Nismo (Nissan Motorsport) initiated the R390 project to replace the Skyline GT-R LM, which had become uncompetitive against a new generation of GT1 cars. Competitors such as the Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR and the Porsche 911 GT1 exploited loopholes in GT regulations to build purpose-built racing cars that bore little resemblance to road-going GT1 class competitors. Nismo partnered with Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR) to develop the R390.
The car's styling was led by Ian Callum of TWR. Mechanical and aerodynamic development was overseen jointly by Tony Southgate of TWR and Yutaka Hagiwara of Nismo. Southgate was the designer of the Jaguar XJR-9, which had won at Le Mans. The R390 used the cockpit — including the tub, greenhouse, and roofline — from the same tooling as the Jaguar XJR-15, which was itself based on the XJR-9 and also developed by TWR. Custom tooling blocks were added to the XJR-15 chassis mould; the rear and front ends and the suspension were completely different and designed to meet GT1 specifications. The R390 was lower and wider than the Jaguar, though slightly shorter in length.
The R390 GT1 used the VRH35L engine, a 3.5 L (3,495 cc) twin-turbocharged V8 with an aluminium block. This was a modified version of the VRH35Z previously used in the Nissan R89C, a Group C racing car. Nismo chose this engine over the Skyline's RB26DETT inline-six because the V8 offered a lower centre of gravity, used an aluminium rather than iron block, and could function as a stressed chassis member. In racing trim the engine produced approximately 650 PS (478 kW; 641 hp) at 7,000 rpm. For the road car the engine was detuned to 558 PS (410 kW; 550 hp) at 6,800 rpm.
Power was delivered to the rear wheels through a six-speed sequential manual transmission. For 1998, the car was updated with a longer rear tail housing a new diffuser, and the rear wing was repositioned to reduce drag. These modifications were required partly to satisfy an ACO requirement for adequate luggage space and also brought genuine aerodynamic improvements.
The R390 GT1 debuted at the 1997 24 Hours of Le Mans with three cars in a black and red livery. During pre-qualifying in May, Martin Brundle recorded the fastest time of the field with a 3:43.15. At the race, the best-placed R390 (#22) qualified fourth overall and second in class behind a Porsche 911 GT1; the other two qualified 12th (#21) and 21st (#23).
All three cars failed initial scrutineering and required modifications before being allowed to race. Those changes caused gearbox overheating. Around halfway through the race, two cars (#21 and #22) retired with mechanical failure. The sole surviving entry (#23) finished 12th overall and 5th in class after two complete gearbox changes.
For 1998 Nissan returned with four updated R390s. In qualifying, the cars were outpaced by the Mercedes-Benz CLK-LM, Toyota GT-One, Porsche 911 GT1-98, and BMW V12 LM, qualifying in positions 10, 13, 14, and 19. In the race, however, all Mercedes and BMW entries retired early. All four R390s finished in the top ten: 3rd, 5th, 6th, and 10th overall, beaten only by two Porsche 911 GT1s.
Following the 1998 race, the ACO replaced the LMGT1 class with an LMGTP prototype class for closed-cockpit cars, eliminating the requirement for a road-going version. Mercedes and Toyota chose to develop their cars for the new class. Rather than modify the R390 into an LMGTP car as some rivals did, Nissan moved to the open-cockpit LMP category, developing the R391 prototype for 1999 with European collaboration. After mixed results including a win over Toyota at Fuji, that programme was also discontinued. Nissan ended Le Mans-style racing at the close of 1999. A total of eight R390 GT1 race chassis were built across the two-year programme.
The single road-legal R390 was produced as a development prototype and was never intended for sale, though Nissan offered to build further examples at US$1 million each. Initially built in 1997 with a red paint scheme and UK registration "P835 GUD", it was displayed at the 1997 Le Mans race. It was subsequently rebuilt in 1998 with a new front end, side vents, longer tail, and a ducktail spoiler in place of a wing, and repainted blue. It was given the non-genuine registration "R390 NIS" for photography and magazine use.
A second chassis, VIN780009, was later purchased by driver Érik Comas and converted for road use over a two-year restoration project led by Andrea Chiavenuto. The car was claimed to retain 95% of its original racing parts; items such as door panels, glass windscreen, cooling system, and upholstery were added to meet road regulations.
This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.
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