Final R35-Gen Nissan GT-R Rolls Off Production Line

First hinted back in June 2024 before an official announcement came in March this year, the end has finally arrived for the R35-gen Nissan GT-R. Earlier today, the Japanese automaker revealed it has produced the final unit for said model at its Tochigi plant.

The final R35 GT-R unit produced by Nissan was a Premium Edition T-Spec variant dressed in the nameplate’s signature Midnight Purple hue. It’s also reportedly destined for delivery to a Japanese customer – hopefully one who keeps it instead of flipping it.

Nissan held a small ceremony to mark the end of the R35-gen GT-R's production at its Tochigi plant earlier this week.

Additionally, a team of nine master craftsmen – ‘Takumi’ – assembled all GT-R engines by hand at Nissan’s Yokohama factory. Each one’s name can be found on a special plaque attached to the respective powertrain.

As said unit rolls off the line, it marks the end of its 18-year production run. The R35-gen GT-R first debuted and went into production in 2007, and it was continuously improved over the years since, with the latest – and final – revision revealed in March 2024.

The final R35-gen GT-R unit produced was a Japanese market Premium Edition T-Spec variant dressed in its signature Midnight Purple hue.

All R35-gen GT-R models harnessed a VR38DETT 3.8-litre twin-turbo V6 heart that, depending on variant and model year version, produced anywhere between 473 HP and to 600 HP. Managing which too is an advanced Attessa ET-S all-wheel-drive (AWD) suite.

In the same time span, the GT-R also set and improved upon its own Nurburgring lap record – 7 mins 38 secs in 2007, which was later slashed to 7 mins 8.679 secs in 2013. Moreover, the GT-R also went racing and charted various victories.

The latter includes wins in the GT300 (GT3) and premier GT500 classes of the Japanese Super GT championship, as well as the Super Taikyu endurance series. Overseas, the GT-R also won in key series and events like the Blancpain GT Series and the 12 Hours of Bathurst.

Nissan says it roughly built and delivered 48,000 units of the R35 GT-R worldwide. As reported prior, the famed GT-R sportscar, also fondly referred to by fans and observers alike as ‘Godzilla’, is going out of production without a successor.

“To the many fans of the GT-R worldwide, I want to tell you this isn’t a goodbye to the GT-R forever, it’s our goal for the GT-R nameplate to one day make a return,” remarked Nissan president and CEO Ivan Espinosa.

One possible follow-up was hinted in the form of the 2023 Nissan Hyper Force concept. At the heart of which is a high-performance electric powertrain plus solid state batteries tech, altogether promising ultra-high-performance abilities.

Nissan hasn't built a successor to the R35 GT-R yet, but speculation is rife it could be either partially or fully electrified.

However, recent comments by the R35-gen GT-R’s product planner Hiroshi Tamura suggests that the next-gen model’s electric future isn’t confirmed. He also speculated the succeeding model could adopt a hybrid setup instead.

Nevertheless, despite bowing out with no immediate successor, the fact that Nissan remains keen to develop one and position it as its performance flagship is a good sign. Hopefully, this GT-R successor arrives before the end of the decade.