- Nissan and Italdesign build ultra-limited GT-R
- 2018 Nissan GT-R Nismo the foundation
- Celebration of 50 years of GT-R and Italdesign
YOKOHAMA, Japan / TURIN, Italy – Nissan and Italdesign have created a prototype Nissan GT-R50 through their first collaboration.
The car is based on a production 2018 Nissan GT-R Nismo and will commemorate the 50th anniversaries of both the GT-R and Italdesign.
It will have its debut in Europe in August.
Alfonso Albaisa, Nissan’s senior vice-president for global design, told The Corner in a media release: “How often do you get to ask, ‘What if we created a GT-R without limits’ – then built it?
DISTINCTIVELY CRISP
“This is a rare intersection of 50 years of Italdesign shaping the automotive world and 50 years of Nissan generating excitement through the GT-R. To celebrate this convergence, Nissan and Italdesign created this custom GT-R to mark 50 years of engineering leadership.”
Italdesign developed, engineered and built the car though the distinctive, crisp, exterior and interior design came from teams at Nissan Design Europe and Nissan Design America.
ROOFLINE DROPPED
Starting at the front, this GT-R50 has a distinct golden inner element that stretches almost the width of the vehicle. The bonnet is said to have a more pronounced power bulge and the thin diode headlights stretch from wheel arches to the outer cooling intakes.
The roof line has been dropped by 54mm and has a lower centre section; the slightly raised outer parts ”add a muscular look”. Signature GT-R “samurai blade” cooling vents behind the front wheels have been made more obvious with gold inlays.
The car’s rear width has been emphasised with wide wheel arches, the rear window is longer and deeper than that on the standard car, and there are more gold elements.
The GT-R’s twin round tail-lights seem to float and a large, adjustable, rear wing is said to complete the overall look – as indeed do custom wheels – 21×10” front and 21×10.5” rear.
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Two different carbon-fibre finishes cover the centre console, instruments and door linings; the seats are upholstered with black Alcantara and black Italian leather. More gold accents appear on the instrument panel, doors and the race car-inspired switches. The steering-wheel’s hub and spokes are carbon-fibre.
So what about the guts of the car? Well, the developers hand re-assembled a 3.8-litre V6 engine to produce an estimated 540kW / 780Nm.
Engine amendments include twin, high-flow, large-diameter, GT3 competition-spec turbochargers and larger intercoolers; heavy-duty crankshaft, pistons, connecting rods and bearings; high-flow piston oil jets; revised camshaft profiles; higher-flow fuel-injectors; and optimised ignition, intake and exhaust systems.
A reinforced dual-clutch sequential six-speed rear transaxle and stronger differentials and drive shafts deliver the power to the wheels.
The suspension uses Bilstein DampTronic continuously adjustable shock-absorbers; the brakes are six-piston front and four-piston rear red Brembos, and the whole plot rides on Michelin Pilot Super Sport tyres, 255/35 front and 285/30 rear.
And the last word from Albaisa: ”This is not the next-generation GT-R… it’s an exciting celebration of two anniversaries that wraps one of Nissan’s best engineering platforms and Japanese design with Italian coachbuilding.”
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