Gran Turismo strapped audiences into the seat of a 200mph rocket in the form of a Nissan GT-R – and soon, the “unique” car in the movie could be yours.
What was your car of choice in Gran Turismo games of old? Was it a gold-rimmed, blue Subaru Impreza, or the Pikes Peak Suzuki Escudo, or perhaps it was the RUF CTR Yellowbird (cough, a Porsche, cough) or the super-low, loose Ford GT?
Whether you’re a devout sim racer who ditches any and all assist settings or a virtual Sunday driver who likes to cruise around tracks with your pick-of-the-day from the game’s massive roster, there’s one car that tends to unite fans: the Nissan GT-R, the poster supercar for the fifth game’s release in 2010.
Now, as original GT Academy founder Darren Cox told us, there’s a “brilliant link” between your nostalgia for the game and the release of the Gran Turismo movie: you can drive the film’s car in the game… and soon, you can buy the car.
Drive the movie Nissan GT-R in Gran Turismo… then buy it
Right now, you can drive the Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 ‘18 seen in the movie in Gran Turismo 7. Check out the trailer for it below:
However, it gets better: on August 25, the actual car is going up for sale via Iconic Auctioneers.
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Cox, who’s played by Orlando Bloom in the movie (albeit, Bloom’s character is named Danny Moore, as they’re quite different people), called it a “completely unique opportunity to own a car that is being immortalised in a movie and video game, meaning that in the next two weeks, it will become a cultural icon for millions of cinema-goers, gamers, and social media users.”
“I hope everyone enjoys the story in the movie and has a chance to drive the car in the game. For me, this reflects the essence of GT Academy – allowing fans to engage on all levels with Motorsport. Watch the movie, and drive the car from the movie! Simple in theory, but hats off to PlayStation for making it happen,” he added.
Just for extra context, this is the GT-R that belonged to Jann Mardenborough, the GT Academy winner and Le Mans racer at the core of the movie’s story. It’s been on quite the journey too: it was bought in 2014 before entering into a full race program, competing at the Nurburgring 24-hour event and being driven by other academy winners like Ricardo Sanchez, Gaetan Paletou, Lucas Ordonez, and Matt Simmons.
As the auction house notes, “cars showcased in big-budget movies do not become available for sale, as the film company retains them for promotional PR duties and sequel”, but the vehicle eventually came back into Cox’s orbit, and soon it could be yours.
The Iconic Auctioneers auction for the GT-R will open at 1pm UK time on August 25. In the meantime, you can check out our other Gran Turismo coverage below: