This is the sort of car we want to see coming from Nissan – the perfect fusion of Japanese performance, Nissan global design, and engineering by a legendary Italian coachbuilder.
The GT-R50 celebrates 50 years of GT-R and Italdesign, and it’s something extremely special.
But don’t get confused, this has nothing to do with the next generation GT-R that the whole performance motoring world eagerly awaits.
Think of this as an R35 without limits; it features a bespoke exterior with performance on par with the world’s best supercars.
The basis of the build is a 2018 Nismo GT-R, but the engine and transmission package is pure GT3 race spec. That means a block featuring stronger crankshaft, connecting rods and pistons, revised heads with more aggressive camshafts, larger turbos, higher flowing injectors, and intake and exhaust systems to match.
With 710hp and 780Nm available, the dual-clutch transmission has also been reworked with GT3-spec clutch packs and gears, as well as beefier differentials and drive shafts. Handling and stopping haven’t been forgotten either; there’s special Bilstein dampers and a revised Brembo braking package able to cope with the engine’s impressive output.
It’s pretty much the top-of-the-line GT-R that we’ve all dreamed about, and now – 11 years after the R35 first hit the market – an actual thing. Albeit a celebratory prototype.
The exterior pen work is a collaboration between Nissan’s London and San Diego design studios, while Italdesign was tasked with bringing it to life in the real world. The design treatment is pretty wild with the roof line being lowered by 54mm to create a more flowing profile, stretched LED headlights that flow into wider front fenders, and a completely reworked rear end featuring floating ‘afterburner’ taillights, an active wing, and ample gold highlights to ensure we all understand this is just a prototype.
The GT-R50 is then finished off with a set of 21-inch wheels, 10-inches wide at the front and 10.5-inches wide at the rear, wrapped in Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires to get the newfound performance to the road.
The GT-R50’s interior has far simpler design language. It’s all more flowing for a higher-end feel and there are expanses of carbon fiber, leather and Alcantara covering every surface, not to mention the gold accents that tie it all in to the exterior. You may have noticed that the Multi Function Display and complex center console have been eliminated, and the stock instrumentation replaced by a MoTeC digital dash display that hints at the GT3 race engine up front.
As the replacement for the R35 gets closer, maybe this is Nissan’s way of reminding us that the GT-R is still around. Whatever the GT-R50 is though, we really like the performance side of it; perhaps Nissan aren’t as boring as we were beginning to think they were…
Let us know your thoughts below in the comment section.
Dino Dalle Carbonare
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Going out on a limb here. This car is beautiful. Never thought I would say that about a GT-R
Beautiful would be the wrong adjective to use for an R34, it's aggressive, it looks mean and pissed off much like the STI versions of Imprezas or the various gens of the Lancer Evo. Only real beautiful cars that came out of Japan are the FD and the original NSX IMO
Common Dino - 2000GT - S30Z....
>Not liking the R32 or R34
get a load of this guy
The 32 is the best looking GT-R to me, but they aren't beautiful. This thing has lines and curves you aren't likely to find on a Japanese woman let alone one of their cars.
I think R34 looks heavy and cumbersome. Never liked it. R32 looks good though not that special when stock. Hakosuka and Kenmeri are the only ones I'd call beautiful. Not a GT-R but R30 coupe looks ace. It has a bit of Lancia Gamma coupe flair in it. The nice thing about beauty is that it's in the eye of the beholder
32 and 34 look good, but good looks don't necessarily equate to beauty... and on a personal note I think the 33 looked better than either of those two.
Yeah, I gotta agree. The R32 is the "race classic" of the three. With the R34 being the car that thanks to media and games made the GTR a recognized name in the world. But the R33 is my fave; especially in purple.
Unfortunately, it must be said, none of them are all that remarkable styling wise. The R35 is borderline ugly. At least they all make up for it in spades with their performance.
This would be awesome if Italdesign actually made the new GT-R
It will be a monster more than ever!
That would be a dream, but it won't happen it will be prohibitively expansive and drive up the price of the car even more. Look what a GTR Nismo sells for these days. It's completely lost the point, the GT-R was always supposed to be a performance bargain
Ohmygawwwwwwd!!!!! Trouble is all I'd get into in that!! Wowwwwwwza I WANT IT!!!!!!
The exterior lines are way more beautiful,but for me the interior is what screams class and high end the most,please Nissan take notes
Wow. Park this next to a Liberty Walk version, beauty vs tacky
Take my money !!!
1: This could easily reconsidered as R36 instead of that weird renders that keeps showing as the new GT-R
2: I'm 3 pedals all the time but with this amount of technology and power (and GT3 specs) i'll complain about the dual clutch
3: Just make it Real, i can live with 1 kidney.
I'm guessing 50 will be made. Price will be astronomical and they will sell out instantly, all go to collectors that will never use them.
The R35 weighs about 3900 lbs while the 911 GT2RS is fit and agile to fight at about 3280 lbs. Compare these two is like comparing the 280 lbs butterbean vs the prime Mohammad Ali at 205 lbs. Nissan just simply can't compete with Porsche. The only 'salvation' is its much lower price than the 911.
The 911 GT2 RS was just released, and based on a comprehensively overhauled design in the 991 series. The GT-R rides on a design that is fundamentally over 10 years old, a third of the price of the GT2 RS, as you've mentioned - even in Nismo guise - and can still bring it with the best of them. If you're going to make a sweeping statement like "Nissan just simply can't compete with Porsche", at least use a valid comparison. When the R35 GT-R launched in 2007, it was roundly lauded as being a more capable car than the 911 Turbo, for half the price, and all Porsche could do was have a big whinge.
After all that, with GT3 running gear and upgraded suspension & brakes under this car, I wouldn't be so sure that the GT2 RS is going to run away with this one.
