The Nissan GT-R ends 18 years of dutiful service as the halo car we all needed

On August 25, production of the Nissan GT-R ended after 18 years. A small ceremony was held in Nissan’s Tochigi factory, surrounded by line workers who assembled the car and takumi craftsmen who hand-built 48,000 twin-turbo V6s over the years. The GT-R leaves behind an extraordinary legacy that likely won’t be matched again. It’s been around so long that it’s easy to forget what the automotive landscape was like when it debuted in 2007, but it arrived with perfect timing during a bleak time in Japan’s auto industry.

Rewind to 2007. In the months prior to the GT-R’s December 6 launch, Paris Hilton was insanely popular, The Sopranos ended in shocking fashion, and the original iPhone went on sale. In Japan, the last of the 90s greats, the Honda NSX, had just ended production the year prior. Others, like the A80 Supra, FD RX-7, and R34 Skyline GT-R had been dead for years. Even non-flagship sports cars — the Toyota Celica, MR-S, and Altezza, Honda Integra and Prelude, Nissan Silvia and Stagea, 4G63 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution — had been dropping like flies.

During the R35’s development Toyota was working on what everyone thought would be the new Supra. That became the Lexus LFA, unattainable at $375,000, and not even remotely in the same class as the $69,850 GT-R. Meanwhile, Honda was testing the HSV, rumored to be the next NSX but with a V10 engine. Nothing came of it.

For a generation who had turned to the rising for their dream cars, it felt like the dream was over. In stepped the R35. There was skepticism initially. It didn’t have an inline-six. It didn’t have a manual transmission. It no longer looked like a muscular version of the Skyline. It didn’t even have “Skyline” in the name, and in fact was built on a completely different chassis than the V35. It was too big, too heavy, and not at all sexy.

They say less is more, but sometimes more is more. Its predecessor had an official horsepower rating of 276, but the R35 pushed its twin-turbo V6 to 480. Engineers developed a dual-clutch transaxle, mounted against the rear diff for better weight distribution. Its torque-split all-wheel-drive system was the final form of Nissan’s ATTESA technology, designed for maximum traction.

Kazutoshi Mizuno, head GT-R development, designed the Brembo brakes and Bilstein shocks that underpinned the GT-R. “Typically, transactions with such parts suppliers are based on their asking price. However, when you’re in a position to offer them new technology as a bargaining chip… You can imagine the rest,” he revealed in an interview with Car Watch.

It was the antithesis of a sports car. Instead of stripping weight and giving drivers a pure experience, it threw more weight and more technology at the problem. Nissan hired the creators of Gran Turismo to design the multifunction display. Designer Shiro Nakamura said he wanted the car to look like a Gundam, a six-story robotic suit in which pilots battle each other in one of Japan’s most famous sci-fi anime. In the end, it tipped the scales at 3900 pounds.

But as soon as the R35 hit the track naysayers were silenced. In Car and Driver‘s testing, the Nissan GT-R clocked an astounding 0-60 time of 3.3 seconds. It was almost unbelievable, besting rivals like the Porsche 911 Turbo ($124,000), Aston Martin V8 Vantage ($111,000), and not only the Ferrari F430 ($175,000) but the 599 GTB Fiorano ($322,000). And to prove it had the right stuff where it counts, the R35 strolled right up to the Nürburgring and set a production car lap record in damp conditions.

Perhaps just as stupendous as its supercar slaying abilities was the fact that Mizuno ensured that his ultimate track weapon was comfortable in everyday city traffic. It was stable in snow, as easy to get in and out of as an Altima, and quiet enough for two people to have a conversation at 300 kph (186 mph).

The GT-R fought for and earned every shred of admiration that it received. It may not have been the halo we wanted, but it was the halo we needed. It arrived at precisely the right time when the Japanese auto industry seemed darkest. It became an indelible part of the automotive landscape, and gave enthusiasts something to look up to for 18 years.

Not only did the GT-R defy physics, it defied the gravity that brings down cars with unusually long lifespans. By the time the Nissan 370Z finished its 13-year run, enthusiasts were done with it, annoyed that it had overstayed its welcome. Despite nearly two decades on the market, the GT-R commanded respect till the very end.

Throughout its life, Nissan continued to hone it. First 480 horsepower, then 485, 530, 550, 570. In 2014 a NISMO variant churned out 600 horsepower. The R35 even spawned a million dollar coach-built GT-R50 version with 720 horses for a million bucks. The Gundam on wheels continued to fell Nürburgring records, conquer Tsukuba with sub-minute lap times, and rack up championships in SuperGT, Super Taikyu, and Blacnpain enduros.

It carried on proudly the provenance created by the first GT-R age marked by the Hakosuka and Kenmeri in the 60s and 70s. It continued the dominance of street and circuit in the second GT-R age, spanning the late 80s to early 2000s with the R32, R33, and R34. In the GT-R’s third age, the R35 became a bedroom poster car for a new generation. It won countless awards from the motoring press, graced the cover of every car magazine, starred in every racing game.

Now, the legendary nameplate goes on hiatus once again. Nissan CEO Ivan Espinosa promised that it wouldn’t be the last “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,” he said. “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 finalized today, the GT-R will evolve and reemerge in the future.”

Some images courtesy of Nissan.