In order to film the 2020-spec Nissan GT-R NISMO on a race circuit for its promotional videos, Nissan roped in Mauro Calo – a professional driver who has worked on blockbuster shoots (including Mission Impossible, MiB, etc.) and his crew to shoot the GT-R… in another GT-R.
Nissan’s AWD twin-turbo V6 powered coupe needs no introduction (it’s 13 years old and counting), but as a camera car, this is quite a revelation. Mauro and team went about taking the car apart (ouch!) and welding a tubular structure on it so it can hold a carbon fibre gimbal camera mounting system that can swap ends easily. And if you’ve always wondered why a camera car is always matte black, watch the video below.
Speed and agility aside, the GT-R also fulfilled one other criterion, and that is to accommodate a crew of four in the car, with Calo at the wheel, a gimbal operator, a focus puller and a director. Not quite what you buy a GT-R for, but apparently it has enough space to function that way.
“I knew already, from driving it on photo and video shoots, what a great car the Nissan GT-R is,” Calo said. “But since I adapted my Nissan GT-R to be a high-speed camera car and have been using it to film some of the world’s fastest cars on track, my respect and appreciation of its performance, reliability and stability has only increased. It amazes me and the teams I work with every time we use it.”
