When the already legendary Nissan GTR made its return to the United States in 2009, it was met with high demand and excitement. In 2018, going on its 10th year of U.S. production and the 50th anniversary of the GTR nameplate, not much had changed for the car. Special edition models like the Black Edition and GTR Nismo brought slightly more power and aggressive looks, but more or less, the GTR stayed the same. That’s when a collaboration between Nissan and Italian coach builder Italdesign, brought us the GTR50.
GTR50 Design
Italdesign was responsible for engineering, developing and building the car while Nissan Design Europe and America designed the exterior and interior. The results speak for themselves with sleek yet aggressive looks and futuristic lines. Standout design queues include the Samurai sword shaped cooling outlets, an adjustable rear wing, a lowered roofline and elongated LED headlights. The GTR50 is over 3 inches wider and longer than regular GTR models. Energetic Sigma Gold body trim pieces contrast well against the Liquid Kinetic Grey paint. The signature circle GTR taillights are thin light rings with hollowed centers, making the lights appear as if they were floating.
GTR50 Power
Powering the GTR50 is a hand built 3.8-liter V6 VR38DETT. Tuned in-house by NISMO, it produces over 700 horsepower and 580 lb-ft of torque, making it the most powerful GTR available at the time. The GTR50 also features adaptive Bilstein suspension, BREMBO brakes, competition spec turbochargers, and a reinforced dual-clutch 6 speed transmission. Performance numbers are impressive, with an expected 0 to 60 miles per hour time of about 2.9 seconds and a top speed of 195 miles per hour.
GTR50 Pricing
When the Nissan GTR50 by Italdesign was first announced in 2018, it was noted that they planned to produce 50 cars. However, for a variety of reasons, including COVID production slowdowns, only 19 cars were ever made. Customer ordering officially stopped in the Summer of 2021. The GTR50 easily became the most expensive new Nissan with a MSRP of around $1,100,000. Each customer also had the opportunity to spec the car to their liking, making all 19 cars individual.
