Nissan R391

The Nissan R391 is a prototype racing car that Nissan and its motorsports arm Nismo built for the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans, and it replaced the R390 GT1, which was no longer legal in its production-based class. After Nissan returned to sportscar racing in 1995, Nismo worked its way up from Skyline GT-R LMs to the R390 GT1 of 1997, and when the 1999 rule changes ended homologation specials Nissan chose a purpose-built open-cockpit prototype instead of an evolved GT car. It turned to the UK firm G-Force Technologies to design and build it, with Nigel Stroud heading the design, Doug Skinner as chief designer and Glenn Elgood as race team fabricator. Nissan also partnered with Courage Competition, giving it VRH35L 3.5 liter turbocharged V8 motors left over from the R390 GT1 for its own prototype in return for expertise.