Nissan R35 GT-R Joins the Force in Tochigi – The Coolest Police Car in Japan

By Steve & Tamami Laser

What’s the coolest police car in Japan? We thought it was the trio of Fairlady Z NISMO patrol cars that Nissan delivered to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Dept. two years ago. In addition to regular duties, the cars are used to support traffic safety programs.

What could be cooler than that? How about a Nissan GT-R police car? Today, about 100 km north of Tokyo, at the Tochigi Prefecture Government Office, Japan’s first R35 GT-R police car was presented to the Tochigi Pref. Police during a dedication ceremony.

Painted with the familiar black-and-white livery of Japanese police cars and dressed with a roof-mounted light bar and other gear for patrol duty, this special GT-R was donated to the police force by a local Tochigi resident.

Nissan’s huge manufacturing plant in Kawachi-gun, Tochigi, started producing cars in 1968. In addition to building the GT-R for Japan and global markets, it also makes the Skyline sedan, Fairlady Z, Fuga, and Cima, plus several Infiniti models for export. Tochigi features an adjacent high-speed Nissan test track.

Nissan GT-R at the Tokyo Motor Show

We were lucky to see concepts for the R35 GT-R revealed at the Tokyo Motor Show in 2001 and 2005, as well as the production version that made its debut in 2007.

At the Tokyo Motor Show in Oct. 2017, we made this quick video of the latest GT-R Premium Edition, featuring Ultimate Shiny Orange exterior paint and semi-aniline leather-trimmed seats. Our video also shows the current Nissan Skyline (a separate sedan model that’s also sold as an Infiniti outside of Japan), and Nissan Note e-Power NISMO.

In Japan, the GT-R Premium Edition’s 3.8-liter V6 24-valve twin-turbo engine handcrafted by Takumi technicians puts out 565 horsepower (419 kw / 570 ps) and 467 lb.-ft. (637 Nm) of torque. That should be more than enough to handle patrol duties in Tochigi.

News source and photos (as noted) courtesy of Nissan Motor Corp.