No video game, no matter how good, should smack around cars like this. It's just a waste.

So, warning: The commercial below — of a 1969 Corvette Stingray and a 1988 Lamborghini Countach swapping paint on the track — contains footage that may be unsuitable for small children and, you know, anyone who loves cars. Viewer discretion is advised.

Click "next" to see the full comparison between the lists so you can decide which garage full of digital cars you'll want.

Quantity

Advantage: GT for PSP
Reason: GT for PSP has almost double the number of cars as Forza 3, which is an advantage that's hard to ignore consider it's hand-held against big-box. On the other hand, how many versions of the VW Lupo does one person want or need? It's not just about quantity, it's quality, so click through to see how the two face off in important categories.

American Cars

Advantage: Forza 3
Reason: Both games include must-haves like the Buick GNX and Ford GT, but Forza 3 has a special Motorsports Legends Car Pack with the 1969 Dodge Charger, 1965 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe, and 1960 Chevrolet Corvette. And even if it didn't, choices for classic American cars like the Ford Mustang are limited to the 2005 GT and 2000 Cobra R according to the GT for PSP list. By comparison, Forza has those cars plus the 1970 Boss 429, 1993 SVT Cobra R and the 2004 Tiger Racing Mustang.

Japanese Cars

Advantage: GT for PSP
Reason: Most of those 400+ cars Gran Turismo has that Forza doesn't come in the form of highly specific Japanese special editions. If you're looking for a 2002 Nissan Fairlady Z with the Z33 option wheel instead of the regular wheel you're SOL with Forza 3. There's also a better historical collection of Japanese cars with GT for PSP, which offers classics like the 1973 Nissan 2000GT-R.

Italian Cars

Advantage: Forza 3
Reason: There are only a few Ferraris and Lamborghinis in GT for PSP, giving a clear advantage to Forza 3 with its stable of classic and modern Ferraris including the Tafel Racing F430GT and 1964 Ferrari GTO. Gran Turismo does have a better collection of Alfa Romeos though...

European Cars

Advantage: Toss-up
Reason: As much as we love the RUF-tuned Porsches, the continued lack of a Porsche vehicle in the Gran Turismo series and its inclusion in the Forza series already gives Forza a leg-up. On the flipside, the GT series has an entire host of Alpines, Citroëns and other special models lacking in Forza 3. The advantage depends on your personal preferences.

Racing Cars

Advantage: Forza 3
Reason: Though you can find some extreme race versions of very specific cars ( like the 1999 Citroën Xsara Rally Car) in GT for PSP, unless you're a rally fiend the racing cars in Forza 3 will appeal more to the modern racing fan. The number of ALMS/Le Mans cars in Forza 3 is far superior. The lack of an R10/R15 in GT for PSP is a glaring omission. The one exception to this is in rallying, where GT for PSP has a clear advantage.

Australian Cars

Advantage:Forza 3
Reason: Only Forza comes with a slate of Australian V8 Supercars, which feeds our need to race Holdens against FG Falcons in an Outback race-to-the-death. At least Gran Turismo has one Falcon FG.

Odd Cars

Advantage: GT for PSP
Reason: Because of the quantity of cars in Gran Turismo, you get some truly wonderful cars Forza didn't have space for. Can you say 1988 Volvo 240 GLT Estate)? We love racing unique rides you don't normally find in racing games. How does the 1998 Taurus SHO match up to the DeLorean S2? Inquiring minds want to know. What about a non-SRT10 Dodge Ram?

Photo of Volvo Wagon from GT4 as there is no press screen of Volvo from PSP available yet.

Crappy Cars

Advantage: Forza 3
Reason: This is not exactly a category you want to win. Whereas the crappiest car in Gran Turismo for PSP is arguably the still awesome Daihatsu MOVE CX '95, Forza includes no less than a Chevy Aveo5... LT! Why, with only 400 cars, did such a crapbox end up in the game?

Conclusion

Advantage: Forza 3
Reason: If you're a JDM nut who doesn't care about Aussie Supercars, classic Ferraris or American muscle you'll be unimpressed by the number of Suzuki kei cars in Forza 3 and should opt for Gran Turismo PSP. But if you're less impressed by total numbers than you are by attention to detail you'll love the great cars of Forza Motorsport 3, which is why it has the advantage. When (if) GT5 comes it'll likely have so many cars it will warp our feeble little minds. Our advice? Get both.

