Nissan has outlined the vehicles it will have on display at the Tokyo Auto Salon 2020, which include the latest GT-R, the GT-R50 Italdesign and also a Leaf e+ in racing trim.
GT-Rs star
Having to ignore news of the latest Skyline, which comes in Deluxe Advanced Concept and highly desirable 400R guises, but which is irrelevant as we don't get it over here and it's a rebadged Infiniti Q50 anyway, the main focus for us is on the GT-R sports car. The beautiful Italdesign take on the super-coupe is the star, with its underpinnings coming from the hardcore Nismo version of the R35 GT-R. Only 50 examples will be built and there are still a few examples unaccounted for, so presumably Nissan is hoping to secure the final orders ahead of customer deliveries commencing later in 2020.
Talking of the GT-R Nismo, the 2020MY version has arrived. It has been 'thoroughly revised', according to Nissan, as it is now equipped with a turbocharger taken from the GT3 racing version, as well as ultra-high-performance carbon-ceramic brakes. On the outside, carbon fibre is now used for the front wings, bonnet and roof, while on the inside are all-new Recaro seats and 'many other optimised components' which are said to improve cornering performance and overall car balance. If the Nismo is a little too extreme for you, then there's the GT-R 50th Anniversary Edition, which is based on the 2020 Premium Edition - the Anniversary comes in three heritage-era, two-tone exterior liveries which represent the GT-R's most famous racing liveries from the Japanese GP series.
Quick Leafs
A racing GT-R, in the hulking shape of the Motul Autech machine, will be on Nissan's Tokyo show stand as well, this car being the one which competed in the Super GT 2019 GT500 class; it will be used for a pitwork simulation by Nismo mechanics. A 370Z 50th Anniversary Edition was also displayed, although it's unlikely this model - paying homage to the famous No.46 Brock Racing Enterprises Datsun 240Z which won multiple Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) National Championships in the early 1970s - will come to Europe.
Perhaps of more interest was the Leaf e+ racer which raced in the 2019 All Japan EV-GP series. It sat alongside a Nismo version of Nissan's huge-selling electric vehicle, and while neither of these are yet available on these shores, there's every chance we could see a high-performance Leaf in the near future.