A little over 20 years ago, Sony released a video game that would influence the future of motorsports. Gran Turismo was a groundbreaking phenomenon in terms of bringing racing realism to the classic PlayStation, and allowed its players to choose a range of cars to race - from the Daihatsu Move kei car, to the likes of a Toyota GT-One Le Mans racer.
The game has evolved through the years, and even though the car list grew from mostly Japanese cars, to having special Gran Turismo concepts known as Vision GTs, some vehicles clearly stood out from the rest, and gained a cult following not just in the game, but even in real life. Here are some of the most iconic cars that were made famous by Sony's Gran Turismo game franchise.
8 Suzuki Escudo Pikes Peak Version
The Pikes Peak International Hillclimb is one of the world's most famous and demanding hillclimb events. In order to become the "King of the Mountain", you're gonna need a serious car that would take you to the clouds in the shortest time possible.
With a whopping 981 horsepower, four-wheel-drive and two twin-turbo V6 engines, the Suzuki Escudo Pikes Peak Version won the 1995 Pikes Peak Hillclimb. It was immortalized when it was featured in the Gran Turismo series as "the car that would decimate all", even without putting another 15 grand in it or more.
7 Pennzoil Nismo GT-R
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The Pennzoil Nismo GT-R was a successful JGTC race car during the 1990s, winning the 1999 GT500 Championship with Erik Comas and Satoshi Motoyama behind the wheel. In Gran Turismo, this car can be purchased in the Nissan dealership for 1,000,000 credits, but in real-life, you can only see this in the annual Nismo festival in Fuji Speedway in Japan.
With 702 horsepower and four-wheel-drive, it was a great 'go-to' car in Gran Turismo, with lots of mechanical and aerodynamic grip enabling you to dominate the competition and advance through the ranks in GT mode. Plus, the Pennzoil livery is such a classic design that's very simple and distinctive, thanks to its black and yellow color combination.
6 Castrol Tom's Supra
Another JGTC legend that featured in Gran Turismo is the Castrol Tom's Supra. It debuted in 1995 wearing the white, green and red Castrol livery which was also used in the World Rally Championship by the Celica GT-Four and Corolla rally cars of that decade, and won both the GT500 drivers' and constructors' championship in 1997.
The real-life race car was recently found in a dusty warehouse without an engine in Japan, and thanks to fan crowdfunding, the Supra will be restored to its running condition by the same guys who have built the car back in the 90s. Plus, once you decide to donate, your name will be engraved somewhere in the car. How cool is that?
5 Dodge Viper GTS-R Team Oreca
This time, we turn to a true American racing legend that was made more popular by the Gran Turismo series. The Dodge Viper GTS-R was a GT-class racing car back in the late 90s to the early 2000s, and found success in multiple endurance races.
The Viper GTS-R is a potent car in Gran Turismo thanks to its powerful V10 engine and standard slick tires, perfect for doing endurance races and short sprints on non-bumpy race tracks. In real life, this particular Team Oreca race car won the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 12 Hours of Sebring.
4 Honda Integra Type R
Another genius of the Gran Turismo game is, when in GT mode, like in real life, you start from grassroots motorsports, and progress through the ladder as you develop your skills and get better. The license tests requires you to do racing techniques that vary in difficulty, depending on the license class you're getting.
There's a high chance you'll encounter the Honda Integra Type R in one of those license tests, as it's regarded as one of the best FF machines ever made to hone your skills not just in Gran Turismo, but also in real life.
3 Nissan GT-R
Sony revealed the then next-generation PlayStation platform in 2007, which was the PlayStation 3, together with a revamped Gran Turismo game called the Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, which was leaps and bounds better in visual quality than the outgoing Gran Turismo 4 game.
Its main cover, was no other than the technologically-advanced Nissan GT-R, which took on the supercar world by storm with its groundbreaking performance at less than a third of the cost of its European rivals. The game sold 11.95 million copies worldwide, becoming the second-best selling PS3 game of all time. The GT-R, on the other hand, is still in production to this day, and remains relevant in terms of sports car performance.
2 RUF CTR Yellowbird
An exclusive deal with EA Games prevented Porsches to appear in the earlier Gran Turismo games, until it finally appeared in 2017 for Gran Turismo Sport. If you wanted to drive a Porsche in the game before, you're left with the RUF CTR Yellowbird, which is not a bad thing at all.
RUF was known as the most renowned company in working on Porsche models, and turning it into their own. In fact, the CTR Yellowbird was much faster than the Porsche 930 where it was based from, and topped out at a blistering 211 mph. It was considered as the fastest production car of its time, and Gran Turismo only made it more popular by being available to wider audiences.
1 Ford GT
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Gran Turismo commemorated the return of the legendary Le Mans-winning car by creating their own interpretation of a Le Mans-spec racer and made it as the main cover for the 2004 Gran Turismo 4 game.
It is only fitting for a legendary car to be featured in an iconic intro that embodies what the Gran Turismo game is all about, as the opening theme for the Gran Turismo 4 game is regarded as one of the best game intros of all time, with the Ford GT appearing as Moon Over The Castle plays in the background. Check out this Youtube video of the opening theme, and you'll see what we mean.