Last update: October 10, 2025
Just as many other manufacturers, Nissan wanted to play a part in Motorsport history. The Japanese are excellent engine builders but had less experience in development and manufacturing of racing cars. So when they entered group C racing in the early 1980’s they used chassis built by March and Lola. In this blog I will give an overview of the many cars that Nissan raced in Group C and IMSA GTP and that I have a 1/43 scale model car.
1983 Fuji 1000 km, Nissan Silvia Turbo C. When Group C started, the Japanese manufacturers were very interested, but didn’t have real works teams so they supported a number of entrants with engine technology. This “Sylvia Turbo C” was entered by Hoshino Racing and in fact a March 83G chassis equipped with a 4-cylinder turbo engine.
#23 Kazuyoshi Hoshino (J) / Akira Hagiwara (J) – DNF / broken engine
Nissan Silvia Turbo C – 2.1 liter Nissan LZ20B straight-4 turbo, approx. 600 hp. Bridgestone tires. Weight 940 kg. Aluminum monocoque, chassisnr. March 83G #05
- EBBRO 44789 (diecast)
1983 Fuji 1000 km, Nissan Fairlady Z Turbo C. In 1983 and 1984, Central 20 Racing Team also competed with support from Nissan. Central 20 relied on the Japanese built LM chassis with the same 4-cylinder Nissan engine as the Silvia turbo C.
#20 Haruhito Yanagida (J) / Takao Wada (J) / Hiroshi Tomioka (J) – DSQ
Nissan Fairlady Z turbo V – 2.1 liter Nissan LZ20B straight-4 turbo, approx. 600 hp. Dunlop tires. Weight 920 kg. Aluminum monocoque, chassisnr. LM 03C #unknown
- TRUE SCALE MINIATURES TSM 104316 (resin)
1984 Fuji 500 km, Nissan Fairlady Z Turbo C. In 1983 and 1984, Central 20 Racing Team also competed with support from Nissan. Central 20 relied on the Japanese built LM chassis with the same 4-cylinder Nissan engine as the Silvia turbo C.
#20 Haruhito Yanagida (J) / Takao Wada (J) – 3rd
Nissan Fairlady Z turbo V – 2.1 liter Nissan LZ20B straight-4 turbo, approx. 600 hp. Dunlop tires. Weight 920 kg. Aluminum monocoque, chassisnr. LM 03C #unknown
- TRUE SCALE MINIATURES TSM 104317 (resin)
1985 Fuji 1000 km, Nissan 85RV. The race was shortened because of heavy rain was won by the Hoshino entered March 85G with Nissan V6 turbo engine.
#28 Kazuyoshi Hoshino (J) / Akira Hagiwara (J) / Keiji Matsumoto (J) – 1st
Nissan R85V – 3.0 liter Nissan VG30T/C V6 90º twin turbo, approx 650 hp. Bridgestone tires. Weight 940 kg. Aluminium monocoque, chassisnr. March 85G #05
- EBBRO 44506 (resin)
GTP ZX-Turbo
1985 IMSA Columbus 500 km, Nissan GTP ZX-T. The IMSA GTP is comparable with the European Group C class, but there was a larger diversity of makes and models. This Lola (T810) built Nissan GTP ZX-T made its debut in 1985. The car is quite similar to that in the Japanese Championship.
#83 Tony Adamowicz (USA) / Don Devendorf (USA) – DNF
Electramotive Nissan GTP ZX-T – 3.0 liter Nissan VG30T/C V6 90º twin turbo, approx. 650 hp. Bridgestone tires. Weight 900 kg. Aluminium monocoque, chassisnr. Lola T810 #HU01
- TRUE SCALE MINIATURES TSM 09435 (resin)
1985 Fuji 1000 km, Nissan GTP ZX-T. Central 20 saw that their LM 03C couldn’t compete with the mighty Porsches and choose a different solution. The LM was replaced by a Lola T810 chassis that was developed for IMSA GTP, but could be used in Group C as well. The 4-cylinder were traded for a 3.0 V6 turbo engine.
#30 Haruhito Yanagida (J) / Aguri Suzuki (J) – 8th
Central 20 Nissan GTP ZX-T – 3.0 liter Nissan VG30T/C V6 90º twin turbo, approx 650 hp. Dunlop tires. Weight 900 kg. Aluminium monocoque, chassisnr. Lola T810 #HU03
- TRUE SCALE MINIATURES TSM 09436 (resin)
1986 Fuji 1000 km, Nissan GTP ZX-T. The Central 20 entry was in the yellow and black of Taka-Q this year.
#20 Haruhito Yanagada (J) / Takamasa Hakagawa (J) – 8th
Nissan GTP ZX-T – 3.0 liter Nissan VG30T/C V6 90º twin turbo, approx. 650 hp. Dunlop tires. Weight 900 kg. Aluminium monocoque, chassisnr. Lola T810 #HU03
- TRUE SCALE MINIATURES TSM 09438 (resin)
1986 Miami IMSA, Nissan GTP ZX-T. The IMSA GTP is comparable with the European / Japanese Group C category, but there was a larger diversity of makes and models. This Lola built Nissan GTP ZX-T made its debut in 1985 and would be at its best in 1988 in the hands of Geoff Brabham. In Miami 1986, it finished only 10th.
#83 Tony Adamowicz (USA) / Elliot Forbes-Robinson (USA)
Nissan GTP ZX-T – 3.0 liter Nissan VG30T/C V6 90º twin turbo, approx 650 hp. Goodyear tires. Weight 900 kg. Aluminium monocoque, chassisnr. Lola T810 #HU05
- TRUE SCALE MINIATURES TSM 09437 (resin)
March – Nissan
1986 Le Mans 24h, Nissan R85V and R86V. The Nissan GTP ZX-T was used in the IMSA, but for the world championship and Le Mans, Nissan still used March chassis. In Le Mans 1986 two cars were entered by Nissan Motorsport.
#23 Kazuyoshi Hoshino (J) / Keiji Matsumoto (J) / Aguri Suzuki (J) – DNF / gearbox
Nissan R86V – 3.0 liter Nissan VG30T/C V6 90º twin turbo, approx 650 hp. Bridgestone tires. Weight 910 kg. Aluminium monocoque, chassisnr. March 86G #05
#32 James Weaver (J) / Masahiro Hasemi (J) / Takao Wada (J) – 16th
Nissan R85V – 3.0 liter Nissan VG30T/C V6 90º twin turbo, approx 650 hp. Bridgestone tires. Weight 910 kg. Aluminium monocoque, chassisnr. March 85G #08
- SPARK S3580 (resin)
- EBBRO 44508 (resin)
1988 Le Mans 24h, Nissan R88C. Nissan Motorsport used March 87G chassis in 1988. The 3.0 liter V6 engines made place for V8 engines that deliver over 700 hp in race trim but still didn’t bring the successes hoped for.
#23 Kazuyoshi Hoshino (J) / Takao Wada (J) / Aguri Suzuki (J) – DNF / engine
#32 Allan Grice (AUS) / Win Percy (GB) / Mike Wilds (GB) – 14th
Nissan R88C – 3.0 liter Nissan VRH30T V8 90º twin turbo, approx 700 hp. Bridgestone tires. Weight 900 kg. Aluminum monocoque, chassisnrs. March 87G #03 & March 87G #02
- EBBRO 43680 & 43681 (diecast)
1989 Fuji 500 km, Nissan R88C. In 1989 Nissan switched from March built Group C cars to Lola, also their supplier for the IMSA GTP. The early races in the Fuji Long Distance Series they still used the R88C. The car using an additional front spoiler was quite fast, but not reliable enough. It didn’t finish due to electrical problems, but covered enough distance to be classified 8th.
#24 Masahiro Hasemi (J) / Anders Olofsson (S) – 8th
Nissan R88C – 3.0 liter Nissan VRH30T V8 90º twin turbo, approx 700 hp. Bridgestone tires. Weight 900 kg. Aluminum monocoque, chassisnr. March 87G #05
- EBBRO 44072 (diecast)
Lola – Nissan
1989 Le Mans 24h, Nissan R89C. The R89C Nissans were Lola T89/10 chassis that used a 3.5 liter V8 twin turbo engine. Nissan entered no less than 3 cars, but all of them retired.
#23 Masahiro Hasemi (J) / Kazuyoshi Hoshino (J) / Toshio Suzuki (J)- DNF
#25 Arie Luyendijk (NL) / Geoff Brabham (AUS) / Chip Robinson (USA) – DNF
Nissan R89C – 3.5 liter Nissan VRH35T V8 90º twin turbo, approx. 720 hp. Dunlop tires. Weight 900 kg. Carbon fibre monocoque, chassisnrs. Lola T89/10 #03 & Lola T89/10 #02
- Q-MODEL Streamline QMC001 (diecast)
- IXO Classic Le Mans & GT Cars LMC062 (diecast)
1990 Le Mans 24h, Nissan R89C. This 1989 factory car was driven by the Japanese Le Mans team in 1990 but failed to finish. The factory used the much more modern R90CK.