Links to the two full lists below so you can compare and disagree with us.
All 400 Cars Of Forza Motorsport 3
All 830 Cars From Gran Turismo PSP

We're assuming this video of the FT-86 concept on the Grossglockner and the track means we'll be seeing the little Subaru-powered Toyota coupe concept in GT5 whenever the game ends up coming out. We're only wondering which'll come to market first — GT5 or the Subieyota.

In case you missed the press photos from this morning, here's a refresher, below.

(Hat tip to Brad!)

1 AC Cars 427 S/C '66
2 Acura CL 3.2 Type-S '01
3 Acura CL 3.2 Type-S '03
4 Acura DN-X Concept '02
5 Acura HSC Concept '04
6 Acura INTEGRA TYPE R '01
7 Acura NSX '91
8 Acura NSX '04
9 Acura NSX Coupe '97
10 Acura RSX Type-S '04
11 Alfa Romeo 147 2.0 TWIN SPARK '02
12 Alfa Romeo 147 GTA '02
13 Alfa Romeo 155 2.5 V6 TI '93
14 Alfa Romeo 156 2.5 V6 24V '98
15 Alfa Romeo 166 2.5 V6 24V Sportronic '98
16 Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GTA 1600 '65
17 Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint Speciale '63
18 Alfa Romeo GT 3.2 V6 24V '04
19 Alfa Romeo GTV 3.0 V6 24V '01
20 Alfa Romeo Spider 1600 Duetto '66
21 Alfa Romeo Spider 3.0i V6 24V '01
22 Alpine A110 1600S '73
23 Alpine A310 1600VE '73
24 Amuse Carbon R (R34) '04
25 Amuse S2000 GT1 '04
26 Amuse S2000 R1 '04
27 Amuse S2000 Street Version '04
28 ASL ARTA Garaiya (JGTC) '03
29 ASL Garaiya '02
30 Audi A2 1.4 '02
31 Audi A3 3.2 quattro '03
32 Abt Audi TT-R Touring Car '02
33 Audi A4 Touring Car '04
34 Audi quattro '82
35 Audi R8 Race Car (Audi PlayStation Team ORECA) '05
36 Audi Le Mans quattro '03
37 Audi Nuvolari quattro '03
38 Audi Pikes Peak quattro '03
39 Audi R8 LMS Race Car '09
40 Audi R8 LMS Race Car (Team PlayStation) '09
41 Audi R8 Race Car '01
42 Audi RS 4 '01
43 Audi RS 6 '02
44 Audi RS 6 Avant '02
45 Audi S3 '02
46 Audi S4 '98
47 Audi S4 '03
48 Audi TT Coupe 1.8T quattro '00
49 Audi TT Coupe 3.2 quattro '03
50 Bentley Speed 8 Race Car '03
51 BLITZ ER34 D1 SPEC (D1GP) '04
52 BMW 120d '04
53 BMW 120i '04
54 BMW 2002 Turbo '73
55 BMW 320i Touring Car '03
56 BMW 330i '05
57 BMW Concept M5 '04
58 BMW M Coupe '98
59 BMW M3 '04
60 BMW M3 CSL '03
61 BMW M3 GTR '03
62 BMW M3 GTR Race Car '01
63 BMW M5 '05
64 BMW McLaren F1 GTR Race Car '97
65 BMW V12 LMR Race Car '99
66 BMW Z4 '03
67 Bugatti Veyron 16.4 '09
68 Buick GNX '87
69 Buick Special '62
70 Cadillac CIEN Concept '02
71 Callaway C12 '03
72 Chaparral 2D Race Car '67
73 Chaparral 2J Race Car '70
74 Chevrolet Camaro IROC-Z Concept '88
75 Chevrolet Camaro LM Race Car
76 Chevrolet Camaro SS '69
77 Chevrolet Camaro SS '00
78 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 302 '69
79 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 Coupe '97
80 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 454 '70
81 Chevrolet Corvette C5-R (C5) '00
82 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible (C1) '54
83 Chevrolet Corvette Coupe (C2) '63
84 Chevrolet Corvette GRAND SPORT (C4) '96
85 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray L46 350 (C3) '69
