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NISSAN CELEBRATES SPEED RECORD HOLDER WITH 4TH RETRO LIVERY

Nissan Motorsport celebrates 50th anniversary of record speed holder with Simona De Silvestro's livery - Photo: Supplied

By Bruce Williams

Nissan Motorsport celebrates 50th anniversary of record speed holder with Simona De Silvestro's livery - Photo: Supplied

Nissan Motorsport celebrates 50th anniversary of record speed holder with Simona De Silvestro’s livery – Photo: Supplied

Nissan Motorsport will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the marque rewriting the record books, as the team unveils it’s fourth and final retro livery for this month’s Wilson Security Sandown 500.

Following off the back of the announcements of the Kelly brother’s Datsun inspired liveries and the iconic Nissan GTR livery for Michael Caruso, Simona De Silvestro’s No. 78 Harvey Norman Supercar will wear a retro inspired theme to mark the 50th anniversary of the Nissan R380 Type II.

This remarkable car set seven international speed records on October 8, 1967. With Nissan Racing Team driver Tatsu Yokoyama behind the wheel, the R380 set records in the fastest 50km, 50 miles, 100km, 100 miles, 200km, 200 miles and most distance traveled over 1 hour.

Nissan's R380 Type II record holder - Photo: Supplied

Nissan’s R380 Type II record holder – Photo: Supplied

The vehicle had also won the 1966 Japanese Grand Prix as well as setting an original five international speed records in 1965. These achievements confirm the R380 as a Nissan racing legend.

“The car looks amazing, and I love the idea of going retro for Sandown,” said De Silvestro.

“Nissan has a lot of famous race cars and to be honest I didn’t know much about the R380 before, but this has been a nice chance to learn about such a successful car. So while it certainly achieved a lot, I think it also makes for a really good looking Supercar

“The whole team has gotten behind the retro idea, and I think it’s a great way have a bit of fun ahead of what is a very serious part of the season.”

This year the 29-year-old Swiss driver makes her debut across the full Pirtek Enduro Cup, following one-off appearances at Bathurst in 2015 and 2016.

Simona De Silvestro’s retro look for the Sandown 500 - Photo: Supplied

Simona De Silvestro’s retro look for the Sandown 500 – Photo: Supplied

“It will be exciting to share my car with David Russell for the endurance rounds,” continued De Silvestro. “Given his experience in the team over the last couple of years, David probably has had more seat time in the Altima than I have. So that level of experience will be beneficial when we’re dealing with longer races where anything can happen.”

We’ve got more of the latest news out of the Supercars paddock in the next issue of Auto Action magazine, on sale Thursday. In the mean time follow us on social media FacebookTwitter, Instagram or sign up for our weekly email newsletter for all the latest updates between issues.