The final example of the current-generation Nissan GT-R has rolled off the production line, bringing an end to one of the longest-running sports cars the world has seen.

Some 48,000 examples of the ‘R35’ GT-R were built over the past 18 years in a run that included two facelifts and several track-focused derivatives from Nissan’s performance division, Nismo.

Each car was powered by a twin-turbocharged 3.8-litre V6 hand-built by a team of nine engineers. In its original guise, it produced 473bhp and 434lb ft, sufficient for a 0-62mph time of 3.5sec and a top speed of 194mph.

The later Nismo version was boosted to 592bhp and 481lb ft, but the powerplant was capable of withstanding much greater outputs in the hands of tuners. Workshops have boasted of figures nudging 2000bhp, landing the R35 a place in the pantheon of modified cars alongside its predecessor, the ‘R34’ Skyline GT-R.

The final iteration of the R35 was introduced in 2023 but it was not offered in the UK, and Japanese order books for the model were filled by last February.

The model’s arrival in 2007 was a landmark moment for performance cars. Nissan famously – and controversially – claimed to have beaten the Porsche 911 Turbo’s time around the Nürburgring Nordschleife, recording a 7min 38sec lap, compared with the German car's 7min 40sec.

August Achleitner, then product manager for the 911 line, accused Nissan of using non-standard semi-slick tyres to improve its time, stating that Porsche could not come within 25sec of Nissan’s time using a standard GT-R. Nissan retorted that its ’Ring car was in factory configuration and, the following year, returned to clock 7min 29sec.

The Nismo would eventually set a time of 7min 8sec.

The car also earned critical plaudits, with Autocar’s 2007 first drive concluding that “this has to be one of the greatest giant killers there has ever been”. The following year it won Autocar's annual Britain's Best Driver's Car contest on the basis of its tremendous performance, accessible handling and value for money.

The future of the GT-R remains uncertain. Nissan has said the badge will return, with president and CEO Ivan Espinosa stating “the GT-R will evolve and re-emerge in the future”. But when that will happen, and in what form, has yet to be confirmed.

The striking Hyper Force concept unveiled at the 2023 Tokyo motor show provided a hint at a new GT-R’s styling, but a production model is understood to remain some years away, leaving plenty of time for changes. The R35 underwent a similarly protracted gestation, with the first concept having been revealed at the Tokyo show in 2001, six years before the arrival of the radically different production car.