1992/93 Nissan P35 Endurance Prototype (chassis P35-02)

Most “prototype” auction lots are customer racers or continuation stories. The Nissan P35 is the opposite: a works NPTI (Nissan Performance Technology Inc.) endurance prototype designed by Trevor Harris and Yoshi Suzuka for the last naturally aspirated 3.5-litre sports-car formula, then aimed at a 1993 IMSA GTP future that never arrived. Specialist histories and Bonhams’ Goodwood research agree that three P35 chassis were completed before the program died — plus the related Japanese NP35 — when the World Sportscar Championship collapsed and Nissan shut the Santa Ana operation in March 1993. Chassis P35-02 is the second hybrid aluminium-carbon development tub. That is Path C with a countable N.

What it did in period was testing, not racing. Public accounts place shakedowns and development work at Mid-Ohio, Daytona, and other US venues, with Bob Earl among the development drivers and Johnny O’Connell later recalling exceptional chassis manners paired with a power deficit versus turbo rivals. The intended VRT35 3.5-litre Nissan V12 — claimed north of 630 PS in factory language, estimated lower by some NPTI voices — is not in this car today. After long restoration (Chris Randall ownership from 2002; Phil Stott Motorsport completion), a 4.2-litre MCT Superleague Formula V12 (717-013), adapted via Engine Developments/Judd interfaces, puts the car in running order. That substitute is a transparency requirement for Rare Machines, not a Hard Gate kill: identity and program scarcity still hold; originality points are capped on purpose.

Independent literature (Mulsanne’s Corner, DailySportscar, program retrospectives) is deep enough for original editorial without gallery scraping. Sister cars tell the rest of the survival map: chassis 1 later became the open X-250 WSC experiment; carbon chassis 3 stayed with Nissan as a display piece; the NP35 remains in NISMO orbit. Public sales of a complete P35 almost never happen.

Score 92 — Ultra-rare. Production near the ceiling; specification is radical cancelled Group C / GTP iron; provenance is works test history plus documented restoration; documentation is strong in secondary sources; market scarcity exceptional; condition/originality softened for the MCT engine. Marque diversification: Nissan is new to the Live board.

Status: Live — Bonhams Goodwood Revival, 19 September 2026. Re-verify before newsletter send. Rotate Ended lots before overfilling the ≤7 weekly Live cap.

Watcher’s checklist

1. Confirm chassis P35-02 identity against NPTI / restoration papers.
2. Treat MCT V12 717-013 as a disclosed substitute — not a Nissan VRT35.
3. Ask eligibility questions before any historic-race plan.
4. Separate period test narrative from later restoration presentation.
5. Re-check Bonhams lot status before you act.