86 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 (C2) Race Car '63
87 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 (C5) '00
88 Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 (C4) '90
89 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 (C6) '09
90 Chevrolet Silverado SST Concept '02
91 Chevrolet SSR '03
92 Chrysler 300C '05
93 Chrysler Crossfire '04
94 Chrysler PT Cruiser '00
95 Citroën 2CV Type A '54
96 Citroën C3 1.6 '02
97 Citroën C5 V6 Exclusive '03
98 GT by Citroën '08
99 Citroën Xantia 3.0i V6 Exclusive '00
100 Citroën Xsara Rally Car '99
101 Citroën Xsara VTR '03
102 Cizeta V16T '94
103 Daihatsu Copen Active Top '02
104 Daihatsu Copen Detachable Top '02
105 Daihatsu Cuore TR-XX Avanzato R (J) '97
106 Daihatsu Midget II D type '98
107 Daihatsu MIRA TR-XX Avanzato R '97
108 Daihatsu MOVE Custom RS Limited '02
109 Daihatsu MOVE CX '95
110 Daihatsu MOVE SR-XX 2WD '97
111 Daihatsu MOVE SR-XX 4WD '97
112 Daihatsu SIRION CX 2WD (J) '98
113 Daihatsu SIRION CX 4WD (J) '98
114 Daihatsu SIRION X4 (J) '00
115 Daihatsu STORIA CX 2WD '98
116 Daihatsu STORIA CX 4WD '98
117 Daihatsu STORIA X4 '00
118 DMC DeLorean S2 '04
119 Dodge Charger 440 R/T '70
120 Dodge Charger Super Bee 426 Hemi '71
121 Dodge RAM 1500 LARAMIE Hemi Quad Cab '04
122 Dodge SRT4 '03
123 Dodge VIPER GTS '99
124 Dodge VIPER GTS R Concept '00
125 VIPER GTS-R Team Oreca Race Car '00
126 Dodge VIPER GTS-R Team Oreca Race Car '00
127 Dodge VIPER SRT10 '03
128 DOME-ZERO Concept '78
129 Eagle Talon Esi '97
130 Enzo Ferrari '02
131 Ferrari F2007
132 Fiat 500 F '65
133 Fiat 500 L '69
134 Fiat 500 R '72
135 Fiat Barchetta Giovane Due '00
136 Fiat Coupe Turbo Plus '00
137 Fiat Panda Super i.e. '90
138 Fiat Punto HGT Abarth '00
139 2000 Ford Falcon XR8
140 Ford Escort Rally Car '98
141 Ford Focus Rally Car '99
142 Ford Focus RS '02
143 Ford Focus ST170 '03
144 Ford GT '02
145 Ford GT '05
146 Ford GT (No Stripe) '05
147 Ford GT LM Race Car
148 Ford GT LM Race Car Spec II
149 Ford GT40 Race Car '69
150 Ford Ka '01
151 Ford Mustang GT '05
152 Ford Mustang SVT Cobra R '00
153 Ford RS200 '84
154 Ford RS200 Rally Car '85
155 Ford SVT F-150 Lightning '03
156 Ford Taurus SHO '98
157 FPV F6 Typhoon '04
158 FPV GT '04
159 Gillet Vertigo Race Car '04
160 Ginetta G4 '64
161 HKS GENKI HYPER SILVIA RS2 (D1GP) '04
162 Hommell Berlinette R/S Coupe '99
163 Honda 1300 Coupe 9 S '70
164 Honda ACCORD Coupe '88
165 Honda ACCORD Coupe EX '03
166 Honda ACCORD Euro-R '00
167 Honda ACCORD Euro-R '02
168 Honda ARTA NSX (JGTC) '00
169 Honda BALLADE SPORTS CR-X 1.5i '83
170 Honda BEAT '91
171 Honda BEAT Version F '92
172 Honda BEAT Version Z '93
173 Honda Castrol MUGEN NSX (JGTC) '00
174 Honda CITY Turbo II '83
175 Honda CIVIC 1500 3door 25i '83
176 Honda CIVIC 1500 3door CX '79
177 Honda CIVIC SiR-II (EG) '91
178 Honda CIVIC SiR-II (EG) '92
179 Honda CIVIC SiR-II (EG) '93
180 Honda CIVIC SiR-II (EG) '95
181 Honda CIVIC TYPE R (EK) '97
182 Honda CIVIC TYPE R (EK) '98
183 Honda CIVIC TYPE R (EP) '01
184 Honda CIVIC TYPE R (EP) '04
185 Honda CIVIC TYPE R (EP, EU) '01
186 Honda CR-X del Sol SiR '92
187 Honda CR-X SiR '90
