Sayonara to the R35 Nissan GT-R: Godzilla Bows Out After 18 Years, But Its Legacy Lives On

The end of an era has arrived, and the R35, if it were a person, would be old enough to leave the nest. Fittingly, it now has. Nissan officially ceased production of the revolutionary GT-R, marking the conclusion of an 18-year run for one of the most iconic performance cars of the modern age. Having already exited several international markets in recent years, Japan remained its final stronghold. Now, with the last car rolling off the line at the company’s Tochigi plant, the curtain has finally fallen on Godzilla, at least this iteration of it.

The last example to leave the factory is a fitting send-off: a Premium Edition T-Spec finished in the legendary Midnight Purple hue, destined for a lucky customer in Japan. Over its nearly two decades in production, around 48,000 units of the R35 GT-R were built, each one meticulously engineered and built using the exacting methods it pioneered. 

Ivan Espinosa, Nissan’s president and CEO, paid tribute to the GT-R’s remarkable journey. “After 18 extraordinary years, the R35 GT-R has left an enduring mark on automotive history. Its legacy is a testament to the passion of our team and the loyalty of our customers worldwide. This isn’t goodbye forever—the GT-R nameplate will return one day,” he said.

First unveiled at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show, the R35 broke new ground by separating itself from the Skyline lineage that had previously carried the GT-R badge. With its unapologetically muscular stance, cutting-edge performance tech, and hand-built engine, it quickly became known as “Godzilla” on the global stage, a moniker it most deservedly inherited from its Skyline-based precedessors. 

At its heart was the VR38DETT, a 3.8-litre twin-turbo V6 built by a small group of master craftsmen known as Takumi in special hermetically sealed rooms. Each engine took roughly six hours to assemble, again, by hand, ensuring a level of high precision, extremely tight tolerances, and artisanal quality few cars could match. Power started at 480 PS when the GT-R debuted, but continuous updates eventually pushed outputs to 570 PS, while the track-focused Nismo version delivered an impressive 600 PS. That said, true to its nickname, it wouldn’t be long after the car’s debut that tuners would unlock its monstrous true potential, easily surpassing four figure horsepower outputs with shockingly minimal hardware modifications. 

Its innovations stretched to every facet of its engineering and construction, from its then-cutting-edge use of a 6-speed dual-clutch transmission, to its novel all-wheel drive system. All this complexity might have been the downfall of many performance cars, but as a testament to the genius minds behind the car and their insistence of over-engineering everything, the R35 has a mind bogglingly (mostly) spotless record of reliability, even under consistent hard use. 

The R35 GT-R’s cemented its reputation on the Nürburgring Nordschleife soon after its debut, where it stunned the world in 2007 with a lap time of 7 minutes and 38 seconds. Nissan returned the following year to cut nine seconds off that benchmark, and in 2009 the car clocked a blistering 7 minutes and 26 seconds. Remember, this was done in a car that, at the time, sold for roughly half the price of a 911 Turbo of the same period.

Further development saw the GT-R Nismo post its fastest-ever time of 7 minutes and 8.679 seconds in 2013, a figure that remains etched in Nürburgring history. Domestically, the GT-R also proved its prowess. At Japan’s Tsukuba Circuit, a Nismo version broke the production car record in 2019 with a lap time of 59.361 seconds, a record that fell again in January 2024, when an updated car shaved the figure down to 59.078 seconds.

Beyond lap times, the GT-R also thrived in competition. It claimed multiple titles in Japan’s Super GT Championship, securing five GT500 class victories and three GT300 wins. Internationally, it triumphed in endurance racing, including victory at the 2015 Bathurst 12 Hour and five Super Taikyu titles. Perhaps most memorably, the GT-R earned a Guinness World Record in 2016 for the fastest-ever vehicle drift, sliding at 304.96 km/h at Fujairah International Airport in the UAE.

Although the R35 has officially bowed out, Nissan insists the GT-R’s story is not over. The company has long hinted at a successor, though no firm details have been confirmed. The radical Nissan Hyper Force concept, revealed in 2023, previewed a possible future direction with an all-electric, quad-motor powertrain producing a purported 1,341hp. While such a move would align with the industry’s EV fad, it also raises questions about whether the next GT-R will retain its combustion roots.

Former R35 product chief Hiroshi Tamura, now a brand ambassador, has openly voiced his personal wish for the GT-R to retain some form of internal combustion. “For any future GT-R, I’d still like to have some hint of a combustion chamber note,” he wrote in a Nissan article. He has even suggested that a hybrid could serve as a bridge, telling Top Gear that a fully electric GT-R isn’t guaranteed if customers prefer otherwise. And looking at the chilly reception of other electric performance cars, it does look less and less likely Nissan would risk a such a move. 

Nissan Design Europe’s vice president, Giovanny Arroba, recently hinted that a next-generation GT-R could arrive around 2030, describing the Hyper Force concept as a “daring but tangible dream” for the end of the decade. Whether hybrid, electric, or combustion-powered, Nissan has made clear that the GT-R badge will return only when the car is truly worthy of its legendary name. The bar was set incredibly high, and topping the R35 is no enviable task. 

For now, enthusiasts worldwide are left reflecting on what the R35 achieved. From shattering records to redefining what a supercar could be, the GT-R has secured its place in motoring legend, up there with the Toyota Corolla, Porsche 959 and McLaren F1. While its future form remains uncertain, one thing is clear: Godzilla will rise again.