AN ULTRA-RARE 1 OF 18 NISSAN GT-R 50 BY ITALDESIGN HAS POPPED UP FOR SALE. WOULD YOU SPEND R20 MIL ON IT?
Back in 2020, there was a pretty cool anniversary that had JDM fans celebrating around the world. One of the most iconic nameplates in the world of performance cars reached its 50-year milestone - the GT-R. It’s one of those badges that means something, every single incarnation of the car has been special in its own way. The older ones are worth a fair chunk of change, and even the most modern incarnation will set you back a bit. Every model was quite different too, the technology packed in between year models made the cars not only fast, but they could handle any bends and curves a racetrack could throw at them. The R35 was a bit different, first previewed in 2007 at the Tokyo Motor Show before hitting the streets in 2009, it became an iconic modern sportscar with supercar performance. It was so good that the same car is still in production a good 14 years later. Of course, every other year the car was given more power, updated systems and a few visual tweaks and changes. While the car was brilliant, after the 10-year mark fans wanted a new version of the car. Not because anything was wrong with it, but because if you lined up a bunch from different years you’d be hard-pressed to tell them apart. When the 50th anniversary was approaching, images of the car you see here started doing the rounds online and people initially thought it was the latest incarnation of the R35. It was and it wasn’t. The car was a collaboration between Nissan and the famed design outfit, Italdesign, and it had a very limited production run of just 18 cars. This made it the rarest and most expensive GT-R ever produced.
What made this one different is that it was a coachbuild, it was hand-crafted by the folk at Italdesign as a result it featured a rather different exterior design, and there was an asses hydraulic rear wing as an optional extra. All 18 models were finished in Liquid Silver Metallic paint which did well to highlight the extreme changes to the bodywork. The roofline was lowered by 54 millimetres, there was an enlarged power bulge on the bonnet, and the headlights were thinner. The rear still features those iconic afterburner taillights, but the new design made them look like they were suspended in mid-air. The interior featured a full retrim with some added badges and logos to identify the special edition. Under the hood, there were a few tweaks that took the twin-turbocharged V6’s power output to 710 hp. Adding to the rarity is the fact that 50 were meant to be made, but the pandemic chopped that down to the 18 models known to exist. The €990,000 (roughly R19,800,000 at today’s exchange rate) didn’t help things much. The car you see here headed to auction at RM Sotheby’s is No.11 of 18, and it has a mere 119 miles on the odo. The car is expected to fetch between $1,000,000 and $1,200,000, the lower end is pretty much the original sales price, so the owner may just break even if all goes to plan. While the car has an extreme design and that rarity factor, her ar SXdrv we don’t see it appealing to many collectors. That said, there are thousands of people out there with more money than sense.
Take a look at the YouTube video from when the Italdesign Nissan GT-R collaboration car was launched a few years back. The redesigned GT-R was something quite different from the norm, and it has very mixed reviews on the styling. The car did have rarity going for it though, and to some people that counts and makes them want it for their own collections: Nissan GT-R 50 by Italdesign - Tazio Nuvolari circuit | Nissan
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