188 Honda DUALNOTE Concept '01
189 Honda ELEMENT '03
190 Honda FIT W '01
191 Honda Gathers Drider CIVIC Race Car '98
192 Honda S2000 (EU) '99
193 Honda S2000 (EU) '03
194 Honda S2000 Type V (EU) '00
195 Honda S2000 Type V (EU) '01
196 Honda HSC "The 37th Tokyo Motor Show Concept Car" '03
197 Honda INSIGHT '99
198 Honda INTEGRA TYPE R (DC2) '95
199 Honda INTEGRA TYPE R (DC2) '98
200 Honda INTEGRA TYPE R (DC2) '99
201 Honda INTEGRA TYPE R (DC5) '03
202 Honda INTEGRA TYPE R Touring Car
203 Honda JAZZ 1.4 DSi SE Sport '01
204 Honda LIFE STEP VAN '72
205 Honda LOCTITE MUGEN NSX (JGTC) '01
206 Honda Mobil 1 NSX (JGTC) '01
207 Honda MUGEN MOTUL CIVIC Si Race Car '87
208 Honda N360 '67
209 Honda NSX '90
210 Honda NSX '93
211 Honda NSX '95
212 Honda NSX '97
213 Honda NSX '99
214 Honda NSX '01
215 Honda NSX Type R '92
216 Honda NSX Type R '02
217 Honda NSX Type S '97
218 Honda NSX Type S '99
219 Honda NSX Type S '01
220 Honda NSX Type S Zero '97
221 Honda NSX Type S Zero '99
222 Honda NSX-R Concept '01
223 Honda NSX-R Prototype LM Race Car
224 Honda NSX-R Prototype LM Road Car
225 Honda ODYSSEY '03
226 Honda PRELUDE Si VTEC '91
227 Honda PRELUDE SiR '96
228 Honda PRELUDE SiR S spec '98
229 Honda PRELUDE Type S '96
230 Honda PRELUDE Type S '98
231 Honda RAYBRIG NSX (JGTC) '00
232 Honda S2000 '99
233 Honda S2000 '01
234 Honda S2000 '03
235 Honda S2000 (EU) '01
236 Honda S2000 (US) '99
237 Honda S2000 (US) '01
238 Honda S2000 (US) '04
239 Honda S2000 LM Race Car
240 Honda S2000 Type V '00
241 Honda S2000 Type V '01
242 Honda S2000 Type V '03
243 Honda S2000 Type V (US) '00
244 Honda S2000 Type V (US) '01
245 Honda S500 '63
246 Honda S600 '64
247 Honda S800 '66
248 Honda S800 RSC Race Car '68
249 Honda TAKATA DOME NSX (JGTC) '03
250 Honda TODAY G '85
251 Honda Z ACT '70
252 HPA Motorsports Stage II R32 '04
253 Hyundai Clix Concept '01
254 Hyundai HCD6 Concept '01
255 Hyundai Coupe FX '01
256 Hyundai Tiburon GT '01
257 Hyundai Tiburon Turbulence '99
258 Hyundai Tuscani '01
259 Hyundai Tuscani CCS '03
260 Infiniti FX45 Concept '02
261 Infiniti G20 '90
262 Infiniti G35 COUPE '03
263 Infiniti G35 Sedan '03
264 Isuzu 117COUPÉ '68
265 Isuzu Bellett 1600 GT-R '69
266 Isuzu PIAZZA XE '81
267 Jaguar E-TYPE Coupe '61
268 Jaguar S-TYPE R '02
269 Jaguar XJ220 '92
270 Jaguar XJ220 LM Race Car
271 Jaguar XJR-9 LM Race Car '88
272 Jaguar XKR Coupe '99
273 Jaguar XKR R Performance '02
274 Jensen Interceptor MkIII '74
275 Lamborghini Countach 25th Anniversary '88
276 Lamborghini Countach LP400 '74
277 Lancia DELTA HF Integrale Evoluzione '91
278 Lancia DELTA HF Integrale Rally Car '92
279 Lancia DELTA S4 Rally Car '85
280 Lancia STRATOS '73
281 Lancia STRATOS Rally Car '77
282 Land Rover Range Stormer Concept '04
283 Lexus GS 300 '91
284 Lexus GS 300 '00
285 Lexus GS 300 Vertex Edition (J) '00
286 Lexus IS 200 '98
287 Lexus IS 200 (J) '98
288 Lexus IS 300 Sport Cross '01
289 Lexus IS 200 GT-1 Race Car '04
290 Lexus SC 300 '97
291 Lexus SC 430 (EU) '01
292 Lexus SC 430 (US) '01
293 Lister Storm V12 Race Car '99
294 Lotus Elan S1 '62
295 Lotus Elise '00
296 Lotus Elise 111R '04
