During the Tokyo Auto Salon Kuala Lumpur 2023 last weekend, there was quite a stir on social media that the founder of the company from Japan, Top Secret, namely Smokey Nagata, managed to sell the Nissan GT-R R35 Gold Top Secret that was brought to display at the event to a Malaysian citizen. While it was successfully sold, the identity of the buyer was not revealed. However, rumors are flying that it was bought by Yang Mulia Tunku Abdul Rahman Al-Haj Ibni Sultan Ibrahim, Tunku Panglima Johor (TPJ) because the prince was seen spending a long time with Smokey while flipping through the R35.
But yesterday, Tunku Abdul Rahman posted a story on his official Instagram account, stating that the 'GT-R R35' is "already in hand" but it cannot be driven. The following story revealed that the prince was only joking by showing a small R35 GT500 scale model placed on the palm of his hand, with a Bugatti Veyron in the background
So until now, the identity of the GT-R R35 Top Secret buyer is still a mystery. If the machine in question is really bought by TPJ, maybe soon glimpses of the golden R35 can be seen being driven around Istana Bukit Serene or in Johor Bahru City? This Top Secret R35GTR Gold is one of the latest R35 units built by Smokey Nagata himself. It is customary for every demo car built by him to be sold afterwards, to enable him to build other machines. This TS R35GTR Gold is still powered by the VR38DETT 3.8 liter V6 engine, but has been completely overhauled allowing its power to be extracted up to 815 PS, compared to only 570 PS for the standard version.
The exhaust system is also improved with matching sports catalyst from Trust, blended with Top Secret's own titanium muffler. The engine is still mated to a GR6 six-speed automatic twin clutch gearbox from Borg Warner, but it has been upgraded with the use of a clutch set also from Top Secret.
To ensure that this car remains stable at a speed of more than 300 km/h, it is matched with an aero kit designed by Top Secret, consisting of a set of wider fenders, front bumper and also components made of carbon fiber material including the front spoiler, side skirts and also giant spoiler on the rear boot lid. To reduce the weight, the front bonnet cover and also the rear boot are also produced using carbon fiber material. Finally, the body of this car is finished with the iconic gold color Top Secret Candy Gold.
For the wheels, this GT-R TS R35GTR Gold is matched with a new generation O.Z Futura rim set from a special version made for Top Secret. The rim set features a 20-inch size with a width of 11h on all sides, but with different offsets of ET33 in the front and ET10 in the rear. It is wrapped in 285/35R20 Bridgestone Potenza RE71RS tires at the front and 285/35R20 at the rear. While for handling, the suspension of this GTR has been upgraded by matching the Top Secret Dumptronic coilover set featuring Top Secret Time Attack SPL shock absorbers with springs from Swift. The original suspension arms are also no longer used and replaced with Top Secret components. As for Tunku Abdul Rahman, his arrival at TASKL was also to reveal his very rare GT-R, the Nissan Skyline GT-R R34 J-Tune that was built only once by Nissan's racing wing, Nismo, at the Omori Factory facility in Japan.