B16Skyline: Company of the Decade Nomination

Now, as you know, I have nominated the Toyota Prius for Car of the Decade. But does that mean Toyota is my nomination of Company of the Decade? Maybe. After all, it rightfully deserves it. It overtook GMC's top spot of Automotive King. It dominates the hybrid market, on the edge to dominate the minivan sector, and pushes a competitive luxury line, which is about to release a Audi-Ferrarri-Lamborghini-Corvette-Porshe killing machine called the LFA.

But it lacks something. It lacks a power-pushing pocket-rocket. It used to be the Supra, Celica, and MR2. There was a brief span where Toyota had pulled all of it's sports cars of the market, and put in the MR2 Spyder, which looked like a prototype Porsche. From 15 years before. Froggy headlights, undersized side scoops, and an ugly convertible. It was replaced in 2005 by Toyota's new line-up, the Scion's tC. It looked great, sounded great, loaded with great standard options, and had the right price tag. But it was soft (161 bhp out of a 2.5), and couldn't lay down the firepower like a Acura Integra Type-R. Toyota has tried to get back on track with the FT-86, and right on Toyota is, except for the fact that we'll have to wait until 2013 (or later) to see these cars on the road.

So. Where does that leave us?

Honda maybe? No, not until it brings back a NSX that can blow the GT-R and LFA out of the water.

How about BMW? Nope. Not when everyone in CA has one just to look rich. (Personally, I wish Americans would adopt the attitude the Europeans have when it comes to BMW's; buy'em for the sheer horsepower+ superior handling, not for the plush leather seats)

Mercedes Benz? Ditto.

Nissan? Now we're talking. Nissan sets itself apart with competitors with it's impressive Infiniti line-up, sport Z line, all headed by a GT-R. But especially because of the Z-line. Each one has left a lasting impression on the automotive world, all the way back to the days of the Datsun's. Each one became an instant hit, bolstered by media hype, and as soon as the next Z came out, became a trendy classic.

Backing this up is Nissan's luxury lineup, the Infiniti series. First off, with a name like Infiniti, you can't really go wrong. Each car in the modern Z line has its counterpart in the Infiniti, 200sx/240sx to the G20, 350z to the G35, and now, the 370 to G37. Even the SUV's have their own counterparts; Rogue to the EX35, and Murano to the FX35.

Every one of those Infiniti models always look classy whenever and where-ever they want to go, whether it be a weekend cruise on the freeway, to road-rage mountain downhill touge races (if those racers could even afford one). Infiniti chose to drape all its cars in a showcase gunmetal gray, which just seems right. I could never image an Infiniti showcased in anything other. White would look cheap, and piano black would push it into the mush pot that is known as Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz. Any other color is just... well, weird.

And the king atop this all, the Nissan GT-R. 485-horspower-twin-charged-3.8-liter-V6. Nissan's Proprietary ATTESA ET-S AWD system. Dual-clutch six-speed automated manual transmission. Suspension with adjustable dampers. Blistering fast 0-60 speeds under 4 seconds. And topping it all off, and amazing system that Nissan fondly calls, "launch control". (Which was so powerful, Nissan had to redesign it for 2010 so it wouldn't tear rear axle off)

The GT-R spawned from the legendary Skyline series, which in the 1990's took the racing world, threw it into a black hole, and parked itself where it used to be. Back from the R33, the Skyline has been an icon of touge inspired animes, mangas and movies, and still is common on track scenes everywhere. Now, Nissan has taken all it's learned from the Skyline, and created the 2009 GT-R. It's rumored that in developement, the GT-R was code named LK-35, which supposedly stands for Lamborghini Killer R35. So now you can get a Italian-bull-slaughtering machine for somewhere around 100k. Seriously, doesn't get much better than that.