Every trip leaves a folder of photos that never get posted. Not bad ones, just ones without a home. This is ours from Japan, finally out: a Top Secret GT-R nose to tail with a gold R34, the wheel of Nissan's Hyper Force concept from a foot away, three Porsches behind a green net, a temple courtyard and Tokyo under a full moon.
Top Secret: a gold R34 and an R35 NISMO
Under the Nissan sign at an indoor show, two GT-Rs parked in a row. On the right, a grey Nissan GT-R R35 with the NISMO name across its rear bumper, Top Secret badges on the boot and the bumper, a carbon diffuser, a swan-neck wing and deep-dish five-spoke wheels. On the left, the round tail lights and carbon wing of a gold R34 Skyline GT-R.
Gold is the colour Top Secret is known for. The Japanese tuner, founded by Kazuhiko "Smokey" Nagata, made its name with gold Skylines and Supras. A gold R34 parked next to a Top Secret R35 is about as on-brand as it gets, though we didn't confirm the R34 belongs to them. For every Skyline generation we've found on Tokyo's streets, see Nissan Skylines in Tokyo.
Nissan Hyper Force, close enough to touch
This is the front wheel of what we believe is the Nissan Hyper Force, the all-electric supercar concept Nissan unveiled at the 2023 Japan Mobility Show: matte purple-grey bodywork cut into layered panels, a forged-carbon wheel with blade spokes, a Nissan centre cap and a Dunlop tyre with gold lettering. We've seen the whole car, doors up, at Nissan Crossing in Ginza; it's in Eleven Frames of Tokyo. Up close, the detail is the story.
Three Porsches behind a net
A workshop at night, a green safety net across the open front and three Porsche 911s parked inside: a light blue one with a full-width tail light and a tall swan-neck wing in the GT3 RS style, a grey one beside it, and a yellow 993-generation 911 with a big rear wing and a roll cage. The net only made us want to look harder.
A temple, a shop and the moon
No cars here, but they belong in the folder. The incense burner in a temple courtyard in Takanawa, which we believe is Sengakuji, the temple of the 47 ronin, with tower cranes rising behind the pines. Next to it, a souvenir shop selling Chushingura sweets, with an embroidered Tokyo tapestry: Tokyo Tower, Fuji, Kaminarimon and the Tokyo Dome all on one scroll. And the last frame, from high above the city: Tokyo Tower glowing orange and a full moon breaking through the clouds.
If Nissan's history is your thing, there's much more of it in our tour of the Nissan Heritage Collection in Zama.
Photos: One Breath Pictures.
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