Olympic sprinter Usain Bolt plans to auction off this gold Nissan GT-R for his charity.
He’s already proved himself to be one of – if not the – fastest men in the world. And soon, you’ll be seeing Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt’s name on one of the world’s fastest automobiles.
Nissan Motor Co. plans to launch a special Usain Bolt special edition of the GT-R supercar sometime next year, TheDetroitBureau.com has learned. And the track star has done more than just lent his name to the project, Bolt visiting the maker’s test track in Oppama, Japan to offer some suggestions on how he’d like to see the special edition tuned.
“Sometimes in life you’re lucky, sometimes you’re good. Sometimes you’re both,” said Simon Sproule, director of Nissan’s global marketing operations as he recalled how the maker inked its affiliation with Bolt just before the 2012 London Olympics, where the Jamaican runner repeated his previous feat of capturing three separate gold medals. That included one for the 100-meter dash, a race whose winner usually lays claim to being “the world’s fastest man.”
Even before signing Bolt on, however, the athlete was already a Nissan fan, having purchased a GT-R in London then shipping it back to his home country – where the supercar currently is not offered for sale.
Nissan has since provided Bolt with a second GT-R – appropriately painted gold — though this one will be auctioned off on eBay to raise funds for his new charity.
As part of his new deal, Bolt has been named Nissan’s “director of excitement.” A marketing campaign has been launched online, in print and on billboards and will soon be visible in 40 countries.
But Nissan wants to take things a step further. Bolt’s recent visit to Japan gave him a chance to take a GT-R out on the maker’s test track where he drove it in a variety of different configurations and technical set-ups. A serious automotive performance fan – as might also seem appropriate considering his need for speed – Bolt offered a number of suggestions which Nissan officials insist were insightful and worth pursuing.
“Most celebrities, when they come for an endorsement deal, can’t wait to leave,” recalled Sproule. Instead, “Bolt hung out” and spent a lot of time with Nissan engineers and designers.
Specific details of what the Usain Bolt GT-R will be like have not been nailed down, yet, marketing chief Sproule cautioned, but Nissan expects to have it in production before this time next year.
Expect a limited run, though precise production numbers likely will be paired to demand, said Sproule. Considering the notoriety Usain Bolt has gotten since this past summer’s Olympic repeat performance, Nissan is clearly betting it can move quite a few of them.