End of an Era: Nissan Builds the Final R35 GT-R

After an extraordinary run, the last Nissan R35 GT-R has rolled off the production line at the Tochigi plant in Japan. Finished as a Premium Edition T-Spec in Midnight Purple, it closes the book on an 18-year story of relentless evolution and stubborn survival. Around 48,000 units were built and scattered across the globe, proof that despite constant criticism and the rise of formidable rivals, the GT-R refused to fade away.

Nissan, of course, is careful not to frame this as a final goodbye. The official language speaks of “honoring the legacy” and “imagining the next generation.” In reality, no one knows when or in what form a new GT-R might surface. Pressures from electrification, tightening regulations and Nissan’s own financial constraints make a swift comeback unlikely. For now, it is easier to keep the legend alive with the marketing-friendly assurance that “this is not farewell, only see you again.”

When it debuted in 2007, the R35 broke with tradition. Unlike its predecessors, it did not rely on a single mid-life refresh but evolved incrementally, with small but constant improvements. The twin-turbo V6 grew from its original 480 horsepower to 600 in the ultimate NISMO versions. The design and technology followed a similar path, nudging the car year by year until it became, paradoxically, both quicker and ever more of an anachronism.

Its legacy is written as much in lap times as in folklore. Nürburgring became an obsession for Nissan: from a 7:38 in 2007 down to 7:08 a decade later in NISMO trim. On home soil at Tsukuba Circuit, records fell until the last generation NISMO dipped under the magic one-minute barrier. In 2016, the GT-R set a Guinness World Record for drifting at 304.96 km/h, a feat as outrageous as it was symbolic.

The R35 was never about refinement or beauty. It was at once supercar and blunt instrument, a brute force machine that often undercut its European peers on price while matching or beating them in performance. Its charm lay in proving that a mass-market badge could deliver a car to humble Ferraris and Porsches. That uneasy truth turned the R35 into a cult figure.

Now, with the final example complete, the waiting begins. The GT-R name will endure, but the next iteration must fit into a world where hand-built twin-turbo V6s and raw internal-combustion theatrics may belong more to museums than to the road ahead.