Takao Wada (J) / Anders Olofsson (S) / Maurizio Sandro Sala (E) – DNF
Nissan R89C – 3.5 liter Nissan VRH35T V8 90º twin turbo, approx. 720 hp. Dunlop tires. Weight 900 kg. Carbon fibre monocoque, chassisnrs. Lola T89/10 #03
- Q-MODEL Streamline QMC004 (diecast)
1990 Le Mans 24h, Nissan R90CK. 1990 Was the year of Nissan’s bis assault on Le Mans, no less than 5 factory cars entered the race; four R90CK and one R90CP with different aerodynamics. Mark Blundell went out on qualifiers and high turbo pressure. The engine developed nearly 1100 hp and luckily stayed in one piece during his flying lap. He drove it to pole position, six seconds faster than the 2nd placed Porsche 962. Other Nissans qualified 3rd and 5th. But Le Mans isn’t about one lap, it’s the pinnacle of endurance racing. The R90CP with all Japanese crew managed 5th.
#24 Mark Blundell (GB) / Gianfranco Brancatelli (I) / Julian Bailey (GB) – DNF
#84 Bob Earl (USA) / Michael Roe (IRO) / Steve Millen (NZ) – 17th
Nissan R90CK – 3.5 liter Nissan VRH35Z V8 90º twin turbo, approx. 720 hp. Goodyear tires. Weight 900 kg. Carbon fibre monocoque, chassisnrs. Lola T90/10 #03 & T90/10 #02
- Q-MODEL Streamline QMC021 & QMC026 (diecast)
1992 Winning!
1992 Daytona 24h, Nissan R91CP. Nissan was more successful in IMSA GTP than in Le Mans. In 1992 they win the Daytona 24-hour race with an all Japanese driver team.
#23 Masahiro Hasemi (J) / Kazuyoshi Hoshino (J) / Toshyo Suzuki (J) – 1st
Nissan R91CP – 3.5 liter Nissan VRH35Z V8 90º twin turbo, approx. 720 hp. Goodyear tires. Weight 900 kg. Carbon fibre monocoque, chassisnr. Lola T90/10 #unknown
- EBBRO 43529 (diecast
1992 Suzuka 500 km, Nissan R92CP. 1992 Was a good year for Nissan because it won the Suzuka race but also the Japanese group C championship with their ’92 car, still based on the Lola T90/10.
#24 Masahiro Hasemi (J) / Masahiko Kageyama (J) / Jeff Krosnoff (USA) – 1st
Nissan R92CP – 3.5 liter Nissan VRH35Z V8 90º twin turbo, approx. 720 hp. Bridgestone tires. Weight 900 kg. Carbon fibre monocoque, chassisnr. Lola T90/10 #unknown
- EBBRO 43531 (resin)
End of an era
1992 Nissan P35. Nissan followed the trend to built 3.5 liter group C cars to replace the turbo-versions. Toyota, Peugeot, Mercedes and Jaguars already had such cars. Nissan developed two cars; the NP35 for Group C and the P35 for the IMSA GTP rules. The Nissan NP35 raced at Mine once at was far too slow because it lacked power from its new V12 engine, probably 100 hp less than the 620 hp claimed. So instead of being used in 1993, it was moved to the museum and the project had ended. The IMSA version, the P35’s were tested but never raced. It was the end of Nissan’s involvement in Group C and GTP but they would return to Le Mans in a few years.
Nissan P35 – 3.5 liter B+Nissan V12, approx. 520 hp. Goodyear tires. Weight 750 kg. Carbon fibre monocoque, chassisnr. P35 #01
EBBRO 44483 (resin)
1993 Suzuka 1000km, Nissan R93CK. After Nissan’s involvement in Group C and IMSA ended, some cars were sold. FromA Racing entered this car for Mauro Martini / Heinz-Harald Frentzen who finished 2nd in this race for the All Japan Endurance Championship.
#27 Mauro Martini (I) / Heinz-Harald Frentzen (D) – 2nd
Nissan R93CK – 3.5 liter Nissan VRH35Z V8 90º twin turbo, approx 700 hp. Bridgestone tires. Weight 900 kg. Carbon fibre monocoque, chassisnr. Lola T90/10 #07
- HPI 8873 (resin)
1993 IMSA championship, Nissan NPT-90. The American branch of Nissan Motorsport created this IMSA spec NPT-90. It has been used by the US Nissan team in 1990 and 1991 and then sold to Gianpiero Moretti. Moretti and Derek Bell drove it in the 1993 IMSA season. They had no chance against the Eagle-Toyota, but still scored some good results such as 3rd place at Mid-Ohio.
#30 Gianpierro Moretti (I) / Derek Bell (GB) – 3rd
Nissan NPT-90 – 3.0 liter Nissan VG30-GTP V6 60º twin turbo, approx 650 hp. Goodyear tires. Weight 900 kg. Carbon fibre monocoque, chassisnr. Nissan Power Technology #90-10
- SPARK S3884 (resin)
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