The Gloria (Japanese: 日産・ã‚°ãƒãƒªã‚¢) is a large luxury car made from 1959 by the Prince Motor Company, and later by Nissan Motors since its merger with the former - hence being originally marketed as Prince Gloria and later as Nissan Gloria. Initially based on the smaller Prince Skyline, the Gloria line was merged with Nissan Cedric starting with 1971 models and both continued until 2004, when they were both replaced by Nissan Fuga.
Glorias were sold at Nissan Prince Shop dealerships that were formerly affiliated with the Prince company; when Nissan assumed operations, Glorias were sold along with the Nissan Skyline. The Prince G engine was used in the Gloria until 1969.
It was inspired by the Latin word "Glory".
The Prince Automobile Manufacturers, previously known as Fuji Precision Industry, released a modification of their Prince Skyline with a more luxurious approach, and modified exterior sheet metal, at the All Japan Automobile Show, after the Tokyo Motor Show and the Skyline 1900 exhibition, in October 1958. In February 1959 the BLSIP Gloria was released with the 80 hp (81 PS) 1.9 L GB-30 OHV 4-cylinder engine. Reflecting popular appearances found in North America, the Gloria used a styling feature on the front bumper, called "Dagmar bumpers". The grille featured "PRINCE" in individual gold letters. Th side trim was similar to the Skyline, except the chrome-framed painted strip ends at the rear door instead of the back of the car. The other side of the painted section is painted the same color as the car and inside this section is a "Prince Gloria" badge. Inside the Gloria used the same dashboard as the Skyline, but a clock and radio were standard. The radio featured two speakers, a new idea for the time. The seats were similar but were trimmed in a plush cloth fabric. The rear seat featured a fold down armrest.
In April 1959, Crown Prince Akihito was presented with the first Gloria as a wedding gift. According to the article found in Japanese Wikipedia, the Gloria got its name as a tribute when the first series BLSI sedan was presented to the then Crown Prince Akihito, the future Emperor of Japan, and Princess Michiko as an anniversary gift after one year of marriage. The Prince Automotive Industry was the official vehicle supplier to the Imperial Household Agency at that time, previously known as Fuji Precision Technology. Previously, the Crown Prince was also presented with the first Prince Sedan earlier.
In February 1960 the BLSIP-2 was released. The front end was modified with quad headlights and although the grille opening remained the same, the grille itself was changed, with six thick horizontal bars replacing the 13 thin horizontal bars. The rear end was completely redesigned; the tail lights were moved low to just above the rear bumper. The tail fins were capped off with stainless steel trim that ran from one fin, down under the trunk lid opening and back up the fin on the other side. The trunk lid featured a "Prince" badge and a "Gloria" badge to the right of it. The panel between the tail lights was covered in metal trim. Side trim remained identical from the BLSIP-1. The BLSIP-2 continued to use the GB-30 engine.
In February 1961 the BLSIP-3 was released. It featured the new 94 hp (95 PS) 1.9 L GB-4 inline-four engine. The front end was changed slightly, with the "PRINCE" grille letters removed and instead a Prince badge on the left front side of the hood. The side trim and rear trim panels remained identical to the BLSIP-2.
The suspension used double wishbone and coil springs in the front, and De Dion setup in the back.
Later in 1962, Prince introduced the second generation, "S40" Gloria. It was the first six-cylinder Prince, while also offering an updated straight-four, the 94 hp (70 kW) 1.9 L G-2. On June 1963, the first mass-produced Japanese SOHC six-cylinder engine was introduced, known as the G-7, and was installed in the new Gloria Super 6, model S41. The same engine was used in the Gloria 6 Estate and in a commercial delivery van called "Gloria 6 Wagon". This new engine produces 106 hp SAE (79 kW) at 5,400 rpm, with a new SOHC head. The Gloria has an independent suspension in front and a de Dion tube in the back.
A prototype of the second generation Gloria had many design similarities to the Chevrolet Corvair, and Hino Contessa, but the production version was completely redesigned. The Gloria shows some visual similarities to the 1959 Buick LeSabre, Invicta, and Electra, as evidenced in the strong character/beltline that encompasses the car, the wrap-around windshield and rear window, and the rear roof extension over the rear window. This Gloria also made it into export markets, for instance going on sale in Finland in April 1965.
