Nissan unveils new GT-R

Nissan will roll out the prototype for the next-generation Skyline GT-R supercar – which is expected to be V8-powered – at the Tokyo Motor Show next week.

The new GT-R goes on sale, in world markets including the United States and probably New Zealand, in 2007.

Nissan says the new GT-R will now be sold globally, saying it will have the ability to compete with the very best in the world. And for the first time in its history, the  GT-R will be designed as a specific body-style, and not derived from a sedan.

The statement that the car will be sold globally means it will be built in left-hand drive for the first time. Previous generation GT-Rs have been designed spcifically for the Japanese domestic market and have been right-hand drive.

The global reference also means the car has been designed to meet all regulations, for all markets.

Nissan will make the GT-R available to its agents in all markets, including New Zealand, providing they can put up a case to have it in their model range.

Though previous GT-R models have been sold here officially by Nissan NZ, they haven’t been marketed in Australia because they were Japanese domestic-spec cars and didn’t meet Australian Designs Rules (ADRs).

Nissan’s Tokyo show car is called the GT-R Proto, and the manufacturer says the production version will be a car that responds faithfully to the driver’s wishes and perfored, in true GT-R fashion.

It says the GT-R Proto expresses GT-R heritage – coming from the first model PGC10 (1969) through the R34 (1999) – in a new and expressive form.

At the GT-R Proto’s front end is a single centre air intake designed to optimise airflow and to strongly link the identity of the GT-R from R34 to GT-R Concept (2001). Front fenders are uniquely designed through intensive analysis of the airflow around the tyres and the air vent behind the front fender also optimises aerodynamics.

The sides of the body are sculptured towards the rear fender, creating a sense of power and dynamic tension.

The overall body shape combines solid and smooth surfaces to “achieve the look of a well-trained athlete” (Nissan’s words, not ours). The unique C-pillar crease is designed for optimum aerodynamics, “reflecting the racing DNA of the GT-R.”

The rear of the GT-R Proto uses four ring-shaped taillights which were a signature feature on earlier GT-R models.

Nissan says the GT-R Proto provides for the first time “a clear indication of the final design direction for the production model to be launched in 2007, the first all-new GT-R in eight years.”

We’ll have more details as they come to hand.