Car Enthusiast - click here to access the home page


 


Italdesign sexes up the Nissan GT-R. Image by Nissan.

Italdesign sexes up the Nissan GT-R
50th birthday Nissan GT-R special gets more power, new styling, and gold paint...
<< earlier article     later article >>

 


News homepage

What's all this then?

"Gold! Always believe in your soul. You've got the power to know, you're indestructible..."

Why are you singing Spandau Ballet?

Sorry, must have gold on my mind. Can't imagine why.

Anything to do with this unique Nissan GT-R?

Could be. It is after all the 50th, and therefore golden, anniversary of both the Nissan GT-R and the famed Italdesign styling studio (established by the great Giorgetto Giugiaro), and so someone's seen fit to put the two together to create this, Nissan GT-R50 by Italdesign.

What's so special about it?

Well, for a start, it looks different. The result of a collaboration between Nissan's European and American design studios and Italdesign, and it starts at the front where there are new LED lights that reach way down into the bumpers, a new bonnet with a bigger bulge (oooh, matron etc) and a very flash gold inlay in the grille.

Look from the side and the 'Samurai Blade' air vents have the same gold inlay, while the roof has been dropped by 54mm, and given a 'double-bubble' effect with a lower centre section. Those wheels are custom-built 21-inch rims, by the way.

Around the back, there's even more gold trim, plus new lights that take the GT-R's traditional round rear lenses and hollow them out for a rather cool structural effect. There's also a barn-door rear wing, mounted on adjustable struts.

Any mechanical changes?

Oh yes. The famous 3.8-liter V6 VR38DETT engine, still built by hand, gets GT3-race-car-spec turbos, new crankshaft and camshafts, new pistons with high-speed oil jets and a new exhaust system. The result of all that is a whopping 720hp with 780Nm of torque. Reining all that in is revised suspension, with Bilstein adaptive dampers, and new Brembo brakes, with six-pot front callipers (painted red, natch).

And the cabin?

Lashings and lashings of gold, two different carbon-fibre finishes, Alcantara suede and fine, Corinthian black leather.

"How often do you get to ask, 'What if we created a GT-R without limits,' and then actually get to build it?" said Alfonso Albaisa, Nissan's senior vice president for global design. "This is a rare window in time when two big moments intersect: 50 years of Italdesign shaping the automotive world and 50 years of Nissan generating excitement through our iconic GT-R. So, to celebrate this convergence, Nissan and Italdesign created this custom GT-R to mark 50 years of engineering leadership. Although this is not the next-generation GT-R, it is an exciting celebration of two anniversaries in a provocative and creative way - wrapping one of Nissan's best engineering platforms and Japanese design with Italian coachbuilding."

Are they going to actually build and sell these?

Not officially yet, but you never know your luck...



Neil Briscoe - 29 Jun 2018


2018 Nissan GT-R50 by Italdesign. Image by Nissan.2018 Nissan GT-R50 by Italdesign. Image by Nissan.2018 Nissan GT-R50 by Italdesign. Image by Nissan.2018 Nissan GT-R50 by Italdesign. Image by Nissan.2018 Nissan GT-R50 by Italdesign. Image by Nissan.

2018 Nissan GT-R50 by Italdesign. Image by Nissan.2018 Nissan GT-R50 by Italdesign. Image by Nissan.2018 Nissan GT-R50 by Italdesign. Image by Nissan.2018 Nissan GT-R50 by Italdesign. Image by Nissan.2018 Nissan GT-R50 by Italdesign. Image by Nissan.









www.nissan.co.uk    - Nissan road tests
- Nissan news
- GT-R images






Land Rover teases new flagship Defender Octa. Image by Land Rover.
Land Rover Defender Octa teaser
The forthcoming, high-performance, top-of-the-range Defender takes its name from the shape of a diamond, apparently.
 
Volkswagen unveils hot ID.3 GTX models. Image by Volkswagen.
VW ID.3 GTX reveal
High-performance electric hatchback will be offered in ‘standard’ and Performance guises.
VW adds go-faster GTX model to ID.7 range. Image by Volkswagen.
VW ID.7 GTX reveal
The hot ID.7 GTX gets 340hp and all-wheel drive, and it’ll be offered in saloon and estate body styles.

