The Silvia Racing Helmet
The story behind the Nissan Dealer Launch Exhibition and the novelty NEW Silvia Racing Helmet gift.
This is Nissan News Topics, an internal newsletter distributed by Nissan to its dealership network. This edition was published on August 23rd 1983 by the Nissan News Editorial Office.
The newsletter announced the launch of the all-new Silvia and Gazelle models.
Nissan has completely redesigned its small specialty cars, the Nissan Silvia and Nissan Gazelle, and will release them nationwide on August 23rd.
The Silvia was developed in February 1965 as Japan's first “specialty car,” with the S10 model released in October 1975 and the S100 model released in March 1979. It has always been popular among young people and new families due to its cutting-edge, innovative styling and agile, light driving performance.
The new Silvia/Gazelle, which has been completely redesigned for the first time in four years and five months, retains the basic concept of the previous model, but more clearly emphasizes the sportiness and fashionability that are required of specialty cars in the increasingly diverse lifestyles of the late 1980s. In particular, by combining high-performance engines such as turbo and DOHC with advanced mechanisms such as independent suspension, it has become a full-fledged small specialty car that is agile and sporty, and thoroughly pursues driving functionality.
Both the Silvia and Gazelle are available in two body types: coupe and hatch pack. The engines available are the FJ20E-T engine, a 4-valve DOHC with 190 horsepower, the highest in the 2000-class in Japan, and the FJ20E engine (Silvia only), as well as the CABS and CABE four-cylinder OHC 180cc engines, which are renowned for their compact size, light weight, and low fuel consumption, and the newly developed CABE-T engine (with turbocharger).
Nissan also outlined how the dealerships would handle the new model sales…
As a result, the new Silvia/Gazelle engine variations will be five Silvia models and four Gazelle models, with 23 basic Silvia models and 17 Gazelle models to meet a wide range of demand. Sales of the Silvia will be handled by Nissan Sunny dealerships nationwide, and the Gazelle by Nissan Motor dealerships nationwide. The immediate sales target is 3,500 Silvias per month and 1,500 Gazelles per month.
“Brand new White Lightning Silvia is born,”
“The new Gazelle is born, a dream come true.”
The bottom section of the inside page includes an invitation to the Exhibition…
All Nissan News
Exhibition Announcement: September 10th - 11th
Please invite your family & friends to your nearest Sunny or Laurel dealership. Gifts will be available at the event.
Sunny dealers will be giving away a unique coin case made from a miniature racing helmet to anyone who completes a survey on the day, which can be used as an accessory on your desk or in your car.
In November 2025 I managed to find a brand new and boxed Nissan Silvia Racing Helmet and paired it with the Nissan News Topics publication I found shortly before it. These two make for a unique part of my collection and are amongst my favourites.
The box is a little battered, but overall in good condition for something over 40 years old. The box has stood the test of time and has protected the gift it holds.
The helmet opens up to reveal the coin storage space. Two central stacks ready to be filled with 100¥ coins. The inside of this helmet looks brand new and unused, fortunately it didn't make it on to a dealers desk and get some use.
An unused sticker sheet is also in the box, ready to design your own custom racing helmet. The Japanese text sticker reads “White Lightning”
