Nissan hosts GT-R owners meet

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While the new GT-R sat out of reach on its velvet rope guarded pedestal at the Los Angeles Auto Show, InsideLine, along with Nissan and its advertising agency Chiat/Day, hosted a gathering for Nissan enthusiasts. The gathering was intended to give devout Nissan supporters a closer look at the new R35 GT-R. Preferential treatment went to those who owned, or once owned, previous generation GT-Rs. Nissan acknowledged that without their passion for a vehicle unsupported in the U.S. market, the new model might not have ever made it to showrooms in North America. The day was all about giving something back to those who helped grow the GT-R namesake.

As soon as InsideLine and Nissan confirmed the event details, a call went out to every GT-R owner in the Southern California area. It was an opportunity not to miss, the chance to gather every GT-R together to pose with the new model. In all 17 GT-Rs showed up for the event, not to mention the two R35 GT-Rs brought in by Nissan. The models present consisted of a couple 1972 HAKOSUKA GT-Rs, the first U.S legalized R32 GT-R, SCCA Speed World Challenge GT R34 GT-R and the 2005 Ultimate Street Car Challenge winning R34 GT-R. More of the crowd arrived in other various Nissan vehicles from 240SXs and Skylines to Datsun 510s.

In addition to the coverage posted at Edmunds Inside Line check out the gallery below for our own shots, and follow the jump for more event details and video.




1972 HAKOSUKA Nissan Skyline GT-R


First R32 Nissan Skyline GT-R legalized for the United States


R34 Nissan Skyline GT-R that raced in the SCCA Speed World Challenge GT series in 2006


R34 Nissan Skyline GT-R that won Sport Compact Car's Ultimate Street Car Challenge in 2005.

When the crowd began to form at Chiat/Day the R35 GT-Rs were nowhere in sight. To settle things down the attendees were smoothed over by free pizza, water and InsideLine key chains. It wasn't until the novelty of being surrounded by so many previous generation GT-Rs wore off before Nissan released the new Godzilla to stir things up again. One silver and one red R35 GT-R cut through the parking lot while every on-looker fumbled for their camera. The exhaust sounded like a deeper toned VQ35 that will definitely turn your head when you hear it approaching.

The video meant to be presented here is no longer available. Sorry for the inconvenience.

As the crowd inspected every inch of the new GT-Rs Nissan handed out free t-shirts. The front of the shirt featured a track map of the Nurburgring with 7:?? in its center. The back showed :38 in response to the question marks on the front side. Nissan will not let anyone forget what time they achieved on the German course.



The silver R35 GT-R was identical to the model unveiled at the Los Angeles Auto Show. The red GT-R however, had lighter grey interior. While the red exterior looked sexy paired with the black trim and gunmetal wheels, the interior coloring seemed out of place. Black is perfect for the car, but if you must park in desert heat conditions it is understandable to settle for the lighter pigment seats.



As the sunset, and the lighting changed, InsideLine snapped a few shots of the GT-R collection sans humans. Then it became time to clear things out. The R35s moved aside and in a chorus of RB26s all the others headed towards the exit. It was about that time an elderly neighbor game by to complain about the noise, it was only the noise of 17 idling GT-Rs. However, no more than 30 seconds later the USCC winning R34 GT-R took off down the street in a four-wheel burnout. Now that was some noise to complain about.



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