The curtain will soon fall on the R35-generation Nissan GT-R, as the ageing supercar-killing coupe nears retirement almost 18 years after it first broke cover.
Launched in 2007, the Nissan GT-R was hailed at the time for being on par with contemporary supercars but for a fraction of the cost, further elevating the status of the GT-R nameplate which had previously been affixed to flagship performance Skylines.
Despite the current model being almost old enough to vote in Australia, stories of how it came to be continue to surface – and the latest is the most bizarre yet.
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In a post on social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter), user ‘Trucknakanohito’ – also known as ‘Inside commercial vehicle manufacturers’ – wrote that 80 per cent of the GT-R’s development team were former employees from Isuzu’s passenger car division.
The account added: “The former Isuzu employees were mainly in charge of transmissions and suspensions”, arguably two of the GT-R’s most impressive aspects when it launched.
However, a twist to the tale was added when Kazutoshi Mizuno, chief engineer for the R35, entered the conversation, clarifying the role and background of the former Isuzu staff.
“They started out in the truck division, not the passenger car division, and were virtually novices when it came to developing supercars,” Mizuno-san replied, in a translated tweet.
“However, thanks to strong teamwork, a determination to achieve their goals, and training and practice based on the results (facts) of the comprehensive vehicle measurement system, all of them were transformed into world-class engineers in about 1.5 years.”
Regardless of the origins of the GT-R, it’s since become one of the longest-running models still in production, with the GT-R Registry reporting more than 44,000 examples have been built across its 17-year run.
The Nissan GT-R was axed from Australian showrooms in November 2021, after new side-impact laws made the all-wheel drive supercar killer and a number of other models non-compliant with local regulations.
In March, Nissan Japan announced 2025 updates for the R35 GT-R, saying at the time “production is limited and some orders might not be accepted”. This was followed in June by the unveiling of two sendoff special editions for the US market.
It’s still yet to officially announce when GT-R production will end, but Nissan executives have hinted the end of the road is near for its flagship performance car.
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US market GT-R Skyline Edition (left) and Takumi Edition (right)
The Nissan Hyper Force concept at last year’s Tokyo motor show previewed the potential future of the GT-R as a 1000kW electric coupe, with reports from Japan claiming the R36 generation model will feature solid-state batteries.
Nissan’s global product chief Pierre Loing told Top Gear in September that regulations will force the end of the R35 GT-R, though the next-generation model could launch as soon as 2028 provided advancements in battery development continue at current rates.
He also suggested that it’s not yet clear whether the new GT-R will be an electric vehicle (EV) or a hybrid.
“[…] we need to have a gap [in production between R35 and R36], because going into the electrified world, there is a lot of debate about ‘what is a GT-R in an era of electrification?’,” he said.
“We don’t have all the answers yet. We are in the middle of all those debates.”
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