In 1940 in the United States a standard for vehicle lighting was agreed to, and from that point onwards passenger cars used a pair of 7 inch headlights as standard equipment on all models. So when the world's biggest car market requires a specific piece of equipment as standard then the rest of the world tends to follow, and for 17 years pretty much everyone fitted two 7 inch headlights to their cars.
All that changed in 1957 when the Americans decided that a 4 headlight design using 5 3/4 inch headlights would also be acceptable, and within a year Cadillac, Chrysler and Nash had all switched to Quad headlights. Suddenly everyone was fitting quad headlights and Prince was no exception, with the upgraded Skyline ALSI-2-1 sporting a fancy new quad lamp array.
It has to be said that the hasty solution of expanding the headlight openings into a weird oblong shape to accommodate the extra lamps was not the prettiest or the most well integrated design I have seen, but it acted as a stop gap measure until a properly integrated design could be found. The quad design was also carried across to the pickup truck and delivery van variants, but at this stage the standard model retained the old twin headlight design instead.
Standard models had a change in their side strip design at this time. The previous model had a side strip that dipped down into a shallow V when it reached the front door, the new model had the V located in the rear door instead. DeLuxe models had a broad strip along the side of the car that was painted in a contrasting colour, which was surrounded by a thin chrome strip.
All models continued to use the same FG4A-40 1484cc engine, which produced 70hp. A luxury variant was also sold as the BLSIP-2 Prince Gloria, which had a larger 1900cc engine.
A few months later in September 1960 an updated version of the standard model called the ALSIS-2-2 series was released. At this time the standard model switched from twin headlights to the same quad lamps used in the other models. At this time the deLuxe model changed its designation to ALSID-2-2, but this does not appear to have changed in any way from the ALSID-2-1. This model was in production until May 1961 when it was replaced with a larger engined version.
The ALSIS-2-1 was the standard sedan model. Initially when the new ALSI-2-1 range came out all of the sedans and commercial variants featured the new quad headlight design, except for the standard.
In September 1960 an updated version called the ALSIS-2-2 was released, and the standard model now featured the same quad headlight design as the other models in the range.
The ALSI-2 was available with a larger 1900cc engine and a more luxurious cabin. This version was sold as a different model, the Prince Gloria. Information about this model can be found on the BLSIP-2 Gloria page of this website.
The Skyway ALPE-2 was a 2 door 4 seater pickup version of the ALSI-2. More information about this model can be found on the Prince AIPE-1 page.
Commercial variants were badged as Skyway instead of Skyline. The ALVG-2 Skyway is the delivery van version. More information about this model can be found in the ALPE page of this website.
The ALSI-2 was available with a larger 1900cc engine and a more luxurious cabin. This version was sold as a different model, the Prince Gloria. Information about this model can be found on the BLSIP-2 Gloria page of this website.
Length - 4360mm
Width - 1675mm
Height - 1535mm
Wheelbase - 2535mm
Weight - 1310kg
Top speed - 130kph
Transmission - 4 speed manual
Model - FG4A-40
OHV 4 Cylinder
Capacity - 1484cc
Bore & Stroke 75x84mm
Power - 70hp@4000rpm
Torque- 11.5kgm@2000rpm
Compression - 8.3/1
Carburettor - unknown
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