BUYING FEATURE
FANTASY FORECOURT: We choose between five computer game favourites
Gran Turismo was the ultimate Nineties driving game – a Playstation experience you’ll never forget, if you’re of a certain age. Indeed, for many, as they got older, it influenced their choice of car in the real world. There have been ten incarnations of Gran Turismo in the past quarter century, but the original PS1 version – which took five years to develop – was the one that truly made its mark in a world of chintzy arcade games. GT1 developers even used the soundtrack of the real cars – all recorded at a racing circuit.
So here, our task is to choose our favourite cars from the first Gran Turismo. Just 10,000 credits in the game would get you either of the Toyota Supra Turbo MkIII or Mitsubishi 3000 GT. Both delighted with superb handling in the game and in the real world, give their owners a mix of high-tech thrills and dependability. Next up the chain, as you gained titles and credits in the game, were the next-level Japanese sports cars such as the iconic R32 version of the Skyline GT-R and the one we’ve picked here – Honda’s NSX-R. As we recall, the Honda was fast, but something of a handful to inexperienced gamers. Talking of handfuls, the last two choices are tributes to the best ‘prize’ cars on offer in the game – the TVR Cerbera LM and Dodge Viper GTS-R. We might be aboard the roadgoing versions, but they’re still savage. So, let’s take a ride to Trial Mountain, Grand Valley East and the Autumn Ring…
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