Already it’s off sale in many markets, including the UK, where it no longer meets the latest safety or emissions regulations, and within months it will go out of production entirely. There is no imminent replacement.
And that, I get the impression, is fine by the Japanese. I could be wrong, of course. They could be more cross than a teacher after you’ve knocked on the staffroom door at breaktime.
But I don’t think so. Two-thirds of Japanese identify as Buddhists and that doctrine says that all existence is “transient, evanescent, inconstant”. There is an appreciation that things come and go.
So while there’s existential angst here that Jaguar doesn’t currently build sports cars and the idea of Ford without a Mustang or Porsche without a 911 is basically unthinkable, some time without a new GT-R should almost be expected. Appreciated.
Similarly, you could consider the Honda NSX, which spent years out of production between generations and has been deliberately unusual in all its forms. Rotary-engined Mazdas likewise.
Or even the Lexus LFA, which perhaps was a successor to the Toyota 2000GT, spiritually if not literally. All came, all went. Will we see replacements? Probably. But who knows?
Nissan promises it will make a new GT-R, it should be said. “I want to have four or five cars at the top of our portfolio that are really brand-oriented, cars that really represent what Nissan is about and show what the heartbeat of Nissan is,” incoming CEO Ivan Espinosa told us recently.
