Only 19 Examples of the GT-R 50 in Existence, Up for Auction

One of the rarest sports cars ever built by Nissan, the GT-R 50, of which only 19 were made, has been put up for auction. The estimated winning bid is an astonishing 1.5 billion won (approx. £900,000), enough to buy ten Nismo GT-Rs.

2018 was a rather special year for the Nissan GT-R, as it marked the 50th anniversary of the partnership with Italdesign, founded by Giorgetto Giugiaro. To celebrate this long-standing relationship, the two companies decided to create a special GT-R. That car was the GT-R 50.

This was far more than a cosmetic upgrade with an Italdesign touch. The roofline was lowered, the proportions were altered, and almost every panel enveloping the body was redesigned. Even the panels themselves were made from striking blue carbon fibre. Along with a massive rear wing, the rear end, including the taillights, underwent extensive revisions.

The GT-R's inherent identity remained, but the expression was far more refined and sophisticated. The front end's appearance was also changed. This car was unmistakably a GT-R, yet not a single aspect of it was ordinary. It even featured 21-inch carbon fibre wheels, reflecting upgrades in both style and dynamic performance.

Furthermore, as mentioned earlier, this car did not stop at mere cosmetic upgrades. Nismo engineers extracted more power from the 3.8-litre turbocharged engine, adding turbochargers and an intercooler used in GT3 race cars. After carrying out upgrades across the entire powertrain, they achieved an output of a staggering 720 horsepower. Not only that, but the gearbox was strengthened, and Bilstein suspension was fitted to enhance dynamic performance as well.

One of these commemorative models, which received extensive performance upgrades inside and out, has recently been put up for auction. However, the estimated winning bid is rather surprising, as it reaches a whopping 1.5 billion won (150 million yen). Strictly speaking, it's not unreasonable to consider this car to be worth about as much as a Nismo complete car.

Of course, Nismo complete cars are also quite rare and hold significant collector value, but even so, they don't command a price approaching 1.5 billion won. If you had bought a Ferrari for a similar price, you could expect its value to increase by 1.5 to 2 times or more after about ten years. Sadly, the reality is that a GT-R can never be that kind of asset.

Nevertheless, there are clear reasons for this valuation. Firstly, as originally planned, around 50 units of this car were supposed to be produced. However, when this car was truly ready to debut, it was unfortunately during the COVID-19 pandemic. Of course, that was a time of rampant revenge spending, so finding 50 owners might not have been too difficult. But Nissan and Italdesign, failing to predict this spending trend, regrettably produced only 19 cars—far fewer than the initial plan—and ended the project.

Here is another reason that justifies this car's price. This particular car has never been owned by anyone since leaving the factory. In other words, it has never been registered. Naturally, its mileage is only a mere 221 km. This mileage is simply the result of movement during the factory delivery process plus mileage from performance verification tests. Therefore, if you were to acquire and register this car now, you would become its very first owner.

Of course, there will undoubtedly be people who question whether this car is truly worth this much. With 1.5 billion won, quite a variety of options come to mind, and it's perfectly reasonable to doubt whether anyone would choose this car among them.