1. "A third of the price of the GT2 RS". Where do you get the figure boy? Go and contact dealers from coast to coast in the lower 48 and prove it. You just bluff and make up the figure don't you? Admit it. This car has NOT been sold yet to public. How do you know what the price is? Crystal ball?
2. The fundamental weakness / achilles heel of R35 GTR has always been its weight. Performance / high end 911 like the GT3 or GT2 weighs about 3300 - 3400 lbs R35 at around 3900 lbs. A 500 - 600 lbs difference makes a substantial difference in braking, handling, acceleration. Yes R35 is a "bargain" but money no object 911 is the better car and for much less than the price of a R35, I will get the Hellcat Redeye with even more power but another 500 lbs heavier.
3. The point is: The biggest reason R35 can't outperform the 911 is because it carries excess weight.
Ouch, that was more than a little condescending. Firstly, I'm not from the US - prices are a little different in Australia. The GT2 RS retails for $611,000, before options and on-road costs, which could easily add $100k to that. The GT-R Nismo tops out at $299,000 before on-roads, but with few options, the final price is likely less than half of the GT2 RS. The standard GT-R starts at about $180k, so less than a third. Nowhere did I refer to the GT-R50 in my comment - since you didn't either, I thought we were comparing production cars. The GT-R50 doesn't have a price tag, you're right there, because it's a prototype. It might be a heavier car, but that makes the performance and capability of the R35, comparatively, even more impressive. There's no doubt the GT2 RS is a brilliant car, but that doesn't mean the GT-R can't be.
This is a quote from your earlier reply to me: "a third of the price of the GT2 RS". As soon as you made that statement, readers around the world wonder if it is indeed correct.
And it is, for the regular GT-R. Pricing for 2018 in Australia - I just looked it up - start at $189,000 for the R35 GT-R, and $645,400 for the GT2 RS. The GT-R Nismo is more than a third at $299,000 list price, but again, including on-road costs and options, the gap widens. To reiterate, the GT2 RS is a brilliant car, but that doesn't mean that nothing else can be.
Fine but the audience / readers of this site are of various nationalities and not restricted to only Australians. Therefore the price you quoted should have said "Australian Price" which only applies to about 23 millions people. If the same price ratio also holds true in USA and Canada then Nissan will sell a lot more GTRs. By the way you don't see too many in the MidWest, South West. Perhaps only in the West and East coast where a large number of foreign residents live.
Your condescending rant at Lachlan was a bit over the top mate. I just googled the prices of a GTR in the USA and it came up starting at $99,000 and a GT2 RS was $298,000 so exactly a third of the price. That's IF you could buy a GT2 RS for $298,000 given the that they are sold out you'd be looking a hefty premium now.
Anyway the direct Porsche rival to the GT-R is the Turbo(s) not the lightweight special that the GT2 is. So your argument is fundamentally flawed. Yes the GT-R is heavy but it's still an proper performance car, it just built using a different approach to the Germans.
The gtr on the picture has NOT been built yet. How do you know whether it will be a third of gt2 rs price? Crystaoo ball??
Its a fucking concept car you brain dead yank. You are wrong, admit it and move on with your life.
Z-Tune or bust
Those days are over. Nismo cars these days are just marketing exercises. Hopefully that will change but that's nothing more than wishful thinking
I just hope they don’t make it even more expensive.
A specialty body would be massively more expensive, but it's not going into production, so you don't have to worry about it.
Rumors are stating otherwise. Think very limited and very expensive.
It's a bit OTT. Probably too Italian.
The headlights seem too Ferrarish for me...and the back looks borrowed from Lexus. But hopefully it's gonna turn up right..don't mind me.
Well let's not forget the car was designed by Nissan's London & San Diego studios. ItalDesign are just coach building it
it is a beautiful design but the gold accents don't do it for me, IMHO black on black would suit it more
As a long-time GT-R admirer, I have never grown to appreciate the R35 and this is more of the same.
WAAAAAAAYYYY too heavy and American-car-sized, it just doesn't look like a sports car to me in print OR in person...more like an overgrown American car like the Mustang/Camaro/Challenger became.
My '67 Fastback in the day reached my hips at the hood/fenders, todays' Mustang is FAR taller and larger in all areas and my point is the R35 GT-R is the same proportionally compared to the earlier models- bloated, heavy, and seemingly built for large people and comfort first versus power and performance combined with good looks as in the past.
To each his own for sure, but Nissan really lost their way with the GT-R IMO and they still haven't found their way back...
I do agree. I think the car looks good, but since the R33 these GTRs have just looked big and heavy to me. I would be sold if the R36 shaved off some of that body fat. Make it look like a true supercar. With the power output of this GTR50 concept, plus a lightweight shell of a supercar, imagine how fast this thing could be!
while in the talk of GTR is still around. Shoutout to nissan Nissan bring that new Silvia already please ^ ^
Small... lightweight... 2 seater... cheap...
I think most here would agree. But the question is, should it be a competitor for the big(ish)-power Nissan Z or the more affordable Toyota-Subaru coupe?
It should be an inbetween as the next 370Z should be compared to the next Supra. The Silvia - if they make it - should slot in nicely in the middle, more than the 86 but less than the Supra
I totally respect all your ideas. But for me I just wanna have fun with it.
No competition what is better or faster. just a brand new toy ^ ^ to play with
I really think Nissan should show all those other manufacturers how a 2 door rwd should be like ^ ^
IT'S ELECTRIC!!!
nope it's not it's still an r35 with a different look......read properly please
Now that's a very nice R36 there.
As for the exterior, I prefer they change those champagne gold panels into carbon fiber ones.
The interior is great, but they should fit a much "colorful" dash instead. XD
Overall, very well done. (They SHOULD bring a new Fairlady Z as well!)