History of the Nissan R391

It takes a lot for a car to become well known, and even more for it to become something truly remembered with fondness. While many cars never quite make it to that level, certainly some of the most famous and most well researched and designed vehicles have come out of the Le Mans competitions. Cars designed for the Le Mans must meet strict regulations and still manage to have an incredible amount of raw power and intelligent driving capacity. Truly, the cars that are designed and produced for the Le Mans races are some of the most impressive examples of automotive engineering to ever be witnessed. However, of all the famous cars that have taken part in the Le Mans races, perhaps one of the most famous, and certainly most deserving of respect was the Nissan R391, designed for racing during the 1999 Le Mans competition.

The story of the R391 actually begins with the demise of the R390 GT1, which was no longer applicable for racing during the competition due to a new set of rules and regulations now governing the race. With the inability to continue racing the R390, Nissan began work on a new prototype, working closely with both NISMO, their performance division, and Courage, a company with whom Nissan had very close ties. Under the advisement and help of both Courage and NISMO, an entirely new strategy was developed for the R391, in order to set it apart from Nissan's previous entries into the Le Mans, and indeed, the company did change many things from their R390, although it is still up for debate as to whether or not most of these changes were affective.