The Nissan GT-R is probably the most collectible and desirable Japanese sports car thanks to the iconic R34. However, there’s one brand-new model that’s worth more than many supercars and is more rare, the GT-R50, a collaboration project with Italdesign.
This special little exotic was announced for limited production in 2018 with the first examples ready by 2020. The latest one to be finished just got delivered in Singapore and its color combination is unlike any that came before. Nissan has already shown its customers ordering crazy shades of green, silver, black, or blue. However, this example is one of the few that exists outside of Japan and has already earned the nickname “Iron Man.”
Most of the body is painted pearl red with accents done in gold. These include the front intake, chin spoiler, hood vents, mirror caps, side blades, and a lot of the rear end. What’s interesting is that under all that gorgeous paint is a body made of carbon fiber, which is even more gorgeous.
But we get why it’s not raw carbon. This particular GT-R50 is owned by a person who goes by @sm65g. This reclusive multi-millionaire (or perhaps billionaire) owns two of the most exotic cars in Singapore, a Koenigsegg Agera RS Genesis with number plates reading SW 65S and the Pagani Huayra Tempesta SM, number plates reading SM 65U. Compared to those things, this $1.1 million Nissan is actually pretty cheap.
From what we gather, this is going to be one of the last examples to be made. Nissan originally said they were making 50 examples to coincide with their celebration, but are actually doing just 19 examples. As die-hard fans will know, the first Skyline was made by the Prince Motor Company, but the Skyline also became a Nissan in 1969, the year the Skyline GT-R got presented at the Tokyo Motor Show.
Meanwhile, Italdesign was founded in 1968, so at about the same time. The Italian house is responsible for some of the all-time coolest cars, like the 1971 Maserati Bora, 1976 Lotus Esprit, BMW M1, Lancia Delta, DeLorean DMC-12, Lamborghini Gallardo, and Mk1 VW Golf. Honestly, the GT-R50 is just as pretty as all of those.
To make one of these Nissan stars off with the body of the R35 GT-R, the high-performance version, to be precise. The new skin makes this even lighter than a stock GT-R, and it’s even got carbon fiber wheels.
However, its output is bumped up significantly, since the 3.8-liter twin-turbo V6 is now rated at 711 horsepower and 575 pound-feet of torque. The official 0 to 60 time of 2.9 seconds is as impressive as any supercar. And while we’d say nobody wants to drive a rare exotic to the limit, we’ve heard @sm65g pushes his other carbon fiber cars.