As one of the most notorious supercars on the planet, the R34 Nissan Skyline ceased production in 1999. With massive dealer demand and Nissan enthusiasts around the globe calling for a successor, it was at the 35th Tokyo Motor Show in 2001 where Nissan unveiled the GT-R Concept confirming that the GT-R legend would live on. Then after two years of silence and a growing restless public, Nissan announced at the 2003 Tokyo Motor Show that the GT-R would be released in 2007. Now with the launch of the production model getting closer, Nissan is set to unveil a near final production model called the GT-R PROTO in one week's time at the 39th Tokyo Motor Show. One week ago Nissan released some teaser design sketches of the Nissan GT-R PROTO Concept. Stunning!
Seen here testing at the Nurburgring test track in Germany is a Skyline GT-R test mule wearing a heavily modified body of an Infiniti G35 Coupe. To clarify, the G35 Coupe was named the Skyline in Japan since 2001 but never received an ultra-high-performance engine/drivetrain and therefore never lived up to it's predecessor's supercar status. But that's all going to change now with the new GT-R. Taking a closer look at these photos you'll notice the slightly more acute roofline, hood air-scoops, widened body with flared fenders, rolled out rear quarter panels and rocket launcher like dual exhaust pipes which is rumored to give way to 480hp from a 3.2 liter twin turbo V6 engine. Sources say that the purpose of this particular testing session was to evaluate the GT-R's suspension which is being tuned by Lotus at their development center in England. This GT-R will be exported globally and that includes US (under Infiniti brand) and Australia. Look for a price tag around $80,000 USD.
