Autoblog

Click above for a high-res gallery of the 2009 Nissan GT-R in action

For the lucky 1,700+ people who have already preordered their 2009 Nissan GT-R, the wait is about to end. On Monday, July 7th, Nissan will begin delivering its first allocation of GT-Rs for the U.S. market to dealers. According to a Nissan spokesperson, the 70-percent preorder rate for the GT-R exceeded the automaker's expectations, and we somehow doubt Nissan will have a hard time finding buyers for the remaining 30 percent.

Pricing for the GT-R remains the same, with the base model coming in at $69,850 and the premium model listed at $71,900. Destination and handling costs amount to $1,000 and the only options available on the 2009 model are an iPod converter ($360), GT-R floor mats ($280) and the "Super Silver" special paint ($3,000). Make the jump for the press release.

click above image to enlarge

We chuckled as we saw the official image that accompanied today's press release from Nissan about its upcoming GT-R. It's a high-res studio-looking shot of the GT-R wearing the same covering we've seen so many times in spy shots. In fact, the GT-R has already been spotted on the Nurburgring wearing no covering at all, just unpainted panels that poorly hide its front clip.

Regardless, Nissan also released new information about the GT-R, including its base price, which will be around 7.8 million yen, or $68,000 USD. Now conversions from other currencies can hardly be trusted, but we think the Corvette start worrying now.

We've also learned officially something we already knew, which is that the word "Skyline" has officially been dropped from the GT-R's name in every market in which it will be sold. Surprisingly, this includes Japan, where the Skyline name has a lot of history.

Finally, Nissan revealed that it's setting up 160 Nissan High Performance Centers in Japan that will provide sales and support for the GT-R.

According to the downloadable countdown clock on the GT-R's official website, only 27.5 more days to go until the car's officially unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show in Japan.

[Source: Nissan]