Nissan GT-R goes for gold with Bolt

The world's fastest man and self-confessed rev-head, Usain Bolt, has been named Nissan's new global "Director of Excitement" during a ceremony in Japan, where he unveiled a special one-off gold Nissan GT-R.

After being picked up at Narita Airport in Japan by Australian F1 star Mark Webber - in a Nissan GT-R, naturally - Bolt unveiled the gold supercar in front of thousands of adoring Japanese fans.

Finished in gold paint and kitted out with real gold interior accents, the one-off GT-R was signed by Bolt and will be auctioned on eBay, with the proceeds going to the athlete's charity - the Usain Bolt Foundation.

However, the car's one-off status could be in dispute, after Bolt requested a second gold GT-R be created for his personal use in Jamaica.

Powered by a 3.8-litre twin-turbo V6 outputting 404kW/628Nm, the $170,800 Nissan GT-R can accelerate to 100km/h in an eye-watering 2.8 seconds, ranking it among the world's fastest production cars.

Bolt rewrote history at the 2012 London Olympics when he became the world's first man to take out the 'double double' and 'double tripe' by again winning gold in the 100m and 200m sprints, and then another gold in the 4x100m relay, earning the Jamaican runner the title of fastest man in history.

As Nissan's new Director of Excitement, Bolt will be involved in developing more GT-R models for Nissan beyond the one-off gold vehicle.

Nissan says the world's most famous runner "...will start work with Nissan product specialists on a limited-edition run of special GT-R models, which will be available throughout the world".

Details of the project are yet to be announced and it's not yet clear if any Bolt GT-R specials will be offered in Australia, with the local importer suggesting it was too early to say.

After taking home a swag of gold medals at the 2012 London Olympics, the man nicknamed ‘Lightning Bolt’ flew to Japan and spent time testing variously tuned GT-R models on a racetrack.

"Racing is my inspiration," said Bolt, "and I want to help Nissan become an even more exciting brand for everyone."

Nissan's new 'excitement director' is known for his love of sportscars - a love affair that has gained him notoriety in the past.

He has owned two BMW M3s and managed to crash them both - the first one seriously when it rolled over with two female passengers aboard, and the second time not so seriously when he damaged the front-end while driving home from a party with fellow sprinter Asafa Powell.