Well, the Skyline looks to be dead. This is what we're supposed to get in the US.
It’s Almost Here…. Get ready for Japan’s Corvette, the Nissan GT-R PROTO
AUTOWEEK
Nissan unveiled the GT-R Concept at the Tokyo Motor Show in 2001, giving hope the GT-R legend would continue into the 21st century. Then at the 2003 Tokyo show, the company announced the next-generation GT-R would roll out in 2007. Now the launch of the newest production model is just two years away, and the new GT-R’s development has moved ahead again with the reveal of the GT-R PROTO. And this time, the GT-R, the first new one in eight years, will come to the States.
The GT-R PROTO’s design is meant to express GT-R heritage from the first model (codenamed PGC10, launched in 1969) through R34 (1999), in a new and expressive form. For the first time in GT-R history, the car will be designed as a specific body style, not derived from a sedan. The front end’s center air intake is designed to optimize airflow, as well as to strongly link the identity of the GT-R from R34 to GT-R Concept (2001). The front fenders’ shape reflect the aero work Nissan did to optimize airflow around the tires.
The rear of the GT-R PROTO has the signature four-ring tail lamps to provide a visual link to previous GT-Rs. Four large-bore exhaust pipes complete the purposeful look.
Drivetrain and suspension details are sketchy at this point, but our spies tell us the car will be a stout performer. Rumors from Japan say the all-wheel-drive Skyline will be powered by a 450-hp, twin turbo V6 engine. Lotus might have a hand in tuning the suspension.
This is what one of the British Magazines has to say.
Autocar
The Skyline is dead, long live the GT-R
Heroic R34 Skyline died this year, but replacement won't be here until 2008
GT-R Proto concept previews the next GT-R
Nissan is preparing to unveil this dramatic concept, badged GT-R Proto, at the Tokyo motor show later this month and insiders confirm that it previews the long-awaited replacement for the R34 Skyline GT-R.
Sources at Nissan say the concept’s styling is very close to the final car, which will make its debut in production form at the Tokyo show in two years’ time. As Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn confirmed in 2003, the new car will go on sale in 2007, but UK buyers mourning the demise of the final Z-tune version of the R34 earlier this year will have to wait until 2008. Though based on a version of the Skyline/350Z platform, the new car will be known simply as ‘Nissan GT-R’ in recognition of its status as the a global supercar.
Gone is the current car’s boxy saloon-derived shape, replaced with an aggressive coupe profile fronted by a gaping mouth. Dark slash headlights recall the 2001 GT-R Concept, and Nissan’s engineers have been undertaking careful aerodynamic testing to maximise airflow over the car and around the wheels. Styling highlights include the distinctive creased rear pillar – which designers claim aids entry to the cabin – and at the rear the familiar quartet of round taillights returns, with quad exhausts beneath.
While the styling department works on the final look of the car, engineers are pounding the Nurburgring in their mission to provide GT-R buyers with ‘Ultimate driving pleasure’. The benchmarks are said to be the Porsche 911 GT3 on the track, and Nissan’s own Infiniti G35 Coupe – softened sister car to the 350Z - on the road.
Our spy spotted this GT-R mule, sitting beneath an Infiniti shell, and timed it putting in an 8min 15sec lap at the ‘Ring – two years before the production version is ready. He also reported that the turbocharged V6, reportedly based on the 350Z’s unit and producing around 400bhp, makes a spectacular amount of forced induction noise. Engineers chose a V6 over the V8s preferred in the USA to improve the balance of the GT-R, which is likely to use a development of the old car’s ‘Intelligent’ four-wheel drive system.
2 Fast 2 Furious?
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