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 scarcity you can count.

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. Buyers need to know about that substitute engine, but it does not change the car’s identity or the scarcity of the program; it does lower the originality score.

Independent literature (Mulsanne’s Corner, DailySportscar, program retrospectives) is deep and independent. 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.

This auction has ended. Bonhams Goodwood Revival closed on 19 Sep 2026; the car was not among the published top results.

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. Check the Bonhams lot page for the sale result.