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The Rarest R35 Nissan GT-R Finally Enters Production, It’s Styled by Italdesign

The R35 is a very different animal from the Godzillas before it. Not only did this GT-R drop the Skyline handle but it has also transitioned from inline-sixes to a V6 engine architecture in the guise of the VR38DETT.
2021 Nissan GT-R50 by Italdesign special edition 11 photos
Photo: Nissan
2021 Nissan GT-R50 by Italdesign special editionadmin.autoevolution.com:50502021 Nissan GT-R50 by Italdesign special editionadmin.autoevolution.com:50502021 Nissan GT-R50 by Italdesign special editionadmin.autoevolution.com:50502021 Nissan GT-R50 by Italdesign special editionadmin.autoevolution.com:50502021 Nissan GT-R50 by Italdesign special editionadmin.autoevolution.com:50502021 Nissan GT-R50 by Italdesign special editionadmin.autoevolution.com:50502021 Nissan GT-R50 by Italdesign special editionadmin.autoevolution.com:50502021 Nissan GT-R50 by Italdesign special editionadmin.autoevolution.com:50502021 Nissan GT-R50 by Italdesign special editionadmin.autoevolution.com:50502021 Nissan GT-R50 by Italdesign special edition
What boggles the mind is that Nissan rolled out the front-engine, all-wheel-drive land missile in 2007 and kept making incremental changes to the recipe for 13 years and counting. The pinnacle of the R35 series, however, also happens to be the rarest of the lot in the guise of the GT-R 50 by Italdesign.

Revealed quite some time ago with the GT-R NISMO as the building block, the special edition has finally entered production. Only 50 examples will ever be made, and the one you’re looking at is the first of the lot.

Presented with great pomp and circumstance by Italdesign head honcho Jorg Astalosch at the Tazio Nuvolari racing circuit in Italy, the road-going model also happens to be the most powerful R35 from the factory. The 3.8-liter V6 with two thumpin’ great turbos is rated at 720 PS, translating to 710 horsepower or the same output as the McLaren 720S mid-engine supercar.

Initially developed as a concept that pays tribute to the 50th anniversaries of Italdesign in 2018 and GT-R in 2019, the GT-R 50 is said to benefit from “strong customer demand” and “a significant number of deposits already taken.” Every customer can choose period-correct liveries and many more tailor-made options, even though Nissan hasn’t talked about their pricing.

What we do know, however, is that European customers need to pony up 900,000 euros for the base spec. That’s 987,250 dollars in the U.S. at current exchange rates, but more importantly, GT-R 50 money could get you eight entry-level models or four GT-R NISMO models. Yup, it’s pretty expensive!

On a related note, Nissan is understood to be working on the R36 in addition to the 400Z sports car. The successor to the R35 isn’t likely to get hybrid assistance as the first rumors were suggesting but an evolution of the front-midship FM vehicle architecture and a redesigned VR38DETT in addition to a few more upgrades to the dual-clutch transmission and AWD system.

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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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