On October 1962 at the 9th All-Japan Auto show, the 2.5 L G-11 engine was presented, although it was not immediately installed in any car. On May 1964, the Grand Gloria S44P was released. Its introduction preceded the 1964 Summer Olympics held later in October. This vehicle included electric power windows and the 2.5 L engine. This was the first Gloria that was no longer regarded as a compact sedan under Japanese vehicle classification regulations due to the engine displacement exceeding two litres.
The second Japan Grand Prix saw the G7B-R Gloria Super 6 engine win the T-VI class race, albeit installed in a lighter Skyline.
In 1966 the S41-2 series was introduced. The exterior remained the same from the S40-1 models, except the grille which had bigger rectangular slots. At the same time Prince merged with Nissan and because of this the badges were changed. In non-Asian markets the cars were sold as the Prince B200. Many cars featured a small "Nissan" badge on the back. The data tag in the engine compartment mentioned both Prince and Nissan. In some European markets the Gloria was sold as the PMC-Mikado Gloria 6. The Super Gloria was sold in export markets as the Prince B250. The S41-2 series continued to use the low compression version of the G-7 engine and the S44-2 continued to use the G-11 engine. The four cylinder engine was dropped.
The Gloria was the first Prince to be assembled outside Japan when New Zealand importer Croyden Motors contracted Steel Brothers Addington to assemble an initial 300 units from CKD kits at a new 1,000-unit factory specially built for the job.
April 1967 saw a restyle of the bodywork, and all Prince vehicles were now known as Nissan (but the A30 Gloria was officially registered as "Prince" to the Government). The former Prince company, now integrated into Nissan operations, was given the task of designing the Nissan Prince Royal, to be used by the Imperial Household, and thus presented a special version of the Gloria which had a similar appearance to the previous Prince Royal. The styling of this generation appears to be influenced by Cadillacs during the same time period. Vehicles designated as the Super Deluxe, the Super 6 and Van Deluxe had the 6-cylinder engine, whereas the Standard and Van Standard used the 4-cylinder engine. Later the Super Deluxe GL became the top trim level. Due to the Gloria and Cedric being combined to save on production costs, the De Dion axle previously used by the Prince Gloria was downgraded to a solid rear axle with leaf springs.
The original model was the PA30 sedan and VPA30 wagon, originally fitted with Prince's own G7 six-cylinder engine. The four-cylinder version, with Nissan's H20 engine, was called A30 or VA30. In November 1969 Prince's six-cylinder motor was swapped for a Nissan unit; from now on the chassis code is HA30. Disc brakes for the front wheels were added to the options list.
With the introduction of the fourth generation in 1971, the Gloria model was merged with its former competitor, the Nissan Cedric, to become the Nissan Gloria. This name was also used in some export markets instead of the Cedric or 260C moniker. The Prince dealership network that sold the Gloria was renamed Nissan Prince Store, and the Gloria took the top level vehicle offered at Nissan Prince, while the Nissan Skyline became the junior model.
The appearance of the A30 Gloria is very similar to the Nissan Prince Royal, built exclusively for the Emperor of Japan.
This generation of Prince was also assembled in New Zealand by Steel Brothers in Christchurch but was now badged as a Nissan Gloria though it was still imported by Croyden Motors, a separate company to Datsun importer Nissan-Datsun NZ Ltd. A total of 900 Prince and Nissan Glorias were built in NZ [Assembly, Mark Webster, 2002, p144] which corresponds to the annual low-volume import licence allocation of 300 CKD units a year under government policy of the time. Following the merger of Prince and Nissan in Japan, the Gloria in NZ effectively was replaced by Nissan-Datsun imports of Japanese-assembled Datsun 2300 Personal Six sedans and, later, imported 240C and locally assembled 260C sedans.
Starting with this generation on February 1971, the Cedric and Gloria were essentially the same vehicle, with the Gloria being more upscale than the Cedric. The hood ornament is a stylized version of the Japanese Paper Crane (Orizuru). The primary differences are the hood, radiator grille, taillights and wheel covers. This generation saw Nissan use the "coke bottle styling" appearance, shared with other 1970s Nissan products. The front of the vehicle shares some visual appearances with the 1967–1968 Mercury Marquis.
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