Godzilla or the next GTR?

Rumor Has It The New Nissan GT-R Is Coming in 2018

The current Nissan GT-R is still a monster. With a 545-hp twin-turbo , tenacious all-wheel-drive, and a zero-to-60 time that can dip below three seconds, it earned the “Godzilla” nickname long ago. But it has been on sale in the U.S. since 2008, and while the car has received plenty of mild updates since then, its familiar shape is getting a bit long in the tooth. That’s why word from Nissan’s chief creative officer Shiro Nakamura, hinting that the next-gen GT-R won’t hit until 2018, has us a little puzzled.

Speaking with Top Gear , Nakamura didn’t give any hard answers when asked about the new GT-R’s timeline. “Not yet,” he told the U.K.-based publication. “2018 at the earliest.” When Top Gear asked about the speculative renderings floating around the internet, Nakamura said, “Not one of them is close.”

That flies counter to . hinting at a 2016 debut for the next Godzilla. It does, however, seem to fit in with our hunch about Nissan’s Concept 2020 Vision Gran Turismo concept car , shown above. The concept, designed as a flight-of-fancy digital daydream that you can drive on your PlayStation’s Gran Turismo 6, sure has that GT-R family resemblance amid all its fighter-jet creases and gaping air scoops.

For his part, Nakamura isn’t denying that fact. Speaking about Concept 2020, he told Top Gear that the concept could hold some clues. “Maybe some elements from the front and rear, but that is a mid-engined car,” he said. “Mizuno-san [the leader of the GT-R program at Nissan] says the GT-R will always be a front-engine, 2+2 seater coupe.”