Championship, a group of former NPTI employees, including chief mechanic John Christie, took it upon themselves to build a new car for IMSA's WSC class of open-cockpit Le Mans prototypes. Using one of the former P35 test cars, chassis #1, the team removed the roof and added roll hoops and a new cockpit surround for driver protection. The VRT35 engines were replaced with a Ferrari 3.4-liter V8. The team renamed the car "X-250" in homage of the 250 employees laid off with NPTI's demise. Racing history The P35 was tested various times during 1991, with Johnny O'Connell doing most of the driving. Tests included runs at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and on the road course at Daytona International Speedway. However the P35 never competed in any races, and one copy was moved to Japan to be stored in Nissan's Zama, Kanagawa facility. The NP35 on the other hand would actually race, although only once. The final race of the 1992 JSPC season (and what would become the final JSPC race before the series was dissolved) was at Mine Circuit, and Nismo entered their lone NP35. Competing in their class against the Toyota TS010 and Mazda MXR-01, the NP35 would be the slowest car in qualifying, five seconds behind the pole winning Nissan R92CP. The race itself would see many mechanical problems for the car, although it would manage to finish the race. Of the finishers, it was ranked last and 25 laps behind the winning TS010. Following this race, the NP35 would not race again, moving into storage alongside the P35. Nissan occasionally brings it to exhibition events, namely its own annual Nismo Festival. The X-250, built by John Christie and some former members of the defunct P35 program, from P35 Chassis number 1, also only ran one race, the 1997 12 Hours of Sebring powered by a Ferrari 348 engine, built by Robin Smith, a fellow countryman of Mr. Christie. There, the car suffered electronics problems after only 21 laps and was listed as the first car out of the event. The X-250 never raced competitively again but is raced in historic racing. Chassis number 2 of the Nissan P35 is now housed in Coventry University's Motorsport Engineering Workshop. The car is used as a training vehicle for students on the University's renowned BEng Motorsports Engineering Degree. References External links Japan Le Mans Challenge - Nismo Le Mans Pavilion