297 Lotus Elise 111S '03
298 Lotus Elise Sport 190 '98
299 Lotus Elise Type 72 '01
300 Lotus Esprit Sport 350 '00
301 Lotus Esprit Turbo HC '87
302 Lotus Esprit V8 '02
303 Lotus Esprit V8 GT '98
304 Lotus Esprit V8 SE '98
305 Lotus Europa Special '71
306 Lotus Carlton '90
307 Lotus Motor Sport Elise '99
308 Mini Marcos GT '70
309 Mazda 110S (L10A) '67
310 Mazda 110S (L10B) '68
311 Mazda 787B Race car '91
312 Mazda Atenza Concept '01
313 Mazda Atenza Sports 23Z '03
314 Mazda Atenza Touring Car
315 Mazda Autozam AZ-1 '92
316 Mazda BP FALKEN RX-7 (D1GP) '03
317 Mazda Carol 360 Deluxe '62
318 Mazda Cosmo Sport (L10A) '67
319 Mazda Cosmo Sport (L10B) '68
320 Mazda DEMIO GL-X '99
321 Mazda DEMIO SPORT '03
322 Mazda éfini RX-7 Type R (FD) '91
323 Mazda éfini RX-7 Type R (FD) '93
324 Mazda éfini RX-7 Type RS (FD) '96
325 Mazda éfini RX-7 Type R-S (FD) '95
326 Mazda éfini RX-7 Type RZ (FD) '92
327 Mazda éfini RX-7 Type RZ (FD) '93
328 Mazda éfini RX-7 Type RZ (FD) '95
329 Mazda éfini RX-7 Type RZ (FD) '96
330 Mazda Eunos Roadster (NA Special Package) '89
331 Mazda Eunos Roadster J-Limited (NA) '91
332 Mazda Eunos Roadster J-Limited II (NA) '93
333 Mazda Eunos Roadster SR-Limited (NA) '97
334 Mazda Eunos Roadster S-Special Type I (NA) '95
335 Mazda Eunos Roadster VR-Limited (NA) '95
336 Mazda Eunos Roadster V-Special Type II (NA) '93
337 Mazda Familia Sedan Sport 20 '02
338 Mazda KUSABI Concept '03
339 Mazda Lantis Coupe 2000 Type R '93
340 Mazda 323F '93
341 Mazda Furai Concept '08
342 Mazda2 '03
343 Mazda6 5-door '03
344 Mazda6 Concept '01
345 Mazda6 Touring Car
346 Mazda Mazdaspeed Atenza '05
347 Mazda MX-5 (NA) '89
348 Mazda MX-5 1.8 RS (NB, J) '98
349 Mazda MX-5 1600 NR-A (NB, J) '04
350 Mazda MX-5 1800 RS (NB, J) '00
351 Mazda MX-5 1800 RS (NB, J) '04
352 Mazda MX-5 J-Limited (NA, J) '91
353 Mazda MX-5 J-Limited II (NA, J) '93
354 Mazda MX-5 Miata (NA) '89
355 Mazda MX-5 Miata 1.8 RS (NB, J) '98
356 Mazda MX-5 Miata 1600 NR-A (NB, J) '04
357 Mazda MX-5 Miata 1800 RS (NB, J) '00
358 Mazda MX-5 Miata 1800 RS (NB, J) '04
359 Mazda MX-5 Miata J-Limited (NA, J) '91
360 Mazda MX-5 Miata J-Limited II (NA, J) '93
361 Mazda MX-5 Miata SR-Limited (NA, J) '97
362 Mazda MX-5 Miata S-Special Type I (NA, J) '95
363 Mazda MX-5 Miata VR-Limited (NA, J) '95
364 Mazda MX-5 Miata V-Special Type II (NA, J) '93
365 Mazda MX-5 SR-Limited (NA, J) '97
366 Mazda MX-5 S-Special Type I (NA, J) '95
367 Mazda MX-5 VR-Limited (NA, J) '95
368 Mazda MX-5 V-Special Type II (NA, J) '93
369 Mazda MX-Crossport Concept '05
370 Mazda Protegé '02
371 Mazda Roadster 1.8 RS (NB) '98
372 Mazda Roadster 1600 NR-A (NB) '04
373 Mazda Roadster 1800 RS (NB) '00
374 Mazda Roadster 1800 RS (NB) '04
375 Mazda RX-7 GT-LIMITED (FC, J) '85
376 Mazda RX-7 GT-X (FC) '90
377 Mazda RX-7 GT-X (FC, J) '90
378 Mazda RX-7 LM Race Car
379 Mazda RX-7 Spirit R Type A (FD) '02
380 Mazda RX-7 Type R Bathurst R (FD) '01
381 Mazda RX-7 Type RS (FD) '98
382 Mazda RX-7 Type RS (FD) '00
383 Mazda RX-7 Type RS-R (FD) '97
384 Mazda RX-7 Type RZ (FD) '00
385 Mazda RX-8 '03
386 Mazda RX-8 Concept (Type-I) '01
