Costa Mesa man first in U.S. to take delivery of a Nissan GT-R

While you were sleeping peacefully after a long July 4th weekend, Daryl Alison of Costa Mesa was traveling North on the 101 Freeway to Universal Nissan in Universal City to buy a car. Not just any car, however. Daryl had the distinction of being the first buyer in the U.S. to own a 2009 Nissan GT-R -- Nissan's long-awaited "muscle car" popularized in America via the video game Gran Turismo.

Nissan has allocated only 1,700 cars for the U.S. and 70% of them are already spoken for with deposits. Only a select group of Nissan dealers are certified to sell and service this special car, which features a 3.8-liter, twin-turbo V6 engine that produces a whopping 480 horsepower. Since Daryl was one of the first people to put down a deposit via a pre-sale program that began last January, he got his ride first. (Click post title for more)

So, how much? The 2009 GT-R has an MSRP of $69,850 and $71,900 for the GT-R Premium model. Daryl chose the Premium model in black obsidian and is he excited much? "I've followed the history of the GT-R since inception and, after years of anticipation, it's great to see the 'Godzilla of supercars' finally coming to the U.S. I've owned a number of Nissan 350Z sports cars and other exotics and muscle cars, but more than any other vehicle, I can't wait to get this new GT-R out on the road."

-- Joni Gray

Photos: Nissan

Comments

[Mark]

$71,900 for the GT-R Premium model? How much did Allison REALLY have to pay?

Oh wait - the sales shysters at Univ Nissan would NEVER mark up a car. He just had to pay $20 grand for a pair of mudflaps.

[Alex]

The Nissan GT-R has been popular for much longer than when Gran Turismo was first created. It is a descendant of the Nissan Skyline GT-R, a supercar that first arrived in 1969. Many followers of supercars have been watching and driving the Skyline GT-R for years, building up interest in the United States even though the Skyline was not commonly available here. In fact, the chassis code for the new GT-R is called CBA-R35 (R35 for short), continuing the naming trend from previous Skyline GT-R generations.