2024 marked the end of the R35 GT-R is the U.S., but order books are now closed in Japan, too.
Nissan’s flagship sports car had an amazingly long 17-year run, to the point where we asked multiple times over the past few years when the automaker would actually replace it or kill it off. Now, though, it’s officially dead as Japanese order books slam shut. Even though it’s been coming for a good long while…I’m still a bit sad about it. Godzilla is gone.
Here’s a bit of a refresher on how Nissan wound down its iconic R35 generation over the past little while. Here in the U.S., Nissan announced production would officially end after the 2024 model year by launching two limited editions: the Skyline and T-Spec Takumi Editions. That was the last opportunity for American buyers to pick up a new example, although the Skyline came with a $132,985 price tag. The Takumi? That was a cool $152,985.
As you’d expect with a high-strung, limited-production sports car, the Nissan GT-R was never a volume seller. When you have a car that carries on for such a long time with no generational overhaul, either, the buzz dies down after a little bit. Still, even if most of the conversation around it these days is among enthusiasts and fans, the burning question remains of when — or if — Nissan will replace its aged sports car with the R36.
If we were talking about it five years ago, that conversation would be pretty straightforward: Nissan would probably replace it within a year or two, if not immediately. These days, however, with Nissan in dire financial straits and its prospective merger with Honda a non-starter…it appears bringing in a brand-new, exceedingly fast and eye-wateringly expensive sports car probably isn’t at the top of Nissan’s priority list. They’re simply on a mission to survive at the moment, with CEO Makoto Uchida possibly on his way out within the next week and the company desperately searching for investment — with the latest potential partner being Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn.
That said, things in the auto industry have been in constant flux over the past several years, so never say never. We could see an R36 emerge at some point, and I certainly hope Nissan does turn things around to make it happen.
