If I were to ask you if you know Nissan, chances are the first name that would come to mind is the GT-R. After all, this legendary car was in continuous production for 18 years and shattered numerous records during that time.
The Nissan GT-R is also highly sought after by performance enthusiasts thanks to the enormous potential of its platform.
The End of a Chapter
The final units of the Nissan GT-R have now rolled off the production line, which means it's officially the end for the GT-R as we know it today. This is sad news both for fans of the model and for the automotive industry as a whole. Nevertheless, it seems the name itself will be part of the brand's future.
Earlier this week, Nissan announced its intention to reuse the GT-R name. Unfortunately, no further details were provided, leaving us somewhat in the dark.
The GT-R in Numbers
The Nissan GT-R hit the market in 2007, a time when the automotive industry was generally struggling. Exotic cars weren't particularly reliable or even that impressive in terms of performance. That's why the GT-R quickly built a solid reputation with its 3.8-liter V6 that produced just over 480 horsepower at the time. Yet the Japanese automaker's sports car managed to break numerous records and hold its own against most other performance vehicles on the market.
Things changed over the years, but the GT-R also grew in power and precision, offering up to 600 horsepower in some versions.
The GT-R changed very little over its 18-year career, which proves the engineers got it right from the very beginning. In total, Nissan sold over 48,000 units of the GT-R during its production run—a huge number for a car of this caliber.
At its peak, the Nissan GT-R could sprint from 0 to 100 km/h in under 2.7 seconds and reach a top speed of 328 km/h. On top of that, its Nürburgring lap record stood at 7 minutes, 18.6 seconds—an incredibly fast time.
The Nissan GT-R was such an impressive machine that it earned several nicknames, including the legendary "Godzilla." Needless to say, expectations are sky-high for the next car to carry this name.
Jean-Sébastien Poudrier
