Nissan GT-R50

When Nissan presented the GT-R50 by Italdesign this summer, many people believed in a first concept study on the upcoming successor of the Japanese sports car GT-R, which is in production since 2007. However, it was rather a special design based on the well-known GT-R Nismo and Nissan wanted to draw attention to the 50th anniversary of the GT-R series in 2019. At the same time, they teamed up with the Italian design house Italdesign, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2018.

Nissan designers from Europe and the USA worked alongside the Italdesign staff on this car. Originally it was supposed to be a one-off with grey paint and golden accents, but the response of the audience meant that internally the feasibility of a low-volume production was tested. For this purpose, the unique car appeared after the Goodwood Festival of Speed also at events at the racetrack Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium, at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion in the United States and at Nissan Crossing in Tokyo/Japan, to catch up with further public reactions. Ultimately, the decision was made in favor of a limited edition of just 50 vehicles, for which the order books are now open.

The design and optics are only changed in minor details. In addition, the 50 lucky customers are of course able to choose both the main paint color and the contrast tone. Even for the leather upholstery in the interior there are various options, according to Nissan. They can be combined with different equipment packages.

Under the bonnet, the 3.8-liter V8 twin-turbo engine from the Nissan GT-R Nismo is used, but here receives a whopping power increase to 530 kW/720 hp. This extra power results from the larger turbochargers of the GT3 racing version, larger intercoolers, a high-performance crankshaft, modified pistons, connecting rods and bearing along with high-performance piston oil nozzles and larger injectors. There are also sharper camshafts and new engine control software. It remains to be seen whether, as in the concept car, a sequential six-speed transmission instead of the dual-clutch gearbox of the normal GT-R will put the power to the all-wheel drive system. The basic price for the Nissan GT-R50, however, is already known. It is 990,000 euros net. Including VAT this means in Germany it is available for at least 1,178,100 euros. Since the 50 vehicles are predominantly handmade, Nissan set up a production period from the beginning of 2019 into the year 2020.

Images: Nissan