387 Mazda RX-8 Concept (Type-II) '01
388 Mazda RX-8 Concept LM Race Car
389 Mazda RX-8 Type E '03
390 Mazda RX-8 Type S '03
391 Mazda SAVANNA RX-7 GT-Limited (FC) '85
392 Mazda SAVANNA RX-7 INFINI III (FC) '90
393 Mercedes-Benz 190 E 2.5 - 16 Evolution II '91
394 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Coupe '54
395 Mercedes-Benz A 160 Avantgarde '98
396 AMG Mercedes 190 E 2.5 - 16 Evolution II Touring Car '92
397 AMG Mercedes CLK-GTR Race Car '98
398 Mercedes-Benz CL 600 '00
399 Mercedes-Benz CLK 55 AMG '00
400 Mercedes-Benz CLK Touring Car '00
401 Mercedes-Benz E 55 AMG '02
402 Sauber Mercedes C9 Race Car '89
403 Mercedes-Benz SL 500 (R129) '98
404 Mercedes-Benz SL 500 (R230) '02
405 Mercedes-Benz SL 55 AMG (R230) '02
406 Mercedes-Benz SL 600 (R129) '98
407 Mercedes-Benz SL 600 (R230) '04
408 Mercedes-Benz SL 65 AMG (R230) '04
409 Mercedes-Benz SLK 230 Kompressor '98
410 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren '03
411 Mercury Cougar XR-7 '67
412 Mine's BNR34 SKYLINE GT-R N1 VÔΩ•spec base '00
413 Mine's LANCER EVOLUTION VI '00
414 MINI COOPER '02
415 Mini Cooper 1.3i '98
416 MINI COOPER S '02
417 MINI ONE '02
418 Mitsubishi 3000GT MR (J) '95
419 Mitsubishi 3000GT MR (J) '98
420 Mitsubishi 3000GT SL (J) '95
421 Mitsubishi 3000GT SL (J) '96
422 Mitsubishi 3000GT SL (J) '98
423 Mitsubishi 3000GT SR (J) '95
424 Mitsubishi 3000GT SR (J) '96
425 Mitsubishi 3000GT SR (J) '98
426 Mitsubishi 3000GT VR-4 (J) '98
427 Mitsubishi 3000GT VR-4 Turbo (J) '95
428 Mitsubishi 3000GT VR-4 Turbo (J) '96
429 Mitsubishi 3000GT VR-4 Turbo (J) '98
430 Mitsubishi AIRTREK Turbo-R '02
431 Mitsubishi COLT 1.5 Sport X Version '02
432 Mitsubishi CZ-3 Tarmac '01
433 Mitsubishi CZ-3 Tarmac Rally Car
434 Mitsubishi ECLIPSE GT '95
435 Mitsubishi ECLIPSE GT '06
436 Mitsubishi ECLIPSE Spyder GTS '03
437 Mitsubishi FTO GP Version R '97
438 Mitsubishi FTO GP Version R '99
439 Mitsubishi FTO GPX '94
440 Mitsubishi FTO GPX '97
441 Mitsubishi FTO GPX '99
442 Mitsubishi FTO GR '94
443 Mitsubishi FTO GR '97
444 Mitsubishi FTO Super Touring Car
445 Mitsubishi GALANT 2.0 DOHC Turbo VR-4 '89
446 Mitsubishi GALANT GTO MR '70
447 Mitsubishi GTO SR '95
448 Mitsubishi GTO SR '96
449 Mitsubishi GTO SR '98
450 Mitsubishi GTO Twin Turbo '95
451 Mitsubishi GTO Twin Turbo '96
452 Mitsubishi GTO Twin Turbo '98
453 Mitsubishi GTO Twin Turbo MR '95
454 Mitsubishi GTO Twin Turbo MR '98
455 Mitsubishi HSR-II Concept '89
456 Mitsubishi i Concept '03
457 Mitsubishi Lancer 1600 GSR '74
458 Mitsubishi Lancer 1600 GSR Rally Car '74
459 Mitsubishi Lancer EX 1800GSR IC Turbo '83
460 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution GSR '92
461 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution Super Rally Car '03
462 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution II GSR '94
463 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution III GSR '95
464 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV GSR '96
465 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV Rally Car '97
466 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution V GSR '98
