Nissan drives last R35 to Fuji

Cars are weirdly good at carrying corporate history. That is what makes this late R35 GT-R drive feel bigger than a magazine road trip. CAR took one of the last examples to Mount Fuji this week, but the real story is that Nissan’s longest-running modern performance icon is already done in production and now being remembered in public as something that belonged to a different version of the company. The farewell mood is not accidental — Nissan officially ended R35 production on August 26, 2025, after 18 years and about 48,000 cars. ### Why does this drive matter? Because the R35 was never just another fast coupe. When Nissan launched it in 2007, it was the company’s technology flex — a twin-turbo, all-wheel-drive machine that could embarrass far more expensive supercars and make “GT-R” feel like a global halo badge again. CAR’s Fuji run leans into that symbolism on purpose: Tokyo expressways, mountain roads, and Mount Fuji in the background — basically a greatest-hits reel for a car that became shorthand for Japanese performance excess. ### Is this actually one of the last cars? Yes — and that part is no longer just vibes. Nissan said the Japan domestic market was the final sales region for the R35, and when assembly ended in Tochigi in August 2025, that was the end of production full stop. The final car was a Premium edition T-Spec finished in Midnight Purple. That detail matters because it turns the “last examples” language from magazine flourish into literal end-of-line reality. ### Why did the R35 last so long? Because Nissan kept updating the same basic formula instead of replacing it on a normal cycle. The R35 debuted in 2007 and stayed alive through repeated engineering revisions, special editions, and market-by-market exits. That long run became part of the legend — but also part of the problem. A car can start as advanced and end up looking ancient if emissions, safety, and noise rules move faster than the platform does. ### What finally killed it? Regulation and economics, mostly. The GT-R had already disappeared from several markets before the final Japanese shutdown, and Nissan executives have been blunt that tightening emissions rules made the business case harder. In the U.S., the model was effectively gone before the global end, and Japan was the last place still carrying the torch. So the R35 did not die in one dramatic moment — it got squeezed out market by market until only the home market remained. ### Why does this hit differently right now? Because Nissan itself is in a very different place. On April 30, 2026, Nissan told U.S. suppliers it was canceling plans to build two EVs at Canton, Mississippi, shelving a $500 million investment and pivoting that plant toward gasoline and hybrid products instead. That does not directly decide the GT-R’s fate — the R35 was already over — but it tells you what Nissan is prioritizing now: near-term volume, trucks, SUVs, and hybrids, not an expensive niche halo car. ### So what about an R36? Nissan has said it is committed to reimagining a future GT-R, but that is still promise, not product. The gap matters. The R35 is gone, and whatever comes next has to land in a world with tougher regulations, electrification pressure, and a company that is clearly watching costs. That makes the successor harder to define. A new GT-R cannot just be a louder version of the old trick. ### Why Fuji? Because it turns the sendoff into a myth-making exercise. Mount Fuji is the obvious national icon, and the GT-R is one of Nissan’s few globally recognized enthusiast icons. Put them together and the subtext is clear — this is not just a test drive, it is a memorial lap for a car that outlived almost every normal product cycle and then outlasted the version of Nissan that created it. ### Bottom line? The Fuji drive is really a goodbye note. The R35 GT-R is no longer winding down — it is finished — and Nissan’s current strategy makes the wait for whatever comes next feel longer, riskier, and much less certain.