While it might be a world-class performance icon, the Nissan GT-R was never really considered “pretty.” However, that all changes with the introduction of the one-off GT-R50 prototype, a collaborative effort between Nissan and the legendary Italian design house, Italdesign. Built to commemorate the overlapping 50th anniversary of both the Skyline GT-R nameplate and the birth of Italdesign, the GT-R50 is rolling eye candy laid atop an engineering masterpiece, bringing form and function into stunning harmony.

Updated 08/27/2018: We added a new series of images taken during the car's official presentation at the 2018 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance.

Continue reading to learn more about the Nissan GT-R50 by Italdesign.

Nissan GT-R50 by Italdesign Exterior Styling

Unsurprisingly, Italdesign wasted no time in completely revamping the exterior aesthetic for this performance monster. The GT-R50 is based on a production 2018 Nissan GT-R Nismo model, but

Italdesign took responsibility for developing, engineering, and building the final product. Meanwhile, the design itself was penned by Nissan’s design teams in Europe and the U.S.

The first thing to jump out at us is the smokey and bright dual-color scheme, which Nissan says combines a hue dubbed Liquid Kinetic Gray with a slew of Energetic Sigma Gold accents.

Up front, the traditional Godzilla fascia gets restyled into a clean-looking single intake ringed with gold. The coloring visually decreases the intake’s volume, while also making it appear wider and flatter than before. Side intakes rise vertically in the corners, leading to thin, reshaped headlight housings with LED lighting elements. The hood also gains gold elements for the twin intakes, and there are new sinew lines to add extra visual muscle to it.

Viewed from the side, the GT-R50 looks lower and meaner thanks to a 54 mm (2.1-inch) chop to the roof. The roof also gets a lower center section and raised outer sections, giving it the hint of a double-bubble design. A vertical “samurai blade” design is used for the fender vents placed behind the front wheels, and they are more pronounced thanks to the inclusion of a gold inlay. The long window line leads the eye rearwards to a coupe-like slant for the roof, while in the corners, the wheels are sized at 21 inches in diameter, as well as 10 inches in width for the front and 10.5 inches in width for the rear. Under the open wheel design, there are upgraded brake calipers painted in a bright shade of red.

Moving towards the rear, we find the gold color scheme is used much more prominently, with the hue applied across almost the entirety of the tail section. There’s gold applied to the underside of the spoiler as well, which rises from the trunk lid on top of two electronically activated carbon fiber stalks.

We think it looks fantastic, and we’re also loving the roof-mounted brake light attached to the trailing-edge shark fin. Final touches include flared rear arches, plus a fresh set of dual rounded taillights with a “floating” design.

Overall, we think the Nissan GT-R50 by Italdesign is simply stunning, catapulting the Japanese icon from merely functional, to drop-dead gorgeous. The paint works wonders in enhancing the new lines, and although it looks like an entirely new car, it’s still easily recognizable as a GT-R. Well done!

Finally, the fresh body panels give the GT-R50 a new set of exterior dimensions, which you can see side-by-side with those of the standard GT-R Nismo below. Overall, the GT-R50 is longer, wider, and shorter than its production sibling.

Nissan GT-R50 by Italdesign Interior Design

Like the exterior, the interior design was also penned by Nissan’s design teams in Europe and the U.S., and although the visual transformation might not be as dramatic as the exterior, there’s still some very nice touches to make the GT-R50’s cabin unique.

First up, there are new materials throughout, with several components redone in two types of carbon fiber. You can find the composites applied to the center console, the instrument panel, and the door linings. There’ also black Alcantara and black Italian leather for the seats.

To help it match the exterior, the GT-R50 also incorporates gold accents on the instrument panel, doors, and switchgear, the latter of which gets a race car-inspired design. Ditching the Nismo’s standard infotainment system and digital screen, the GT-R50’s center console is far cleaner and attractive, and the same can be said of the dash, which comes with a simplified swath of carbon and handsome gold-accented air vents. Even the door panels look much improved by the simplified design scheme, while the gauge cluster is replaced by a single digital race-style readout.

Anyone lucky enough to find themselves in the hot seat will grab a fresh, bespoke steering wheel, which offers a custom central hub and spokes, both of which are constructed from carbon fiber. The steering wheel’s rim gets a slightly flattened bottom, while the hand grips are once again finished in Alcantara.

Nissan GT-R50 by Italdesign Drivetrain And Performance

Much like its production-based sibling, the mechanical bits motivating the GT-R50 include the twin-turbo 3.8-liter VR38DETT V-6 powerplant. However, output from this handcrafted lump-of-go was massaged to produce much more than the standard model’s 600 horsepower and 481 pound-feet of torque, and it now lays down a whopping 710 horsepower and 575 pound-feet of torque.

Nissan says it drew on its GT3 racing experience to accomplish the impressive gains, throwing in large-diameter, GT3 competition-spec turbos, which feed the pressurized charge through a set of upsized intercoolers. Further upgrades include a heavy-duty crankshaft, new pistons, new connecting rods and bearings, high-flow oil jets, a revised cam profile, high-flow fuel injectors, and an optimized ignition, intake, and exhaust system.

Adding extra grunt is all well and good, but Nissan smartly decided to upgrade the rest of the package to match, tossing in a burlier dual-clutch six-speed sequential rear transaxle, as well as meatier differentials and drive shafts. All told, the GT-R50 should have no problem laying down its extra 110 ponies.

On the handling front, the suspension gains a new DampTronic I continuously adjustable damping system from Bilstein. The brakes come from Brembo, and incorporate six-pot calipers in front and four-pot calipers in the rear, with the disc sizes measured at 390 mm (15.6 inches) by 32.6 mm (1.3 inches) in front and 380 mm (15 inches) by 30 mm (1.2 inches) in the rear.

Finally, Michelin provides the stick, wrapping the 21-inch wheels with Pilot Super Sport tires sized at 255/35 up front and 285/30 in the rear.

Final Thoughts

All told, we’re totally smitten by this thing. It’s got all the stuff we love about the Nissan GT-R, such as high-tech performance parts, a no-nonsense attitude, and insane power levels, but to this rather lofty base line, the Nissan GT-R50 by Italdesign ups the ante with some truly jaw-dropping aesthetics.

“How often do you get to ask, ‘What if we created a GT-R without limits,’ and then actually get to build it?” asked Nissan’s senior vice president for global design, Alfonso Albaisa. “This is a rare window in time when two big moments intersect: 50 years of Italdesign shaping the automotive world and 50 years of Nissan generating excitement though our iconic GT-R. So to celebrate this convergence, Nissan and Italdesign created this custom GT-R to mark 50 years of engineering leadership.”

The Nissan GT-R50 by Italdesign will make its big public debut in Europe next month.

Further Reading

Read our full review on the 2017 Nissan GT-R.

Read our full review on the 2017 Nissan GT-R Nismo.

Read more Nissan news.