This anime series featured the first realistically-combining giant robot. In this case, Combattler V was five vehichles that combined into one giant robot. The toys for this series (provided by Bandai) were so successful that they were included in Mattel's phenomenal "Shogun Warriors" toy line, as well as Bandai America's popular "Godaikin" line. In the "Shogun Warriors" collection, Combattler V is renamed "Combattra".
Although Getter Robo (1974), was actually the first heroic combo-robot, Combattler V directly inspired not only similar giant robot anime (Beast King GoLion (1981), better known as "Voltron" in the U.S., is actually one of several offshoots of this series), but also the giant robots featured in the Sentai Series (starting with Battle Fever J (1979)).
One of the sub-plots of the series is that the female pilot Chizuru Nanbara is suffering from valvular heart disease, but does not want to share the information with her teammates. She only seeks surgery after the heart problem nearly kills her during a battle. This was a relatively realistic treatment of medical problems in a science fiction series, somewhat atypical for its era.