467 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI GSR '99
468 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI GSR TOMMI MAKINEN EDITION '00
469 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI Rally Car '99
470 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI RS '99
471 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI RS TOMMI MAKINEN EDITION '00
472 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII GSR '01
473 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII GT-A '02
474 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII RS '01
475 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII GSR '03
476 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII RS '03
477 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII MR GSR '04
478 Mitsubishi LEGNUM VR-4 Type V '98
479 Mitsubishi MINICA DANGAN ZZ '89
480 Mitsubishi MIRAGE 1400GLX '78
481 Mitsubishi MIRAGE CYBORG ZR '97
482 Mitsubishi PAJERO Evolution Rally Raid Car '03
483 Mitsubishi PAJERO Rally Raid Car '85
484 Mitsubishi STARION 4WD Rally Car '84
485 MUGEN S2000 '00
486 NISMO 270R '94
487 NISMO 400R '96
488 NISMO Fairlady Z S-tune concept by GRANTURISMO (Z33) '02
489 NISMO Fairlady Z Z-tune (Z33) '03
490 NISMO GT-R LM Road Going Version '95
491 NISMO Skyline GT-R R-tune (R34) '99
492 NISMO Skyline GT-R S-tune (R32) '00
493 Nissan 180SX Type X '96
494 Nissan 200SX '96
495 Nissan 200SX (S14) '96
496 Nissan 240RS Rally Car '85
497 Nissan 240SX '96
498 Nissan 240SX (S14) '96
499 Nissan 240ZG (HS30) '71
500 Nissan 300ZX 2by2 (Z32) '98
501 Nissan 300ZX 2seater (Z32) '89
502 Nissan 300ZX 2seater (Z32) '98
503 Nissan 350Z (Z33, EU) '03
504 Nissan 350Z (Z33, US) '03
505 Nissan 350Z Concept LM Race Car
506 Nissan 350Z Gran Turismo 4 Limited Edition (Z33) '05
507 Nissan 350Z Roadster (Z33, EU) '03
508 Nissan 350Z Roadster (Z33, US) '03
509 Nissan Be-1 '87
510 Nissan BLUEBIRD 1600 Deluxe (510) '69
511 Nissan BLUEBIRD Hardtop 1800SSS (910) '79
512 Nissan BLUEBIRD Rally Car (510) '69
513 Nissan CALSONIC SKYLINE (JGTC) '00
514 Nissan CALSONIC SKYLINE GT-R Race Car '93
515 Nissan CUBE EX (FF/CVT) '02
516 Nissan CUBE X '98
517 Nissan C-WEST RAZO SILVIA (JGTC) '01
518 Nissan EXA CANOPY L.A.Version Type S '88
519 Nissan Fairlady 2000 (SR311) '68
520 Nissan Fairlady 240ZG (HS30) '71
521 Nissan Fairlady Z 280Z-L 2seater (S130) '78
522 Nissan Fairlady Z 300ZX (Z31) '83
523 Nissan Fairlady Z 300ZX TwinTurbo 2seater (Z32) '89
524 Nissan Fairlady Z 300ZX Version R TwinTurbo 2by2 (Z32) '98
525 Nissan Fairlady Z 300ZX Version S TwinTurbo 2seater (Z32) '98
526 Nissan Fairlady Z Concept LM Race Car
527 Nissan Fairlady Z Roadster (Z33) '03
528 Nissan Fairlady Z Version S (Z33) '02
529 Nissan Fairlady Z Version ST (Z33 Option Wheel) '02
530 Nissan FALKEN‚òÜGT-R Race Car '04
531 Nissan GRAN TURISMO SKYLINE GT-R '01
532 Nissan GRAN TURISMO SKYLINE GT-R (PaceCar) '01
533 Nissan GT-R Concept (Tokyo Motor Show 2001)
534 Nissan GT-R Concept LM Race Car
535 Nissan GT-R SpecV '09
536 Nissan LOCTITE ZEXEL GT-R (JGTC) '00
537 Nissan March 12c 5door '03
538 Nissan March G# '99
