Both of Nissan’s currently in-production sports cars are apparently sold out, bad news if you were hoping to drive off in a new example of the GT-R or 370Z. On Friday, Nissan USA’s official website listed both the last-generation 370Z and GT-R as “Sold Out.” Dang it.
With the gloriously nostalgic new Z going on sale very soon, it’s understandable that the supply of the 370Z would be wound down but the GT-R? Nissan’s venerable supercar slayer that’s inexplicably been sold nonstop since, like, 2008? Could this be a sign that Nissan is finally calling it quits on the R35 GT-R?
Its apparent unavailability caused enough concern to warrant contacting Nissan for both confirmation and an explanation and when I hit the company up, a spokesperson replied: “For GT-R, sales of our 2021 Nissan GT-R Premium, GT-R NISMO Special Edition and GT-R T-spec were extended into 2022. Due to lifecycle timing differences between the U.S. and Japan, U.S. models were designated as 2021 models, while those in Japan are designated as 2022 models. We have in fact sold out of all of our GT-R T-Spec and NISMO Special Editions for 2021 but we’ve not shared any details for the U.S. market beyond the 2021 model at this time.”
So, it sounds like the current model year GT-R—whether that’s regarded as a U.S. 2021 or Japanese 2022 model year—is indeed all sold out but reading between the lines of the last part of that statement, this may not be the end of the GT-R as we know it just yet.
Despite it being around for almost a decade and a half, Nissan is still tinkering and offering new variants of the GT-R. The 2020 model year updates included a transmission with more aggressive downshifts as well as lighter 20-inch Rays wheels. Late last year, the company came out with the T-Spec, a special edition featuring wider Track Edition fenders, gold wheels, a carbon fiber spoiler, and carbon-ceramic brakes with air guides taken from the GT-R Nismo. It also came in two legendary GT-R colors, Millennium Jade and Midnight Purple.
Just last month, however, rumors surfaced saying a next-generation GT-R is in the works. If true, instead of the electrified “fastest super sports car in the world” Nissan once pledged the theoretical R36 to be, it may be a heavily reworked R35 that uses the same engine and base chassis as the current car but wearing a new design—a similar approach Nissan took to create the “new” Z…or the R34 and R33 generations of Skyline GT-R. Development for that would still take a while, and it’s unlikely that Nissan won’t send the current car on a victory lap before the very end.
Got a tip or question for the author about the Nissan GT-R? You can reach him here: chris.tsui@thedrive.com