It’s fair to say that the Gran Turismo movie is pretty much jam-packed full of cars. You wouldn’t expect anything else from a film based on a true story about a car-obsessed racing game addict who becomes a professional racing driver.
On first viewing there’s a good chance you won’t necessarily have caught them all, and it’s pretty much frowned upon to film in a movie theater. As the movie is now hitting streaming services though, viewers can pause (and screenshot) it to see all of the vehicles in the film.
That’s exactly what we’ve done, picking out some of the most interesting cars in the film — and assessing how likely they are to make the cross over back from the movie universe to the gaming realm.
Hero Cars
The film’s hero, Jann Mardenborough — played by Archie Madekwe — drives just five cars in total, mostly representing his transformation from gamer to racer. That starts off with a joyride in his dad’s sporty coupe and, naturally, ends with the LMP car he uses in the climax of the movie.
Volkswagen Corrado VR6
Featuring in a chase scene early on in the movie, the Corrado is driven by Jann and his brother Coby without their father’s permission. It’s one of the film’s unlikeliest scenes, as ANPR (automatic number plate recognition) is a thing in many UK police cars, and a Tornado Red, VR6 Corrado is a rare and highly recognisable car in 2023. The Mardenboroughs wouldn’t get away with it!
- GT Game Probability: 3/10 – Despite being an accessible, sporty hatch in the 1990s, it’s never been in a GT title before, and there’s not a lot of Volkswagens in game updates…
Nissan GT-R (R35)
Quite a step up in performance from the front-wheel drive, 180hp Corrado, the GT-R is of course Jann’s ride at GT Academy — although the real Jann drove a Nissan 370Z at Race Camp in 2011. The car in the film is a standard GT-R in post “MY17” facelift form, but curiously is the only such car in that final race…
- GT Game Probability: 10/10 – It’s already in GT7!
Nissan GT-R (R35) GT3
After winning Race Camp, Jann jumps straight into a GT-R GT3 in order to pick up his FIA Racing Licence through the “European Series” — again, not entirely as happened in the real world, but real process doesn’t make for great storytelling. It’s the vehicle that racing driver Jann is in for most of the film.
- GT Game Probability: 10/10 – It’s sort-of already in GT7, but as a livery for the 2018 update GT3. The car in the movie is based on a 2015 (pre-facelift) car actually raced by Jann and recently auctioned off.
Porsche 911 GT3 RS 992
Following the pivotal incident mid-way through the second half of the film, Jann’s mentor Jack Salter — a fictional character, played by David Harbour — encourages the youngster to get back on the horse with a 520hp Porsche. It’s probably the prettiest single piece of cinematography in the film as Jann potters around the Nordschleife.
- GT Game Probability: 8/10 – We already have two recent generations of GT3 RS in Gran Turismo 7, and Porsche has been one of the most common brands to appear in updates.
Ligier JS PX
Seemingly standing in for an LMP1 car, the Ligier JS PX is the car driven by Jann and his all-gamer team in the final (and a little weird if you’re a fan of the event) race at Le Mans. The real PX is an extreme track-day special built to no specific regulations and based on the successful JS P2/P217 cars.
- GT Game Probability: 4/10 – It’s such a significant car for the movie that it’s hard to imagine it’s not on PD’s radar, but it would be a first ever Ligier/OnRoak car in the series and tough to slot into the current race car categories.
In-Game Cars
Gran Turismo (the game) actually doesn’t play much of a role in Gran Turismo (the film), largely consisting of a couple of scenes early on where Jann qualifies for GT Academy through a laptime competition and then a final online race. However, even in these sequences we see a couple of interesting vehicles…
Porsche 911 GT3 Cup 992
This pops up pretty early on in an in-game sequence, with Jann racing some friends/rivals in — somehow — an Arcade Race. Launched in 2021 as Porsche’s GT3-based race car, the vehicle appears in the game in its standard launch livery which somewhat suggests it has already been scanned. It would certainly fit with the approximate cadence of vehicles if it arrived soon.
- GT Game Probability: 8/10 – Just like the GT3 RS above, this is a car we can well imagine coming to GT7 before too long in the Gr.3 class, to fill the spot currently occupied by the older, GTE-class 991 RSR.
Aston Martin Vantage GT12
A confusing entry in an already weird, mixed-class race, the Vantage GT12 also shows up early on. Unlike everything else in the race, the GT12 is a road-legal, track day toy and not actually a race car. Aston’s original plan was to call it the GT3, to reflect its Vantage GT3 racer, but a kerfuffle with Porsche over using the name on a road car was settled with the name change. It’s essentially an unlimited GT4 race car for the road, so whoever “Ggaskilla” is they did a great job qualifying it in seventh…
- GT Game Probability: 9/10 – Another car that appears to already be scanned for Gran Turismo, we’d be absolutely unsurprised to see it coming along soon.
Polyphony Digital Studio Cars
In what we assume to be a fictional interpretation of Polyphony Digital (to go with the fact that Kazunori Yamauchi himself is played by an actor), there’s scenes involving several cars being scanned and recorded in a large indoor space — and at a test track — although the methods and techniques don’t entirely tally with those we’ve seen before. That could be a clue for some upcoming vehicles for the game…
Lamborghini Huracan STO
This extreme-performance model of the Huracan is seen extensively in the studio scenes, largely being recorded for audio capture purposes in what looks like a mock-up of an anechoic chamber (the real thing has much more violent-looking walls). It’s a homologation model for the company’s Super Trofeo race car — hence the name, “Super Trofeo Omologato” — with most of the car’s body unique to the model and made from carbon fiber.
