For sale is a 1990 Nissan NPT-90 IMSA GTP race car.

Posted on April 10, 2020
Classic cars
For sale is a 1990 Nissan NPT-90 IMSA GTP race car.

The IMSA GTP class featured some of the best racing on American circuits. It was characterized by powerful cars and fierce competition between well-funded factory teams. This 1990 Nissan NPT-90 was one of the most powerful GTP cars in the later years of the class.

It was offered for sale by restorer Canepa and was the first of six NPT-90 chassis built. The NPT-90 was the second generation Nissan GTP and enjoyed much more factory support than its predecessor.

The Electromotive team, led by Don Devendorf, raced GTP-ZXT cars with Nissan engines from 1984 to 1990. Jeff Brabham won the 1988 championship title in a GTP-ZXT, but lacked the funds to develop the car into a consistent race winner. Nissan became more involved in the company's development and Electromotive was converted to Nissan Performance Technology Incorporated (NPTI). Nissan's generosity expanded the engineering and manufacturing center in Vista, California, where legendary designer Trevor Harris built the new NPT-90.

With a body resembling the doorway typical of prototype race cars of the time, the GTP-90 was powered by a mid-mounted, twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V6, developing over 950 hp. This power was governed by a five-speed Hewland manual transmission.

Chassis 01, which was offered for sale, raced from the middle of the 1990 season until the end of 1992. During that time, it accounted for two wins, nine second places and five third places. According to Canepa, the car was driven by Brabham, Chip Robinson, Bob Earl and Derek Daly. Nissan won the IMSA Constructors' Championship in 1990 and 1991, but lost it to Toyota in 1992; the GTP class was discontinued at the end of the following season.

Canepa claims that Chassis 01 survived in 1992 racing condition, with most of the original components.

The NPT-90 was Nissan's pinnacle in prototype sportscar racing, with several unsuccessful attempts to win the Le Mans 24 Hours in the 1990s and a campaign in 2015 with the ill-fated GT-R LM NISMO.

Canepa doesn't name a price for this piece of racing history, but we can assume a buyer would pay a lot for it.

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