Outrageous price tags being applied to Nissan Australia’s swansong R35 T-Spec supercar
Just a week after the 2021 Nissan GT-R was launched in Australia, several examples of the final R35 ‘Godzilla’ supercar are now available at carsales priced at up to $1 million.
While the current R35 Nissan GT-R will continue to be sold globally for the foreseeable future, its status as a collectible is now confirmed in Australia, where new federal side impact regulations known as ADR 85 stopped GT-R imports from November 1. 2021.
Of less than 50 MY21 GT-Rs to arrive before then, around 30 of them were final edition ‘T-Spec’ variants with a retail price of $256,700 plus on-road costs.
All of them sold out almost instantly, and now some buyers are asking almost 400 per cent more than they paid.
While there’s no sign yet of customers onselling their even more exclusive and more expensive MY22 GT-R NISMO SV ($393,800 plus ORCs), when this article was published there were six used Nissan GT-R T-Spec vehicles for sale on this website.
All are low-mileage examples advertised by private sellers, with priced starting at $539,000 for a 58km-old example with intact pre-delivery plastics and Jet Black paint, which the Victorian owner says is the “Rarest colour of the Tspecs sold”.
Half of them are priced close to $1,000,000, making the remaining trio look like a snip at about $550K, with prices topping out at $1 million for another example in Melbourne, this time with Millennium Jade paint and 150km on the clock.
The reason for the high prices? The vehicle’s rarity, for a start, along with its provenance. Previous generation GT-Rs (R32) dominated the Aussie Group A touring car series in 1991 and claimed the Bathurst 1000 before the rules were changed to exclude turbo all-wheel-drive vehicles.
The Skyline GT-R was nicknamed ‘Godzilla’ in Australia for its crushing motorsport performances, but perhaps the biggest reason for the skyrocketing prices on the second-hand market is the fact the T-Spec will be the last-ever R35 GT-R sold in Australia.
The fast-tracking of government regulations banning the sale of cars that don’t meet stringent new side impact regulations not only sealed the local fate of the GT-R but models like the ‘new’ Lexus IS and Alpine A110.
So after Nissan scrambled to bring the last-ever shipment of R35 GT-Rs to Australia before last month (our review from the local launch in embargoed until January 6), used-car prices have blasted into the stratosphere.
Similarly outrageous prices were asked and paid for the last-ever V8-powered Toyota LandCruiser 200 Series, before it was replaced by the new V6-powered 300 Series.
However, whether buyers will be happy to part with hypercar money for the swansong Nissan remains to be seen.
The current Nissan GT-R will be available in markets outside Australia for the foreseeable future – potentially for another two years until the all-new R36 model arrives.
The major upgrade for T-Spec versions of the 2021 Nissan GT-R is the fitment of bigger carbon-ceramic brakes and Brembo calipers, borrowed from the flagship NISMO version of Nissan’s heavy-hitting performance car.
The GT-R T-Spec costs around $57,000 more than its donor car, the GT-R Premium, and on top of the battle-hardened brakes, it gets T-Spec badges, unique gold forged 20-inch alloy wheels, a carbon-fibre rear spoiler and two special exterior paint jobs – Millennium Jade and Midnight Purple.
The 419kW/632Nm twin-turbo 3.8-litre V6 and six-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission remain unchanged from the regular GT-R.
What do you think – is the last-ever Aussie-spec R35 Nissan GT-R worth seven figures? Have your say in the comments below.
Keyword: Buyers asking up to $1 million for final Nissan GT-R