50 years ago the Nissan GT-R made its debut at the Tokyo Motor Show and has become a legend of note ever since.
Better known as ‘Godzilla’ across the globe, Jeremy Clarkson has described the GT-R as ‘one of the very, very best cars in the world’. It has grown a cult-like following and has been featured in a list of games and movies.
We’ve geared up for Heritage Month by taking a look back at the legendary GT-R, which has become a pivotal part of our heritage.
The GT-R’s Origin
The very first Nissan Skyline GT-R was also known as the PGC10 and made its first public appearance at the 15th annual Tokyo Motor Show back in 1968. At first, it was an exclusive 4-door sedan and was made available in the coupe version in 1971.
The C110 followed suit in Tokyo Motor Show the following year. A gas crisis resulted in a need for more high-performance sports cars, and only 197 C110s were built before production was halted in 1989.
Complete with a new 2.6-litre twin-turbocharged engine and all-wheel drive concept designed by Nismo, the R32 graced our roads. After going into production in 1989, it was critically acclaimed by both the public and various motor press outlets, as well as claiming 5 consecutive wins at the Japanese Touring Car Championships and over 200 races wins at the Nurburgring racetrack in Germany.
It also raced to victory in 1991 and 1992 at the Australian Touring Car Championships where it got the nickname ‘Godzilla’, meaning ‘Monster from Japan’.
In 1995 it was time for the R33 to be released, with an engine very similar to the R32 and the same turbochargers. The R33 also took the production car lap record at Nurburgring.
The next generation to hit the streets was the R34 in January 1999. The iconic Bayside Blue colour made this car made, as well as being shorter. The R34 also donned a 5.8” LCD multifunction display that showed seven different live readings of the engine and vehicle statistics.
Following suit at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show was the sixth-generation GT-R, the R35. The same year after being released to the Japanese market, the US market saw sales of the R35.
The 2020 Nissan GT-R 50hth Anniversary Edition
Celebrating half a century of the GT-R, the Nissan engineers took on the challenge to find undiscovered performance, while making sure the car was still enjoyable. And with that the 2020 Nissan GT-R 50th Anniversary Edition was born.
Unveiled in 2019 at the New York International Auto Show in April, the three heritage-era, two-tone exterior colour combinations represent the GT-R’s liveries from the Japan GP series. The special grey colour scheme inside gives off a sense of luxury and a feel of the night sky. Some additional features include a steering wheel and shift knob trim, seat embossing, an Alcantara headliner and Alcantara-wrapped sun visors.
“The GT-R has been the lodestar for high performance driving for the past half-century. We are incredibly proud of where we have come from and of the direction in which we are headed,” says Janus Janse van Rensburg, Chief Marketing Manager of Nissan Premium & Performance Cars, “The GT-R truly has come with excitement and with unparalleled refinement and we look forward to carrying the sterling reputation that it has built for itself into the future and beyond.”