- GT Game Probability: 6/10 – We’ve actually seen surprisingly few Lamborghinis added to the game since launch (and since GT Sport). It’d be a great choice to break that drought.
Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-16 Evo I
Seen ambling around the studio floor, the Cosworth-engined 190E Evo is a classic homologation special — with just 502 cars made (all in Blauschwarz Metallic) to satisfy DTM requirements. Sporting a slightly more free-revving engine than the regular 2.5-16, the Evo was an answer to BMW’s M3 Sport Evolution but never reached the same levels of popularity.
- GT Game Probability: 5/10 – A good rival for the M3 Sport Evo and Sierra Cosworth already in the game, but it’s been the mad Evo II that appeared in previous GT games…
Mines Skyline R34 GT-R V-Spec II Nur
This one almost escaped notice, appearing only in a couple of shots and with its true identity almost obscured. On closer examination it sports the Millennium Jade color of the “Nur” R34s, and the huge intercooler and hood vent are a bit of a giveaway — with the “Mines” logo only just visible. It’s hard to imagine the producers accidentally filmed this very rare vehicle…
- GT Game Probability: 7/10 – You can insert your own joke about Skylines here, but the Mines-tuned versions played a major role in GT games of old, and its wheel does appear to be scanned according to the display behind it…
Ford GT & Honda NSX Type R
Both cars appear in the very first sequences of the film, showing Kazunori Yamauchi (the character) driving them at Slovakia Ring — which is teleported to the foothills near Mount Fuji, thanks to movie magic). Both cars are already in the game of course, but we flag them because Yamauchi himself has owned two Ford GTs…
- GT Game Probability: 10/10 – Both cars are already in the game!
Other Significant Cars
There’s quite a few other cars that pop up in the film, either forming a part of the plot directly or driven by secondary characters. For the most part we won’t expect to see any of these in the game aside from where they’re casting choices inspired by the game — but you never know.
Koenigsegg Gemera
This is probably the most expensive vehicle in the film (including the race cars), not least of which because it hasn’t been made yet. In fact the car in the film is the (singular) drivable prototype of the Gemera, the first four-seat car from Koenigsegg, probably equipped with the two-liter, three-cylinder TFG engine good for 1,400hp when combined with the Dark Matter electric motor. It’s driven by Patrice Capa, who wisely doesn’t trust his son Nicholas to do so…
- GT Game Probability: 2/10 – Koenigsegg is a brand that has never appeared in a GT game, and with the Gemera being used to highlight how wealthy and unlikeable the antagonists are we wouldn’t expect it to be the first.
Nissan GT-R (R35) Nismo
Eagle-eyed fans might have already spotted this but, as we hinted earlier, Jann’s GT-R is the only normal one in the GT Academy Race Camp final race. All four of the other cars are the much more potent Nismo model — one 2017 car and three 2019 cars — which sports turbochargers from the GT3 race car to up the power to 592hp and significantly different suspension, braking, and aero. It’s a miracle Jann won!
- GT Game Probability: 10/10 – The 2017 model is already in GT7, and although the 2019 hasn’t appeared yet we wouldn’t be at all surprised to see it.
Lamborghini Huracan GT3
This is the GT3 car we see more of than any other except Jann’s Nissan GT-R. That’s because it’s driven by the film’s main antagonist Nicholas Capa, who seems to have a tendency to use it as a battering ram — perhaps from too much online racing, despite his clear disdain for it. As we noted in our review, he wouldn’t last long, no matter how wealthy his father is. Probably.
- GT Game Probability: 10/10 – Another car that’s already in GT7, although you’ll need to make the livery yourself…
Ligier JS P2
Sibling to the JS PX driven by Jann at Le Mans, this is the car of the exceptionally German Frederik Schulin (played by the Irish rally driver Niall McShea). Another LMP1 stand-in for the slightly odd Le Mans finale, it’s arguably the most prominent of the other prototypes in the film, featuring in a major incident early in the race.
- GT Game Probability: 2/10 – Like the PX, this is a difficult car to place in the game and would be a first for the brand in the series history. Less likely due to not being a hero car.
Nissan Ariya
Considering he’s a leading executive for Nissan’s marketing department, Danny Moore — played by Orlando Bloom — doesn’t actually spend much time in cars. In fact this Ariya, an electric crossover SUV, is the only car he’s actually seen in at any point and even then he’s in the back of it. Also what’s with the fake cocktail tattoo?!
- GT Game Probability: 1/10 – Extremely unlikely to ever appear in any Gran Turismo, if it weren’t for the Nissan badge…
BMW M8 & Nissan 370Z Safety Cars
Naturally popping up during racing sequences that went wrong — one at Race Camp and one at Le Mans — these two safety cars were a bit of an unexpected treat. That particularly goes for the BMW, as Porsche has provided the LM24 safety cars since 2018; it’s likely to be the old MotoGP safety car with a Le Mans wrap.
- GT Game Probability: 3/10 – They wouldn’t be the oddest cars to see in GT7, and the 370Z particularly already has a model to adapt for a safety car, but we’re going to say probably not.
Background Cars
Most of the rest of the vehicles in the film play no significant role outside of being otherwise uninvolved racers or just set decoration. We’re not going to rate any of them for their possibility of appearing in the Gran Turismo game, as they’re mainly a case of the film-makers grabbing what was available or already there.
There’s a fun mix of cars though, from the Lamborghini Diablo and Rolls-Royce Phantom down to a Toyota Hiace, and a mixture of race cars from the McLaren 720S GT3 to the Alpine A110 GT4.
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