This is the one-of-a-kind street-converted, 1998 Nissan R390 GT1 road car (78009), the last R390 ever built. The first R390 built was 78001, the original homologation road car, finished in red and licensed as ‘P835 GUD’. After stripping down 78001 for parts, their next project became the blue long tail R390 road car, built in 1998, and relicensed as ‘R390 NIS’, VIN 78002. The design, mechanics, and aerodynamics for the project were led by British designer, Ian Callum, Tony Southgate of famed racing team, Tom Walkinshaw Racing and NISMO’s Yutaka Hagiwara. Three fully-constructed R390 GT1s were entered into the 1997 24 hours of Le Mans. R390 GT1 (no. 22) was able to qualify in 4th on the grid and 2nd in its class, while car number 21 qualified 12th and car number 23 qualified 21st. Mid-race, two of the three cars (21 & 22) succumbed to mechanical failure, leaving car number 23 to be the only survivor, finishing 12th overall and 5th in class. For 1998, Nissan returned to Le Mans with 4 cars. Nissan was able to finish 3rd, 5th, 6th, and 10th overall. This example shown here was the 5th place finisher, driven by John Nielsen, Franck Lagorce, and Michael Krumm. Recently, ex-Nissan factory driver (@r390gt1) had the opportunity to purchase this 1998 Nissan R390 GT1 race car from Nissan, and subsequently had this car restored and street-converted over a period of 2 years by @chiavenuto.andrea & @speed.official.it. With tons of experience behind the wheel of an R390, including thousands of miles in an R390 during endurance testing, development testing, a 12th place finish during the 1997 24 Hours of Le Mans (car 23/R2), and a 6th place the following year at Le Mans (car 31/R6), there’s no one better than to live out the dream of owning a road-going R390 other than @r390gt1. The street-conversion was done with the utmost of attention towards retaining approximately 95% of the original Le Mans racing components while also remaining road-legal.
How many made? 1 factory road car, 5 race cars, 1 street-converted race car
Engine: 3.5 TT V8
Debut: 1998 24H Le Mans/2022 Villa d’Este
Top Speed: n/a
0-60mph: n/a
Photo Credit: @justinschmoeller
Research: @rarecarsonly