Italdesign, the great consultancy created by Giorgetto Giugiaro opened its doors in the same year that Nissan made the first Skyline GT-R, and now those two hands have been put together and OMG the results are stunning.
This is the Nissan GT-R50 by Italdesign, based on the 720hp GT-R NISMO, and it will be shown off around Europe next month. The design and build of the car are a collaborative effort between Italdesign, and Nissan's design studios in Europe and America.
At the front, the grille has been widened and stretched a bit, with a burnished-gold inlay, while the bonnet gets a bigger power bulge, and there are new LED lights that stretch almost all the way down to the ground.
The roof is 54mm lower, and there's a faint 'double-bubble' shape thanks to the lower centreline, while the 'Samurai Blade' vents also get that distinctive gold inlay effect.
Around the back, the wheelarches have swelled a bit, there's even more burnished gold effect, while the trademark twin round rear lights have been hollowed out and now appear more like structural elements. Oh, and there's a socking great rear wing, fully adjustable for those who want to tweak their downforce package for track days.
The wheels, custom-made of course, are all 21-inch diameter while the paint work is officially called 'Liquid Kinetic Gray' (sic).
The interior is a riot of different carbon-fibre finishes, Alcantara suede, black Italian leather, more gold highlights, and 'futuristic, race-car inspired' switches.
The familiar 3.8-liter V6 VR38DETT hand-built engine benefits from Nissan's GT3 racing experience, and develops 720hp and 780Nm of torque. There are new GT3-spec turbos, bigger intercoolers, heavy-duty crankshaft, new pistons with high-flow oil jets, new camshafts, and a reinforced dual-plate clutch.
The suspension has also had some work, with new Bilstein adaptive dampers, and there are Brembo brakes with six-pot front calipers, painted red (not gold? For shame...).
"How often do you get to ask, 'What if we created a GT-R without limits,' and then actually get to build it?" said Alfonso Albaisa, Nissan's senior vice president for global design. "This is a rare window in time when two big moments intersect: 50 years of Italdesign shaping the automotive world and 50 years of Nissan generating excitement through our iconic GT-R. So to celebrate this convergence, Nissan and Italdesign created this custom GT-R to mark 50 years of engineering leadership. Although this is not the next-generation GT-R, it is an exciting celebration of two anniversaries in a provocative and creative way - wrapping one of Nissan's best engineering platforms and Japanese design with Italian coachbuilding."
The Nissan GT-R50 by Italdesign isn't officially for production, yet, but we'd be very surprised if a few weren't built for sale. Here's hoping.
If there is anything about this story we have not covered, you can avail of our expert advice service via the Ask Us Anything page.