The Nissan R87E was developed as a replacement to the R86V and featured a newly designed twin-turbo V8 engine dubbed the VEJ30 to compete in the 1987 Group C class.

Nissan received three 87G chassis from March that had minor improvements over the R86V chassis, and with the newly designed VEJ30 engine Nissan dubbed this new platform the R87E. For the 1987 racing season Le Mans was the sole objective, with only a single entry in the Fuji 500 km race as preparation for the event. Unfortunately, Nissan did not perform well at Le Mans that year, with each car failing to complete the race due to engine difficulties. Nissan blamed the poor results on the engine, and Nissan's engineers developed an entirely new engine dubbed the VRH30 as a replacement. With the newly improved engine, chassis modifications, and a new body developed in a wind-tunnel for better aerodynamics, the new cars would be renamed the R88C and compete in the 1988 and 1989 racing seasons.

Nissan VEJ30, V8 (90o) cyl, 4 stroke, petrol engine 2996cc, 85 x 66 mm 800 hp Aluminum-alloy block and head forged steel crankshaft with 5 main bearings DOHC, 4 Valves/cylinder - 32 valves total aspiration, 2 x IHI turbochargers with multipoint electronic fuel injection firing order 1 - 8 - 7 - 3 - 6 - 5 - 4 - 2 dry sump March 87T, 5 speed Manual gearbox aluminum monocoque chassis suspension (fr/r) double wishbones, coil springs over dampers, anti-roll bar rack and pinion ventilated disks 356mm disk diameter with 4 piston calipers all around Length 4780 mm (188.2 in) Width 1990 mm (78.3 in) Height 965 mm (38 in) Wheelbase 2800 mm (110.2 in) Track (fr/r) 1600 mm (63 in) / 1550 mm (61 in) wheels, front 13x17", rear 14x19" tires, front 320/30R17", rear 350/40R19" 850 kg

• Nissan
• Nismo
• Nissan R88C

v t e March Engineering
Founders Max Mosley Alan Rees Graham Coaker Robin Herd
Notable drivers Chris Amon Jo Siffert Niki Lauda Ronnie Peterson Vittorio Brambilla Henri Pescarolo Lella Lombardi
Formula One cars 701 711 721 731 741 751 761 2-4-0 771 781 811 821 87P 871 881 CG891 CG911B
Formula Two cars 702 712 722 732 742 752 762 772 782 792 802 812 822 832 842 85J 86J
Formula 3000 cars 85B 86B 87B 88B 89B
Indy Lights cars March 86A
Formula 5000 cars 72A 73A 74A 75A 76A
Formula 3 cars 693 703 713M 713S 723 733 743 753 763 773 783 793 803 813
CART cars 81C 82C 83C 84C 85C 86C 87C 88C 89C 89P 89CE 90P 90CA
Sports prototype cars 707 717 817 827 RC82 82G 83G 832 847 84G 85G 86G 87G 88G R87E R88C
Group 5/Group 6 cars 73S 74S 75S 76S 77S
Sports 2000 cars 81S 82S 83S 84S