Nissan GT-R50 Auction: Serial #17 Crosses Tokyo Block
The Nissan GT-R50 auction puts serial 17 on the block this Sunday in Tokyo. BH Auction drops the hammer on June 21 at City Circuit Tokyo Bay. Presale estimate sits at ¥145 million to ¥155 million. That converts to roughly $925,000 to $990,000 USD. The car ranks as one of the rarest Japanese performance machines on the public market right now. Italdesign only finished 19 of the planned 50 Nissan GT-R examples. So this single listing represents better than 5% of the entire production run.
BH Auction is running the sale at City Circuit Tokyo Bay. The GT-R50 wears Lot 59 on the catalog sheet. This is a coachbuilt Godzilla with Italian craftsmanship and a NISMO-tuned VR38 under the hood. So the seven-figure estimate tracks. Serial 17 shows just 221 kilometers on the odometer. It has never seen a registration. As a result, it qualifies as a brand-new car in every sense that matters to a collector.
What Is The Nissan GT-R50 By Italdesign?
The Nissan GT-R50 by Italdesign is a coachbuilt special edition. It celebrates two 50th anniversaries at once. The GT-R nameplate hit 50 years in 2019. Italdesign hit the same mark in 2018 since Giorgetto Giugiaro founded the house in 1968. Nissan and Italdesign first revealed the GT-R50 concept in June 2018. Production cars followed under Italdesign’s Automobili Speciali division in Moncalieri, Italy.
Italdesign carries serious weight in this world. Giugiaro’s portfolio reads like a greatest-hits list of automotive design. The original Volkswagen Golf. The Lotus Esprit. The DeLorean DMC-12. The BMW M1. The Maserati Bora. So when Nissan handed the GT-R platform to this house, the bar was already set high. Volkswagen Group bought a majority stake in Italdesign back in 2010. The Automobili Speciali division was built specifically for low-volume coachbuild work like this.
Italdesign handled development, engineering, and final assembly. Meanwhile, the design work came from Nissan Design Europe in London and Nissan Design America. The roofline sits 54mm lower than a standard R35 GT-R. A center dip in the roof creates a subtle double-bubble profile. Up front, the hood carries a power bulge with a full-width inner panel. Sharp LED headlights frame the face.
The fenders carry the distinctive “Samurai Blade” air outlets. Around back, a deployable wing sits above floating circular taillamps. Those replace the R35’s signature quad rounds. The whole package keeps the Nissan GT-R DNA visible. Meanwhile, it pushes the visual identity somewhere completely different from any factory R35.
Powertrain And Driveline Details
The Nissan GT-R50 produces 720 horsepower. The motor is a NISMO-tuned VR38DETT 3.8-liter twin-turbo V6. That figure represents a 120 horsepower jump over the GT-R NISMO of the same era. The standard car made 600 hp from the same basic architecture. NISMO went deep on this build to get the extra output reliably.
The turbochargers came straight from the GT-R FIA-GT3 race program. Those are bigger, faster-spooling units built for endurance racing. A larger intercooler keeps charge temps under control when the boost climbs. Down in the short block, NISMO fitted a stronger crankshaft, forged pistons, beefier connecting rods, and upgraded bearings. All of that supports sustained loads at the new power level. The whole package still passes Euro 6 emissions regulations. That is real engineering on a 720 horsepower car.
The reinforcement work continued through the rest of the driveline. The GR6 six-speed dual-clutch transaxle got upgraded internals. Italdesign and NISMO also reinforced the driveshaft and differential. On top of that, Bilstein dampers carry bespoke tuning. Brembo carbon-ceramic brakes handle stopping duty. 21-inch forged wheels wear Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires. Every major component on the car was either upgraded or replaced relative to the donor GT-R NISMO.
Inside The Cabin
The cabin starts with the GT-R NISMO interior as a base. Italdesign took it apart and rebuilt it from there. Carbon fiber sheets the dashboard and center console. Alcantara wraps the door cards and headliner. Italian leather covers the seats. The steering wheel is custom: a carbon fiber hub and spokes with the rim trimmed in Alcantara. So every touch point on the car has been reworked.
This particular car has blue interior accents to match the exterior finish. Some other examples in the run wear gold accents tied to the gold exterior color used on earlier launch cars. The blue car you see at this Nissan GT-R50 auction is the cooler, less common spec inside.
What Makes Serial Number 17 Special At The Nissan GT-R50 Auction?
This Nissan GT-R50 is serial number 17 of the 19 cars actually completed. The engine plate carries the matching 17 stamped into it. The car is right-hand drive. It wears blue paint with matching blue accents inside. The odometer shows just 221 kilometers. Since it has never been registered, it qualifies as a brand-new 2024 model.
A few details matter for any prospective buyer. Italdesign removed the original Nissan-issued chassis number during the rebuild. Then Italdesign assigned a new VIN of its own. The current VIN reads ZA9ECN505MTM09009. The engine number is VR38-045123A. On top of that, the listing notes a preliminary inspection certificate. That paperwork needs to be re-acquired before road use. For a buyer planning to actually drive it, that step matters.
A Coachbuilt Top Of The R35 Lineage
The Nissan GT-R50 sits at the absolute top of the modern R35 lineage. Since the R35 launched in 2007, Nissan has built Spec V, Track Edition, NISMO, and Final Edition variants. None of them came close to what the GT-R50 represents. The differences come down to price, exclusivity, and pure coachbuilt character. The original MSRP for the program landed near €1.05 million per car. That made it the most expensive factory-affiliated Nissan GT-R ever sold.
The Nissan GT-R name itself carries serious history. The first Skyline GT-R, the Hakosuka, hit the streets in 1969. Then came the Kenmeri in 1973. The nameplate sat dormant for years before the R32 brought it back in 1989. R33 and R34 followed through the 1990s. Then the R35 broke from tradition in 2007 as the first GT-R built without the Skyline badge attached. So the 50th anniversary in 2019 covered five decades of road and race heritage at once.
How The Italdesign Collaboration Came Together
The project started after Nissan executives saw Italdesign’s “Zerouno” at the Geneva Motor Show. The Zerouno was Italdesign’s first car sold under its own brand, built on an Audi R8 platform. Nissan recognized what the Italian coachbuilder could pull off on a low-volume program. So they handed one of the most iconic platforms in performance car history to an outside design house. Then they let Italdesign go to work. That kind of collaboration is uncommon in the modern era. The rarity of the finished product reflects exactly that.
When Does The Nissan GT-R50 Auction Happen?
The Nissan GT-R50 auction runs Sunday, June 21, 2026. The venue is City Circuit Tokyo Bay in Japan. BH Auction’s full Tokyo 06.21 catalog includes other heavy hitters. Highlights include a 1977 Porsche 935 K3 and a 2026 McLaren 750S MCL38 Celebration Edition. So this is a serious sale with serious cars rolling across the block.
BH Auction built its reputation on rare Japanese performance metal. As a result, the GT-R50 fits the room perfectly. The full catalog and bidding info live on the BH Auction listing page. We will be watching the hammer price closely. Then we will report back with the final number once the sale wraps on Sunday.
