Nissan and Italdesign have created the Nissan GT-R50 by Italdesign, the first collaborative result of the two companies. The GT-R50 is based on the 2018 Nissan GT-R NISMO and commemorates the 50th anniversaries of both the GT-R and Italdesign. The car will make its world debut next month in Europe.

“How often do you get to ask, ‘What if we created a GT-R without limits,’ and then actually get to build it?” said Alfonso Albaisa, Nissan’s senior vice president for global design. “This is a rare window in time when two big moments intersect: 50 years of Italdesign shaping the automotive world and 50 years of Nissan generating excitement through our iconic GT-R. So to celebrate this convergence, Nissan and Italdesign created this custom GT-R to mark 50 years of engineering leadership.”

Italdesign developed, engineered and built the car. The distinctive, crisp exterior and interior designs were created by the teams at Nissan Design Europe in London and Nissan Design America. Italdesign, which is part of the Volkswagen group of companies, is based in Northern Italy and is one of the world’s leading companies in the provision of development services for the automotive industry.

The Nissan GT-R50 by Italdesign features a distinct golden inner front element that stretches across almost the full width of the car. The hood has a more pronounced power bulge, and the thin LED headlights stretch from the wheel arch to the lip above the outer cooling intakes. The distinctive roofline has been lowered by 54 millimeters and features a lower center section, while the slightly raised outer portions give the roof profile a muscular look. The signature GT-R “samurai blade” cooling outlets behind the front wheels have more prominence with a gold inlay and extends from the bottom of the doors to the shoulder line. The rear highlights the car’s wide track with taut, muscular flares around the wheels.

The GT-R’s twin round taillights have been reimagined as a separate “floating” feature with thin light rings and hollow centers, mounted so as to join the outer buttress and the central portion of the trunk structure. A large, adjustable rear wing, mounted with two uprights, completes the overall look. Custom wheels – 21 x 10 inches in front and 21 x 10.5 inches at the rear – accentuate the car’s bold stance. The exterior is finished in Liquid Kinetic Gray paint with distinctive Energetic Sigma Gold anniversary accents.

“Although this is not the next-generation GT-R, it is an exciting celebration of two anniversaries in a provocative and creative way – wrapping one of Nissan’s best engineering platforms and Japanese design with Italian coachbuilding,” said Albaisa

Underneath the new shape, the Nissan GT-R50 by Italdesign is all business. Drawing on Nissan’s GT3 racing experience, the NISMO organization enhanced the hand-assembled 3.8-liter V6 VR38DETT engine to produce an estimated 710 hp and 575 lb-gt of torque. Changes to the engine include optimized twin high-flow, large-diameter GT3 competition-spec turbochargers and larger intercoolers; heavy-duty crankshaft, pistons, connecting rods and bearings; high-flow piston oil jets; revised camshaft profiles; higher-flow fuel injectors; and optimized ignition, intake and exhaust systems. A reinforced dual-clutch sequential six-speed rear transaxle and stronger differentials and drive shafts direct the power to the wheels.