Why Nissan’s use of Millennium Jade on the GT-R is telling

One of the headline updates of the 2022 Nissan GT-R was the return of two fan-favourite hues: Midnight Purple and Millennium Jade.

The folks at Omori Factory know their audience well, and the two colours feel like poignant fan service for a car that is undeniably nearing the end of its lifecycle.

Of course, Nissan has made no specific claims regarding the future of R35 or any potential replacement, but long-standing GT-R fans have been here before. Almost 20 years ago, in fact.

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Both Midnight Purple and Millennium Jade colours were last offered during the twilight of R34 GT-R production (we’re not counting the 100 limited edition 2014 R35s finished in ‘Midnight Opal’).

The cult colour of purple originally appeared on the R33 GT-R and quickly became one of the series’ hero colours, proliferating across 15 per cent of all R33 GT-Rs produced (2510 of 16,668).

Nissan introduced Midnight Purple II, with an added green colour-shifting property, to mark the beginning of R34 GT-R production in 1999. 334 were built in total, and all were reportedly sold within ten days. Midnight Purple III is the rarest of the trio, reappearing in March 2000 and bestowed upon just 132 V-spec editions.

It’s the inclusion of Millennium Jade, however, to the range that seems pertinent as R35 is discontinued in Australia due to our unique ADR 85 side-impact regulations.

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It was back in 2002 that Millennium Jade made its debut on V-Spec II Nür and M-spec Nür variants of the R34 GT-R. 1003 Nürburgring-badged vehicles (718 V-Spec IIs and 285 luxurious M-Specs) were ultimately produced to see out the end of R34 GT-R production.

Those R34 GT-R Nürs all uniquely boasted gold engine covers (specifically finished in EY0 Silica Breathe) instead of the standard red covers. Lift the bonnet of the new GT-R T-Spec, and you’re also greeted by an engine cover finished in gold instead of the standard red.

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At the time of the Nür’s release in 2002, Nissan had yet to make any official comment on a future successor. The GT-R Proto Concept emerged at the 2005 Tokyo Motor Show, and the R35 ultimately debuted in production form at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show.

Locally, the current chapter of GT-R has come to a close, with Australia’s final shipment having recently made landfall in Queensland.

Local Managing Director Adam Paterson, however, has stated that “this isn’t the end of the GT-R story in Australia”.

Are we watching history repeat itself? Only time will tell.