Nissan has announced that the very last R35 GT-R has rolled off the assembly line. In production for nearly two decades, the performance icon presently has no official successor.
The company issued a press release noting that the very last GT-R produced in Japan was a Premium Edition T-Spec finished in Midnight purple paint. It then went on to celebrate the models extensive racing pedigree and world records.
“After 18 remarkable years, the R35 GT-R has left an enduring mark on automotive history,” Ivan Espinosa, President and CEO of Nissan, stated. “Its legacy is a testament to the passion of our team and the loyalty of our customers around the globe. Thank you for being part of this extraordinary journey. To the many fans of the GT-R worldwide, I want to tell you this isn’t a goodbye to the GT-R forever, it’s our goal for the GT-R nameplate to one day make a return.”
Nissan technically didn’t create the Skyline, that honor goes to the Prince Motor Company in 1957. But the brands would merge a decade later, placing the model and its preexisting performance variants under the Nissan banner. While models like the Skyline 2000GT would become sporting mainstays of their day, it wasn’t until 1969 that the first GT-R model would appear only to vanish several years later.
By the early 1990s, the Skyline would become a performance legend in Japan thanks to film series like the Shuto Kousoku Trial (aka Megalopolis Expressway Trial) and the model’s extensive racing history. However, the GT-R name would not return until 1989 when the R32 entered production. The model became so dominant in touring car championships that it became one of the most legendary cars in living memory.
This began Nissan’s trend of offering one of the most beloved sports cars in recent times. The GT-R effectively offered supercar levels of performance at a fraction of the price and sufficient practicality so that it could serve as someone’s daily driver. This was thanks largely to the 2.6-liter, twin-turbocharged RB26DETT I6 (which carried over to subsequent models) and one of the most advanced all-wheel drive systems of the day.
Nissan quickly began offering even more powerful versions of the model and tuners quickly realized that the powertrain could be massaged to produce staggering numbers without much work. By the time the R32 was replaced by the R33, there were already loads of variants with increasingly lofty spec sheets.
While perhaps not as beloved as other incarnations, the R33 was effectively an upgraded version of its predecessor. But that still meant 0-60 mph launches taking place in under five-seconds when some of the best V8s coming out of the United States still took six seconds. Japan was in the midst of a sports car renaissance with the Nissan GT-R typically being at the forefront.
The R34 would follow and became the first version of the GT-R many Americans would see due to it being so prominently featured in the Fast and Furious films. Performance-focused Skylines had also made their way into video games, increasing global demand for GT-R models.
Even though the recipe remained largely the same, the R34 would see major technological improvements, better aerodynamics, and increased output. Officially, all models produced a manufacturer-claimed “276 horsepower” due to a gentleman’s agreement between all Japanese companies not to exceed that benchmark. However, the base R34 Skyline GT-R actually made closer to 330 horsepower.
By 2002, Nissan had opted to drop the Skyline name from the GT-R. But it wasn’t until 2007 that the R35 model would enter production, with plans to ship the model to North America for the first time in history.
The car launched with an entirely new aerodynamic body and larger engine (the 3.8-liter, twin-turbocharged VR38DETT V6) producing 480 horsepower. It also retained one of the slickest all-wheel drive systems of its day and a price tag just shy of $70,000 in 2008.
While the Nissan’s power would increase alongside its North American MSRP, the GT-R remained a performance bargain. For the sake of comparison, one of the nastiest muscle cars you could buy that same year would have been a Dodge Charger SRT8 for $40,000. Its 6.1-liter V8 produced 425 horsepower and still couldn’t hope to keep up with the GT-R, regardless of whether you were going in a straight line or around a racetrack.
Anything hoping to keep pace with the new R35 was likely to be heavily modified. Even some of the most serious performance vehicles from Germany in that period would have retailed above $60,000 and would still have lagged behind the Nissan without some performance tuning. The GT-R had developed a reputation as the “supercar killer” years earlier and continued to occupy that space. If your car didn’t cost as much as a relatively nice home from the era, odds were decent that it wasn’t much of a threat to the GT-R.
Despite regular updates, the Nissan’s rivals eventually began closing the gap. Supercars became even more ridiculous, expensive, and specialized. Meanwhile, American muscle cars were likewise engaged in a new horsepower war — boasting horsepower figures that were previously unheard of.
At the same time, the R35 was getting more expensive as the manufacturer attempted to squeeze out more performance. By 2024, base trimmed GT-Rs offered a whopping 565 horsepower and some of the best handling a person could ask for. But the car now started at $123,000 in the United States and could be optioned all the way up to $230,000 for those wanting the maximum amount of performance via the NISMO variant.
While still affordable relative to its insane performance, the car found itself in an odd position. Wealthier households could now afford to buy something even more expensive. But the middle class was struggling to stay afloat, making specialty cars a tough sell unless they catered to older generations with deeper pockets — which the GT-R does not.
The R35 was also confronting regulatory troubles. In 2021, the model was pulled from the Australian market for failing to pass modern crash test and fueling standards ( much like our own Dodge Viper). A couple of years later, Europe would ban the car for failing to meet increasingly strict emissions standards. While it managed to linger in North America and Japan, Nissan eventually decided that the car could no longer continue.
After eighteen years of production, the R35 was basically regulated out of existence. We’re frankly sad to see it go because it’s one of those models that really does represent a bygone era. While Nissan does plan on building an R36, assumptions are that it will arrive after a multi-year production gap of the GT-R.
Rumors have suggested that Nissan wants to electrify the model to adhere to global emissions standards and noise regulations. However, with EVs being less popular among driving enthusiasts, the company is presumed to launch a hybrid sports car (potentially using the VR38DETT V6). Sadly, that may also be risky due to the fact that the GT-R has historically traded on its strong performance relative to price.
The market is also in a difficult spot right now. Mainstream buyers are tired of extravagantly priced vehicles and something like GT-R has typically occupied a space that’s hardly cheap but likewise not out of reach for some middle-class households. In the past, Nissan has said that it doesn’t really care about profiting from the GT-R since it’s a halo vehicle that brings pride to the brand. But the company likewise needs to deal with the realities of today’s market and its own financial situation. The automaker is presently in the midst of sweeping layoffs following a $4.5 billion net loss for fiscal year 2024.
Here’s hoping Nissan has better days ahead and eventually manages to deliver an even stronger R36 GT-R someday.
[Images: Nissan]
Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by subscribing to our newsletter.
