Noooo! Nissan calls time on its classic R35 GT-R

Nissan has confirmed that order books for the R35 GT-R supercar have closed with production ending once the remaining orders are filled. A successor is confirmed, but could be at least three years away.

A statement on Nissan’s Japanese website reads: “We have received many orders for the Nissan GT-R, and we have now finished accepting orders for the planned production quantity.

“We would like to express our sincere gratitude to our many customers for their patronage over the years since its release in 2007.”

It’s unclear how many examples are still yet to be built, or when production will end, but remaining stock is now sold out in Japan.

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Originally released in 2007, the GT-R was pulled from European markets in 2022 due to then-new noise regulations while Australian sales were stopped in 2021 thanks to side impact Australian Design Rule, which also killed cars like the Lexus IS and RC locally.

Japan is one of the few remaining markets where the GT-R is sold.

In its development, the goals for the R35 GT-R were reportedly to make a car quiet enough to have comfortable conversations at 300km/h, a power-to-weight ratio of under 4kg per horsepower and to lap the Nurburgring in under eight minutes.

Upon its release in 2007, the R35 GT-R was proclaimed by Nissan as “A supercar, for Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime”. It then set a Nurburgring lap time of 7:38.54 minutes in damp conditions – two seconds faster than the Porsche 911 Turbo it was benchmarked against in dry conditions, yet the Porsche cost twice as much.

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Over the years, the R35 GT-R received various subtle updates aimed at making it both more comfortable – but also even faster.

The 2016 update was the largest one, with the power increased to 419kW, a remapped transmission, revised ride and handling, increased noise insulation and even a new centre console aimed at making the GT-R even more capable than ever before.

Nissan also produced several special editions of the GT-R over the years, including the Spec V, 50th Anniversary Edition, Gentleman Edition, Naomi Osaka Edition, Bolt Edition, Tomica 50th Anniversary Edition and, of course, the 447kW GT-R Nismo.

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The final and current iteration of the GT-R uses the 419kW tune of the twin-turbo 3.8-litre V6 but in two specifications in Japan: the Premium Edition and T-Spec. It features the latest revised face with hexagonal daytime running lights and is available in the iconic ‘Bayside Blue’ colour.

It sprints to 97km/h in just 2.7 seconds and hits a top speed of 328km/h – 0.5 seconds and 10km/h improvements on the 2007 model.

Since 2007, over 40,000 units of the GT-R were sold globally and over 1,000 of those were in Australia.

An R36 GT-R is yet to be revealed, however, Nissan showed a 1,000kW electric Hyper Force concept car at the 2024 Tokyo Motor Show with reports from Japan claiming that it will morph into the next-generation car.