Prince Gloria History
History
The Gloria was introduced in February 1959 as Prince's prestige flagship, designed to appeal to government ministries and senior executives. Crown Prince Akihito received the first example as a wedding anniversary gift in April 1959, cementing its status as a car of national significance. The name 'Gloria' was chosen as a tribute to the royal household.
The second-generation Gloria S4 series (from 1962) raised the technical stakes considerably: in June 1963 Prince fitted it with Japan's first mass-produced SOHC (single overhead camshaft) six-cylinder engine, the 2.0-litre G7, producing 106 PS at 5,400 rpm. The Gloria Super 6 was the result — a genuine technological milestone for Japanese industry. The Grand Gloria S44P followed in May 1964, ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, offering a 2.5-litre engine and electric power windows.
When Prince merged into Nissan in 1966, the Gloria continued under Nissan badging and remained a long-running Japanese luxury nameplate sold in parallel with the Nissan Cedric through the 1990s.
Generations
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First generation · BLSI series
Photo: “Prince-GloriaBLSI.jpg” by Kzaral / Wikimedia Commons , licensed under CC BY 2.0 . Cropped to 16:9.
Luxury sedan derived from the Skyline ALSI platform; presented to Crown Prince Akihito in 1959.
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Second generation · S4 series
Photo: “Prince S41D-1 Gloria Super 6 (open version) (23050410432).jpg” by 先従隗始 / Wikimedia Commons — CC0 1.0 . Cropped to 16:9.
Introduced Japan's first mass-produced SOHC six (2.0-litre G7, 106 PS) in the Gloria Super 6; Grand Gloria added 2.5-litre engine and electric windows for 1964.
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1963 Photo: “1963 Prince Gloria 01.jpg” by Mytho88 / Wikimedia Commons , licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 . Cropped to 16:9.
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1964 Photo: “Prince Gloria Super 6 Model 41, 1964 (7137367483).jpg” by Iwao from Tokyo, Japan / Wikimedia Commons , licensed under CC BY 2.0 . Cropped to 16:9.
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Body styles
- Sedan
- Wagon
Notable special editions & performance variants
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Gloria Super 6
First Japanese production car with an SOHC six-cylinder engine (2.0-litre G7, 106 PS) — a landmark in postwar Japanese automotive engineering.
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Grand Gloria
Flagship long-wheelbase variant with 2.5-litre engine and electric power windows, launched ahead of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
Related models