Today, as assembly for the Japanese domestic market concludes, Nissan draws the curtain on the R35 GT-R.
Launched in 2007, it became a North Star for attainable supercar pace, a rolling syllabus in how software, metallurgy and bloody-minded development can make physics blink first.
A last salute at Tochigi
At Nissan’s Tochigi plant, about 100 kilometres north of Tokyo, workers gathered as the final car (a Premium edition T-Spec in Midnight Purple) slipped off the line, bound for a customer in Japan. In its lifetime, roughly 48,000 units found homes.
“After 18 remarkable years, the R35 GT-R has left an enduring mark on automotive history. 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.”
Ivan Espinosa, President and CEO of Nissan
From day one, the R35’s mission wasn’t merely to go fast; it was to be multi-talented; Grand Tourer calm and finish paired with the kind of “R” for racing capability that left supercars sweating through their alcantara.
Rather than the usual mid-cycle overhaul, Nissan kept iterating every model year: some variants gained more power, others greater control, comfort and luxury, and when the badge read GT-R NISMO, the dial turned to track-honed.
Under the skin, the trinity remained constant: the VR38DETT twin-turbo V6, ATTESA ET-S all-wheel drive, and aerodynamics that earned their keep at three-figure speeds. Power climbed from 353 kW (480 PS) at launch to 419 kW (570 PS) from MY2017; NISMO versions adopted GT3-spec turbochargers and meticulously weight-balanced internals (piston rings, rods, crank, flywheel, crank pulley, valve springs), yielding faster revs, quicker spool and up to 441 kW (600 PS).
And here’s the bit enthusiasts still whisper about: across the run, a core team of just nine Takumi master craftsmen at Yokohama hand-assembled every engine, signing each masterpiece with a plaque. Engineering as authorship.
Lap times that made headlines
The numbers tell the story because they were written the hard way.
- 2007: a production R35 clocks 7:38 around the Nürburgring Nordschleife, despite a couple of damp corners.
- Early 2008: on JDM-spec standard tyres and a dry track, chief test driver Toshio Suzuki drops it to 7:29—cracking the 7:30 barrier.
- 2009: back again, 7:26.
- October 2012: 7:18.
- November 2013: a GT-R NISMO with track options (aero tweaks, weight reduction, unique suspension) and Michael Krumm at the helm posts 7:08.679, and today it’s still the R35’s apex lap.
Closer to home, the team took aim at Tsukuba. In December 2019, a MY2020 GT-R NISMO reset the production-car record with 59.361 s. Not content, they returned in January 2024 with a MY2024 GT-R NISMO; Tsugio Matsuda shaved a further 0.283 s to 59.078 s.
And because every hero needs a party trick: in 2016, a specially tuned MY16 R35 GT-R set a Guinness World Records mark for the fastest drift (304.96 km/h at 30 degrees) at Fujairah International Airport, UAE. Unnecessary? Entirely. Glorious? Absolutely.
The racing receipts
The R35 doesn’t just talk a big game; it has the silverware. Among the highlights: five GT500 and three GT300 wins in SUPER GT, victory in the 2013 Blancpain GT Series Pro-Am, a Bathurst 12 Hour triumph in 2015, and five titles in Japan’s Super Taikyu endurance series.
Ask anyone who’s spent time behind that blocky wheel and they’ll tell you: the genius wasn’t only in the pace, but in the repeatability.
The way the ATTESA brain quietly shuffled torque when conditions turned awkward; how the dual-clutch stayed loyal under heat; how the aero helped the car stay planted on fast, scruffy B-roads. It was German-level fit and finish with a particularly Japanese flavour of engineering voodoo.
The line ends, the story doesn’t
Nissan is clear that the nameplate lives on, and the next chapter will simply be written in a different hand.
“We understand the expectations are high, the GT-R badge is not something that can be applied to just any vehicle; it is reserved for something truly special and the R35 set the bar high. So, all I can ask is for your patience. While we don’t have a precise plan finalised today, the GT-R will evolve and reemerge in the future.”
Ivan Espinosa, President and CEO of Nissan
Read more content at Burnpavement, or check out our latest videos on YouTube and on TikTok!
