SAYONARA GT-R

After a remarkable 17-year career, the supercar-humbling Nissan GT-R bows out on a high

- Stephen Dobie

SEVENTEEN YEARS. Very few car designs have soldiered on for quite so long outside of the world of Land Rovers, Morgans and Caterhams. Yet the GT-R will be nudging legal drinking age by the time production finally ends, a momentous occasion that's expected around summer 2025 in its native Japan. Sales have already ceased in most of its other markets, regulations constricting its inimitable swagger. So for one last blast, we must land at Nissan's Yokohama HQ to finagle a GT-R Nismo for a drive into the scenic Hakone hills. Such a hardship, I know...

The GT-R and I go way back, the car launching at the same moment as my career in motoring journalism began. I'm lucky enough to have driven seemingly endless model year iterations and special editions. But with this MY24 Nismo, perhaps the end has come. Time to stifle the tears and get on with wringing every last drop of excitement from it, then.