Nissan Readies 50th Anniversary GT-R Hypercar

Nissan Motor Co. has released images of the €990,000 ($1.1 million) GT-R50 hypercar that the company developed in celebration of the 50th anniversary of its GT-R muscle car.

Production of the anniversary model, which was designed in conjunction with Volkswagen’s Italdesign unit, will be limited to 50 cars over the next two years. Buyers can customize virtually every part of the vehicle.

The vehicle is based on the GT-R Nismo race car. That vehicle’s turbocharged 3.8-liter V-8 engine has been tweaked to increase output by about 19% to 710 hp and 575 lb-ft of torque. The engine is mated with a 6-speed dual-clutch transmission.

Changes include larger turbos and intercoolers, beefier engine internals and more aggressive camshafts. To handle the increased power, the car also gets a stronger differential and axles, Bilstein dampers and Brembo brake calipers.

Nissan introduced the GT-R name as a performance variant for its Skyline coupe in 1969. A second-generation model was produced from 1989 to 2002. The separate GT-R supercar, which has been nicknamed “Godzilla,” debuted in 2007.