A panel of 59 judges from 25 countries around the world have proclaimed the Nissan GT-R the winner of the 2009 World Performance Car award at the New York International Auto Show this week.

“Nissan GT-R stole the headlines in the sports car world in 2008. This GT-R – the R35 – throws even former GT-Rs into the weeds via an all-new 3.6-liter bi-turbo V-8 providing 480 horsepower and 430 pound-feet of torque. The drive of the GT-R, especially on a track, reveals an incredibly flexible all-wheel-drive chassis that lays down the rubber whenever you request it. Acceleration to 60 mph from a stop takes just 3.5 seconds, or a tick behind fellow Performance finalist the Corvette ZR1. This is a complete effort put forth by the normally conservative Nissan and the pleasure is in doing laps of a favorite circuit and feeling the sheer capabilities of the car. For $77,000 it may be the world’s best enthusiast car.”

– World Car of the Year Judges

Yeah that’s direct from the press release, errors and all…

The initial list of entries was 23 cars strong but was whittled down to just three finalists, the Corvette ZR1, the Porsche 911 Carrera and of course the Nissan GT-R.

For the full press release click the giant red Read More link below…

Source: World Car of The Year

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