Nissan announces delivery schedule updates on their Italian-bodied GT-R50

MANILA: A year after its official preview, Nissan announced that they are finally ready to deliver their ultra-limited, Italian-bodied GT-R50. According to reports,

the vehicle experienced some apparent delays. The GT-R50 is the brainchild of the Japanese automaker and Turin, Italy-based Italdesign. The GT-R50 marked Italdesign’s 50th anniversary in the industry.

News of the vehicle first made waves due to its unique fusion of Japanese and Italian design elements, albeit unexpected yet still received a lot of praise. Nissan announced back in 2018 that they will only be producing 50 of the hand-built sports car, and topping it off by slapping on a $1.1 million price tag.

The GT-R50 is powered by NISMO-tuned 720 horsepower hand-built 3.8-litre twin-turbocharged V6. This is the same engine used by the NISMO GT-R GT3 race car.

Much like most ultra-limited supercars, customers get the opportunity to customize their vehicle. Those who purchase the GT-R50 will work side-by-side with Italdesign to create their model. According to Nissan’s global sports car program director Bob Laishley, “Each one will be a masterpiece in their own way.”

However, while they mentioned that the release was met with strong customer demands, with a significant amount of deposits for the vehicle already coming in, there are still a good number of vehicles sitting with no owners.

Nissan didn’t reveal the exact figures — saying that there is still a “limited number” — but it is speculated that there are still a handful of models available. Despite its limited-edition status, it still hasn’t held up to other limited edition supercars which have sold out in days or even hours after opening for orders.

Nissan has the first batch of GT-R50 models scheduled for delivery in late 2020, with the rest shipping to owners by 2021. Not only that, they also revealed photos of the color combinations picked out by customers. The most popular is arguably the mint color variation. According to journalists, the mint color is reminiscent of Gran Turismo garages in the 1990s.

Nissan also announced that they will finally be showcasing the first batch of customer cars at the 2020 Geneva Motor Show this coming March.

Also Read: By 2020, Nissan cars will be built by robots – at least, in Tochigi factory