in 1984, nissan motors named electramotive engineering as their official north american racing development arm in an attempt to establish nissan in the united states following the use of the datsun name. nissan wished to use the imsa gt championship as a way of showcasing their technology, similar to what they had done at the 24 hours of le mans beginning in 1983. electramotive would be tasked with maintaining, modifying, and racing the cars. nissan would provide the vg30et motors, although electramotive would aid in developing the engine for racing. for the chassis, nissan and electramotive would turn to lola cars international to construct their new car to their specifications.