Drag racing has long been the province of American muscle cars, and for good reason. Not only do muscle cars pack big engines and rear-wheel drive, but once upon a time nearly every community in America had a drag strip within an hour or two. But only a fool underestimates his enemies, and we recognize that both Europe and Japan have some very powerful contributions to drag racing.

Of course it usually takes an American to turn the drag racing dial up on the elite Japanese or European sports cars. Switzer Performance worked with ShepTrans and Syvec to tune and tweak John Shepard’s Nissan GTR. The resulting car produces an incredible 1,300 horsepower and runs a blisteringly-quick 8.71 in the quarter-mile at more than 170 mph. Shepard, who owns ShepTrans, was at the wheel for the record run, which was made using E98 ethanol fuel. The Switzer/Syvec-tuned GTR used an engine prepared by ShepTrans and an AMS turbocharger upgrade to make that kind of crazy power.

The resulting car is the quickest street-legal, full-weight GTR, running Mickey Thompson drag radials. This ridiculous machine is meaner, faster, and greener than any other supercar out there. And even though it isn’t an American car, the Americans behind this are keeping the spirit alive.