The R35 Nissan GT-R first arrived on the scene when dinosaurs still roamed the earth. It witnessed the rise and downfall of the Roman Empire, accompanied the great explorers on their journeys of discovery, was a muse for the sculptors of the Renaissance and watched smoke plume from factories during the Industrial Revolution.
Okay, not really, but it launched in 2007 and went out of production 18 years later, which is an absurdly long time for any car to stay on sale. Now its time is up, though, we have to turn our attention to the next big question: where’s the R36?
Nissan GT-R R35
Rumours of a successor to the R35 have bubbled away for years now, even as the old car has plodded on in production. It looks like we’ll be waiting a while longer yet, but it seems an R36 is indeed in the works. Here’s everything we know about it so far.
Is an R36 Nissan GT-R in development?
In development as in ‘disguised prototypes running around the Nürburgring?’ No. But ‘in development’ as in ‘plans are being cooked up?’ Yes. In July 2024, Car Throttle was told by Ivan Espinosa – then Nissan’s chief planning officer, now its CEO – that “there is a project” when it comes to a
This is something that’s been echoed by various Nissan execs in interviews over the last couple of years. The company has some rather bigger fish to fry at the moment, though, as it tries to get out of the financial strife it’s found itself in – it’s in the process of cutting around 20,000 jobs and closing two factories, and has paused development on several upcoming models.
Nissan Hyper Force concept
However, the biggest spot of hope we’ve had for the R36 so far comes from Espinosa again, now at the helm of Nissan and tasked with turning around the company’s fortunes. In the press release announcing the end of R35 production, he said:
“After 18 remarkable years, the R35 GT-R has left an enduring mark on automotive history. Its legacy is a testament to the passion of our team and the loyalty of our customers around the globe. Thank you for being part of this extraordinary journey. To the many fans of the GT-R worldwide, I want to tell you this isn’t a goodbye to the GT-R forever, it’s our goal for the GT-R nameplate to one day make a return.
“We understand the expectations are high, the GT-R badge is not something that can be applied to just any vehicle; it is reserved for something truly special and the R35 set the bar high. So, all I can ask is for your patience. While we don’t have a precise plan finalised today, the GT-R will evolve and reemerge in the future.”
So, even if it’s still years off, that’s Nissan’s toppest of top brass confirming that the company plans to bring the name back. Promising stuff.
What will the R36 Nissan GT-R look like?
At this point, we have no idea. We can, however, look back at a couple of concepts that might give us a hint.
Nissan Concept 2020 Vision Gran Turismo
Firstly, there’s Nissan’s entry in the Vision Gran Turismo project, which sees manufacturers design a concept for the Gran Turismo video game series. Nissan’s Concept 2020, debuted way back in 2014, when the R35 was a sprightly seven years old.
Never explicitly stated to be a glimpse at a future GT-R, it nonetheless carried several hallmarks of the car and its Skyline-badged predecessors: a front-mounted twin-turbo six-cylinder engine (now part of a hybrid system) driving all four wheels, a 2+2 cabin, and styling features like those iconic quad circular tail lights.
Nissan Concept 2020 Vision Gran Turismo
That concept’s name led many to assume that we might see a new GT-R in 2020, but that year came and went without so much as a hint of the R35 disappearing.
In fact, we’d have to wait until the 2023 Tokyo Motor Show for our next hint at a future GT-R, when Nissan debuted the Hyper Force concept. Once the shock of its super-angular bodywork had worn off, we could once again see plenty of GT-R family commonality in its overall silhouette and, once again, those distinctive rear lights – never mind that badge that looks like a minimalist eight-bit interpretation of the GT-R logo.
Nissan Hyper Force concept
The big difference with the Hyper Force is that it’s fully electric, which leads us to our next question…
Will the R36 Nissan GT-R be petrol, hybrid or electric?
For some time, it’s been assumed that any new GT-R would be a full EV. The company has long been publicly committed to an all-EV future in several markets, and last June, announced plans not to develop any all-new internal combustion engines.
However, things have changed rapidly in the car industry in the last couple of years, with several manufacturers scrapping plans to go all-electric by a certain date in the face of weaker-than-expected demand for EVs. This has been particularly prevalent among high-end performance cars, where it’s becoming clear that buyers still crave a petrol engine.
We were told in July 2024 that it “would be at least electrified if not fully electric.” Most recently, Hiroshi Tamura, a former GT-R product planner at Nissan, told Top Gear: “I’m not sure it will be 100 per cent EV… but if customers accept a hybrid, it probably might happen.”
Nissan Hyper Force concept
Tamura no longer works at Nissan in an active capacity – he’s now a brand ambassador, so doesn’t have any actual input into the company’s products. However, Nissan will undoubtedly be watching the performance car market closely, especially under the watch of self-professed car enthusiast Ivan Espinosa.
If we were really to get the rumour mill fully cranking, part of the turnaround plan involves rebadging a number of cars from Renault, a company Nissan has long had close ties to. Renault’s performance subsidiary, Alpine, has just confirmed its plans to produce a 1000bhp+, V6 hybrid supercar.
Nissan Hyper Force concept
Could that serve as a springboard for a new electrified GT-R? Only time will tell, but the GT-R badge has always had its own distinct identity that Nissan will doubtless want to preserve for the new car.
One thing we can be fairly certain of is that the R36 won’t feature a pure combustion engine – global emissions regulations will likely prevent that, and some form of electrified powertrain, whether a hybrid or a full EV, is more aligned with Nissan’s goals as a company.
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