1998 Nissan R390 GT1 Coupe

The R390 GT1 was developed by Nissan to comply with Le Mans GT1 Class regulations. In order to compete on the track manufacturers were required to build at least one street-legal version of the race car. Going against the grain, Nissan built the road car first and then developed the racing version. Now Jaguar Chief Designer, Ian Callum, penned the design drawing on elements from Nissan street cars of the era. Mechanicals and aerodynamics were a joint effort that involved Tony Southgate, Callum's then co-worker at Tom Walkinshaw Racing and Yutaka Hagiwara of Nismo. Eight racing versions of the R390 competed at Le Mans in 1997 and 1998. In 1998, Nissan entered four cars and captured four of the top-ten spots in the 24-hour race. The twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter DOHC V8 engine produces 550 horsepower in street tune. The six-speed sequential gearbox and launch control take the R390 from zero-to-sixty seconds in under four seconds. The interior is quite civilized with full instrumentation and leather seating.

Of the machines entered in the GT class of the 24 Hours of LeMans race, at least one must be constructed based on a vehicle that can be driven on public roads. Therefore this road car was created in order to obtain official type-approval for the R390 GT1 as a GT car.

This is the one R390 road car built, and Nissan never marketed it or intended to sell it. It is housed at Nissan's Heritage Garage in Zama, Japan. In 2018 it made its first ever trip to North America when it was put on display at the 2018 Monterey Historics.

The car is powered by a VRH35L 3.5-liter dual overhead cam V8 engine offering approximately 350 horsepower (in street guise). It has a six-speed sequential transmission.