 
 215 Racing
 9ff
 A. Kahn Design
 Abarth
 Abt
 AC Cars
 AC Schnitzer
 Acura
 Aehra
 AIM
 Alfa Romeo
 Alpina
 Alpine
 Amari
 APS Sportec
 Arash
 Arden
 Ares
 Ariel
 Arrinera
 Artega
 Ascari
 Aston Martin
 Atalanta
 Atomik
 Audi
 Austin
 Auto Union
 Autodelta
 Autofarm
 Autosport
 AVA
 Avatar
 Axon
 Aznom
 BAC
 BAIC
 Bentley
 Bertone
 Bizzarrini
 Bloodhound
 Bluebird
 BMW
 Bosch
 Bowler
 Brabham
 Brabus
 Breckland
 Bridgestone
 Brilliance
 Bristol
 Bugatti
 Buick
 Burton
 BYD
 Cadillac
 Callaway
 Callum
 Caparo
 Capstone
 Carlsson
 Caterham
 CCG
 Chang'an
 Changfeng
 Chevrolet
 Chevron
 Chongfeng
 Chrysler
 Citroen
 Climax
 Connaught
 Cooper Tires
 Corvette
 Cummins
 Cupra
 Dacia
 Daewoo
 Daihatsu
 Daimler
 Dartz
 Datsun
 David Brown
 David Brown Automotive
 DDR
 De Tomaso
 Delta
 Detroit Electric
 Devon
 Dodge
 Donkervoort
 Drayson
 DS
 Eagle
 Eagle E-type
 EDAG
 edo competition
 Eterniti
 Everrati
 Evisol
 Exagon
 FAB Design

 
 Factory Five
 Faralli & Mazzanti
 Fenix
 Fenomenon
 Ferrari
 Fiat
 Fisker
 Ford
 G-Power
 Geely
 Gemballa
 General Motors
 Genesis
 Ginetta
 Giugiaro
 Glickenhaus
 GMC
 Goodwood
 Google
 Gordon Murray
 Gordon Murray Automotive
 Gordon Murray Design
 Gray Design
 Great Wall
 GTA
 GTM
 Gumpert
 Hamann
 Hartge
 HBH
 Heffner Performance
 Hennessey
 HERE
 HiPhi
 Holden
 Honda
 Hulme
 Hummer
 Hyundai
 I.D.E.A
 Icona
 IFR
 Infiniti
 Ionity
 Isis
 JAC
 Jaguar
 Jeep
 Jensen
 Jetstream
 JJAD
 Joss Developments
 Kahn
 Kamala
 Keating
 Kia
 Koenigsegg
 KTM
 Kumho
 Lada
 Lagonda
 Lamborghini
 Lancia
 Land Rover
 Lexus
 Liberty
 Lightning
 Lincoln
 Lister
 Loma Performance
 Lorinser
 Lotus
 LupiniPower
 Luxgen
 Mahindra
 Mansory
 Maserati
 Mastretta
 Maybach
 Mazda
 McLaren
 Mercedes
 Mercedes-AMG
 Mercedes-Benz
 Mercedes-Maybach
 Mercury
 Metrocab
 MG
 Michelin
 MINI
 Mitsubishi
 MMI
 Monte Carlo
 Mopar
 Morgan
 Mosler
 MTM
 Munro
 NAC MG
 Nichols Cars
 Nissan
 NLV

 
 Noble
 Novitec
 Opel
 Overfinch
 Pagani
 Perodua
 Peugeot
 Piaggio
 Pininfarina
 Polestar
 Pontiac
 Porsche
 Praga
 Preview
 Prodrive
 Project Runningblade
 Project Velocity
 Proton
 Protoscar
 Qoros
 Radical
 Range Rover
 Red Bull
 Renault
 Reva
 Rimac
 Rinspeed
 RoadRazer
 Rolls-Royce
 Ronn Motor Company
 Rover
 RUF
 Saab
 SAIC
 Saleen
 Saturn
 Scagliarini
 SCG
 Scion
 SDR Sportscars
 SEAT
 Sin
 Singer
 Skoda
 Smart
 Soleil
 Spada
 speedArt
 Sportec
 Spyker
 SRT
 Ssangyong
 SSC
 Startech
 STaSIS
 Subaru
 Suzuki
 Suzusho
 TAD
 Tamiya
 Tata
 Techart
 Tesla
 The Little Car Company
 THINK
 Thunder Power
 Tojeiro
 Tommy Kaira
 TomTom
 Toray
 Toyota
 Trabant
 TranStar
 Trident
 Tushek
 TVR
 UKCOTY
 Vanda Electrics
 Vauxhall
 Velozzi
 Vencer
 Venturi
 Veritas
 Vizualtech
 VL Automotive
 Volkswagen
 Volvo
 VUHL
 WCA
 WCotY
 Webasto
 Westfield
 Wiesmann
 Xenatec
 Yamaha
 Zagato
 Zarooq
 Zeekr
 Zenos
 Zenvo



 
 






External links:   | Irish Car Market News |

Internal links:   | Home | Privacy | Contact us | Archives | Old motor show reports | Follow Car Enthusiast on Twitter | Copyright 1999-2024 ©