Carshop First Drive: Nissan GT-R 50th Anniversary Edition

Fifty. 50 years, that's half a century of Nippon's most consistent giant slayer, Godzilla, commemorated in this 50th Anniversary Edition and if you're looking beyond its retro inspired sticker job you won't find much. Not much, if anything was needed if we're honest. But the choice of colour has me feeling things I haven't felt in, let's say 5 years.

A trip on the blue side

Five years ago in an event I like to call the best night of my motoring life, I got to cruise Tokyo in a Bayside Blue BNR34 GT-R.

So, imagine my state of mind when confronted with a 50th Anniversary GT-R in the exact same hue. This palette is joined by a Pearl White and Super Silver livery and then there are the wheels, each accented to match the bodywork. I should add that Nissan South Africa were so kind as to launch this particular animal alongside its forebears, including the original 'Hakosuka' from the late 1960s. All of them a visual treat, with their lineage best observed in those afterburner tail lamps.

Hakosuka

Hop aboard the new car and I was greeted to a grey-blue cabin, a much more European affair than the original R35 released in 2009. That's a decade ago and if I had to be critical, the overall styling of the GT-R is beginning to overstay it's welcome.

The sceptic in me wants an R36, but the realist in me knows we're not even 5 years away from that being a reality. So, I guess I'll 'have to make do' with the 410kW and 632Nm equipped 3.8l V6 currently underfoot, being blown in unison by a pair of turbochargers. This is good for a blistering 2.7 second leap from zero to hundred kph. Which is nothing short of physics defying when you consider the GT-Rs dimensions. It's hardly a lightweight, and certainly no scythe. All this grunt eventually makes its way to all four wheels via a six-speed dual clutch auto with the most mechanical din you'll find in a modern car.

Let's unpack it.

Making GT-R noises

And I'm not talking about the barrel-chested howls from the engine nor the turbo whoops, whistles or even the booming exhaust note, rather the sounds from the rear. The ever-working differentials slotting and shifting like the bolts to a barn filled with very, many horses. Which is precisely what it is, with stopping power boosted to better reign in the Bayside baby's enormous reserves of power and torque.

Shift the drivetrain, powertrain, suspension (or all three) south into ‘R’ for Race, and you'll engage the GT-R's hairiest of configurations and in the process summon its Launch Control mode. Needless to say, by the time I returned the Nissan's fob I'd had my way with its every setting, and it with me. We crushed the tarmac around Hartbeesportdam, we annihilated the asphalt along the satellite road, and tortured the network of roads that would bring us back to Pretoria.

Pearl White

And while the GT-R has nothing new to offer the driver in this particular rendition, what it is, is a masterclass in speed, sound and complete and utter engagement. At its current price tag, the hyper Nissan can no longer be considered a budget supercar. But it continues to bloody the noses of the Italian aristocracy at three times its price, and for this we reserve a special place in our heart for the Nissan GT-R.

But don’t take my word for it 

Just ask anyone who has ever competed in the Jaguar Simola Hillclimb in Knysna, where every sort of GT-R continues to dominate the event. We caught up with Wilhelm Baard and Reghard Roets, both kings of that particular hill, as well as being proud GT-R ambassadors.

When asked what they'd like from the next iteration of Godzilla the opinion was more or less unanimous. More power. Less weight. Yet both felt that electrification would be the answer. What do you think, will Godzilla go electric? Perhaps a hybridization affair in the style of Ferrari and Lamborghini comes next. Either way, we'll be there, waiting in the wings and chomping at the bits.

GT-R Pricing: