- 3,547
- Melbourne
- GTPr01 (GT); TheGTAFather (GTA)
The GT-R is coming back and it will bear a close resemblance to its dramatic concept model. Nissan design chief Shiro Nakamura has confirmed the close connection between the upcoming production model and the GT-R Proto revealed at last year's Tokyo Motor Show. "It is 90 per cent what it will look like," Nakamura says. "The production version will not have some things such as the carbon fibre at the front, but it is very similar."
"The new 350kW-plus GT-R supercar will go on sale in Japan next year and roll into American showrooms in 2008. Nissan Australia has put its hand up for the GT-R and is likely to import the car from 2008 if it is made available for the right price.
Previous GT-Rs, called Godzilla because of their racing domination, were based on the regular Skyline model. But Nakamura confirms the new GT-R will be a stand-alone model.
"This car has nothing in common with Skyline, not even the door handles and gauges," Nakamura says. "It doesn't share anything with any Nissan car."
In Australia to speak at a design conference last week, Nakamura says the new model maintains the hard edges of previous GT-R models.
"The original C10 Skyline in the 1960s was very boxy, also R32 and last R34 were very boxy. We intend to make this car boxy. We could have made this car soft and sophisticated, but the spirit is rather rough. It is not like a Porsche or a Ferrari.
"This design is completely stand-alone, we don't care about any trend with the design." The basic shape of the GT-R was first revealed in 2001 at the Tokyo Motor Show after the previous model was phased out due to emission restrictions.
The supercar has been a long time coming, but Nakamura says it will be worth the wait.
"This car is much more high performance than the previous model. It was already considered a high-performance car, but we wanted this car to go one or two levels higher," he says.
Nakamura confirmed countless visits to wind tunnels to ensure
the GT-R looks good and has the aerodynamics to enable stable driving at top speed.
"We have had a very long development time, we don't want to rush to bring it to you," he says.
Nakamura says he has just finished the initial design of the next-generation 350Z which is not due until at least 2009.
He says the next Zed has a unique shape and will not share any design themes with the GT-R.
* Meanwhile, Nissan has been forced to change its marketing campaign for the poorly selling and poorly named Tiida small car.
It has begun new advertisements explaining that the car is the replacement for the once-popular Pulsar.
Gone are the initial series of ads featuring Sex and the City star Kim Cattrall espousing the sexy nature of the car.
However, Nissan says it will still use Cattrall in future campaigns.
-Cars Guide
-The Daily Telegraph
"The new 350kW-plus GT-R supercar will go on sale in Japan next year and roll into American showrooms in 2008. Nissan Australia has put its hand up for the GT-R and is likely to import the car from 2008 if it is made available for the right price.
Previous GT-Rs, called Godzilla because of their racing domination, were based on the regular Skyline model. But Nakamura confirms the new GT-R will be a stand-alone model.
"This car has nothing in common with Skyline, not even the door handles and gauges," Nakamura says. "It doesn't share anything with any Nissan car."
In Australia to speak at a design conference last week, Nakamura says the new model maintains the hard edges of previous GT-R models.
"The original C10 Skyline in the 1960s was very boxy, also R32 and last R34 were very boxy. We intend to make this car boxy. We could have made this car soft and sophisticated, but the spirit is rather rough. It is not like a Porsche or a Ferrari.
"This design is completely stand-alone, we don't care about any trend with the design." The basic shape of the GT-R was first revealed in 2001 at the Tokyo Motor Show after the previous model was phased out due to emission restrictions.
The supercar has been a long time coming, but Nakamura says it will be worth the wait.
"This car is much more high performance than the previous model. It was already considered a high-performance car, but we wanted this car to go one or two levels higher," he says.
Nakamura confirmed countless visits to wind tunnels to ensure
the GT-R looks good and has the aerodynamics to enable stable driving at top speed.
"We have had a very long development time, we don't want to rush to bring it to you," he says.
Nakamura says he has just finished the initial design of the next-generation 350Z which is not due until at least 2009.
He says the next Zed has a unique shape and will not share any design themes with the GT-R.
* Meanwhile, Nissan has been forced to change its marketing campaign for the poorly selling and poorly named Tiida small car.
It has begun new advertisements explaining that the car is the replacement for the once-popular Pulsar.
Gone are the initial series of ads featuring Sex and the City star Kim Cattrall espousing the sexy nature of the car.
However, Nissan says it will still use Cattrall in future campaigns.
-Cars Guide
-The Daily Telegraph
