese automobile industry as a whole. In a fair contest of performance and skill, Japan had beaten the best sports cars from the countries that had always been top in the field. Japan could now consider them as equals.