Causing as much if not more fanfare as Liberty Walk’s F40 was Nissan’s unveiling of their “new” GTR. There were so many people crowding around the Nissan stage that you’d be easily forgiven if you thought that the Cyberjapan dancers were about to jump out! But no, there were no Cyber dancers, only Nissan’s latest iteration of their “Cyber” car. In T-Spec and Nismo forms.
And of course, this isn’t really a “new” car, it’s still an R35, the same car that’s been with us since 2007. That’s more than 15 years folks. In those years, BMW’s 3 series and Porsche’s 911 both cruised through 3 generations of progress.
The “new” GTR? Well, she gets a brand-new face that really does seem to take design cues from the R34, and a sharper tighter rear end. Power though, remains the same with 562bhp for the “regular” cars, while the Nismo editions have to make do with the same 592bhp as before. Personally, I think they are sandbagging their power figures.
That said, whilst we all laughed at the countless internet memes this “new’ GTR has spawned, I am still somewhat happy to see the R35 still steadfastly holding the flag for those whose hearts beat with the firing order of an Internal Combustion Engine. Because no matter what we might say or believe, the sad fact that we all need to acknowledge is that this will be the last GTR to carry a pure petrol-burning powerplant.
With ever more restrictive laws and legislations coming down hard on the cars we love, is it inevitable that the next GTR will need to have a form of electrification shoehorned in just to be legal for sale. So, whilst we can laugh and poke fun at Nissan for keeping the R35 for over a decade since its inception, it really is something to be celebrated instead because once production eventually ends and prices start climbing up (as they inevitably will), it will be a sad day for all enthusiasts indeed.
The last of a dying breed. Enjoy it while we still can.
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