After returning to sports car racing in 1995, Nismo (Nissan motorsport) had some measure of success with their Skyline GT-R LM which had competed in the GT1 class. However, these cars were quickly outpaced by the influx of new manufacturers who were using loopholes in the GT regulations to build racing cars that bore little resemblance to their GT1 class competitors, examples being the Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR and the Porsche 911 GT1. Nismo's Skyline GT-R therefore needed to be replaced with a purpose built racing car.