Nissan and Italdesign unveil GT-R50 prototype

To celebrate 50 years of the GT-R and Italdesign, Nissan has revealed a GT-R prototype which was created in collaboration with the design house.

Named the GT-R50, the one-off collaboration is based on the GT-R Nismo. The development, engineering and building of the car was all Italdesign’s work, while the design itself was a project undertaken by Nissan’s London and San Diego design centres.

No element of the car’s outward appearance remains untouched – even its roof line has been lowered by 54mm. The prototype is longer, wider and lower to the ground than the Nismo on which it’s based. Gold highlights have been used throughout the exterior, which seems to have undergone a dramatic restyle. Meanwhile, the car’s original features have been exaggerated and improved on an aerodynamic level, including its huge adjustable rear wing.

With respect to performance, the car’s 3.8-litre V6 engine now produces 720hp and 780Nm of torque – up from the 600hp and 652Nm of the ‘regular’ GT-R Nismo. Its performance has been boosted, given the car’s special prototype status. It has also been fitted with race-spec turbochargers, a larger intercooler system, adjustable dampers, and heavy-duty crankshaft, pistons, bearings and connecting rods. Its intake and exhaust systems have been tweaked to achieve the 120hp boost from the Nismo’s figures.

 “How often do you get to ask, ‘What if we created a GT-R without limits,’ and then actually get to build it?” said Nissan design boss Alfonso Albaisa. “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.”

The Japanese carmaker quickly clarified that the car is not related to the next-generation GT-R (due around 2020) but wouldn’t comment when asked whether Italdesign would be involved in the next GT-R’s development. The next-gen GT-R is expected to have a high-output hybrid powertrain and retain its four-wheel-drive drivetrain.