Stepping into the main display paddock during last weekend’s R’s Meeting at Fuji Speedway, there was one car that stood out more than even the trio of Nismo demo machines in front of it – a 2017 GT-R from Top Secret.

I was beginning to think that Kazuhiko ‘Smoky’ Nagata had ignored the face-lifted R35 that was released last April, but 2016 was a busy year for the legendary tuner and lover of burnouts.

One project in particular would have consumed a fair amount of time, and that’s the crazy VR38-swapped BNR32 Skyline GT-R he showed us at the Nismo Festival last December. It’s actually in the image above, behind the new orange R35.

But finally attention has been turned to the Tamura-san-directed GT-R, and as has always been the case with Top Secret’s san-go projects, the first order of business was the exterior where the car now wears a completely redesigned bumper and grille section.

Elegantly executed, this custom touch has visibly elongated the nose while drastically changing up the whole presence of the car. And like all recent demo machines from the Chiba-based tuner, the R35 sits on OZ Racing wheels, in this instance Superforgiatas from the OZ Atelier Forged line with special Top Secret detailing added.

I think we can consider this an initial step with a lot more to follow, because if there’s one thing we can say about Smoky, it’s that he never disappoints with his demo cars.

You can expect to see a further evolved version of this car at the Tokyo Auto Salon early next year, but Top Secret has definitely got a big job on its hands if it wants to go one-up on the VR38 R32 GT-R.

Dino Dalle Carbonare
Instagram: speedhunters_dino
dino@speedhunters.com