539 Nissan MICRA '03
540 Nissan mm-R Cup Car '01
541 Nissan MOTUL PITWORK Z (JGTC) '04
542 Nissan OPTION Stream Z '04
543 Nissan PAO '89
544 Nissan PENNZOIL Nismo GT-R (JGTC) '99
545 Nissan PENNZOIL ZEXEL GT-R (JGTC) '01
546 Nissan PRIMERA 2.0Te '90
547 Nissan PRIMERA 20V '01
548 Nissan PRIMERA 20V (EU) '01
549 Nissan R390 GT1 Race Car '98
550 Nissan R390 GT1 Road Car '98
551 Nissan R89C Race Car '89
552 Nissan R92CP Race Car '92
553 Nissan SILEIGHTY '98
554 Nissan SILVIA (CSP311) '65
555 Nissan SILVIA 240RS (S100) '83
556 Nissan SILVIA K's (S13) '91
557 Nissan SILVIA K's (S13) '88
558 Nissan SILVIA K's AERO (S14) '93
559 Nissan SILVIA K's AERO (S14) '96
560 Nissan SILVIA Q's (S13) '88
561 Nissan SILVIA Q's (S13) '91
562 Nissan SILVIA Q's AERO (S14) '93
563 Nissan SILVIA Q's AERO (S14) '96
564 Nissan SILVIA spec-R AERO (S15) '99
565 Nissan SILVIA spec-S AERO (S15) '99
566 Nissan SILVIA Varietta (S15) '00
567 Nissan SKYLINE 1500Deluxe (S50D-1) '63
568 Nissan SKYLINE 2000GT-B (S54A) '67
569 Nissan SKYLINE 2000GT-R (KPGC110) '73
570 Nissan SKYLINE Coupe 350GT '03
571 Nissan SKYLINE GT-R (R32) '89
572 Nissan SKYLINE GT-R (R32) '91
573 Nissan SKYLINE GT-R (R33) '95
574 Nissan SKYLINE GT-R (R33) '96
575 Nissan SKYLINE GT-R (R33) '97
576 Nissan SKYLINE GT-R (R34) '99
577 Nissan SKYLINE GT-R (R34) '00
578 Nissan SKYLINE GT-R M"ɪspec (R34) '01
579 Nissan SKYLINE GT-R M"ɪspec N√ºr (R34) '02
580 Nissan SKYLINE GT-R N1 (R32) '91
581 Nissan SKYLINE GT-R N1 (R33) '95
582 Nissan SKYLINE GT-R Special Color Midnight Purple II (R34) '99
583 Nissan SKYLINE GT-R Special Color Midnight Purple III (R34) '00
584 Nissan SKYLINE GT-R V"ɪspec (R32) '93
585 Nissan SKYLINE GT-R V"ɪspec (R33) '97
586 Nissan SKYLINE GT-R V"ɪspec (R33) '95
587 Nissan SKYLINE GT-R V"ɪspec (R33) '96
588 Nissan SKYLINE GT-R V"ɪspec (R34) '99
589 Nissan SKYLINE GT-R V"ɪspec II (R32) '94
590 Nissan SKYLINE GT-R V"ɪspec II (R34) '00
591 Nissan SKYLINE GT-R V"ɪspec II N1 (R34) '00
592 Nissan SKYLINE GT-R V"ɪspec II N√ºr (R34) '02
593 Nissan SKYLINE GT-R V"ɪspec LM Limited (R33) '96
594 Nissan SKYLINE GT-R V"ɪspec N1 (R32) '93
595 Nissan SKYLINE GT-R V"ɪspec N1 (R34) '99
596 Nissan SKYLINE GTS25 Type S (R32) '91
597 Nissan SKYLINE GTS-R (R31) '87
598 Nissan SKYLINE GTS-t Type M (R32) '91
599 Nissan SKYLINE GTS-t Type M (R32) '89
600 Nissan SKYLINE Hard Top 2000 RS-X Turbo C (R30) '84
601 Nissan SKYLINE Hard Top 2000 Turbo RS (R30) '83
602 Nissan SKYLINE Hard Top 2000GT-R (KPGC10) '70
603 Nissan SKYLINE Sedan 300GT '01
604 Nissan SKYLINE Sedan 350GT-8 '02
605 Nissan SKYLINE Sport Coupe (BLRA-3) '62
606 Nissan STAGEA 25t RS FOUR S '98
607 Nissan STAGEA 260RS AutechVersion '98
608 Nissan XANAVI HIROTO GT-R (JGTC) '01
609 Nissan XANAVI NISMO GT-R (JGTC) '03
610 Opel Astra Touring Car (Opel Team Phoenix) '00
611 Opel Calibra Touring Car '94
612 Opel Corsa Comfort 1.4 '01
613 Opel Speedster '00
614 Opel Speedster Turbo '00
615 Opel Tigra 1.6i '99
616 Opel Vectra 3.2 V6 '03
617 Opera Performance 350Z '04
618 Opera Performance S2000 '04
619 Pagani Zonda C12 '00
620 Pagani Zonda C12S '00
621 Pagani Zonda C12S 7.3 '02
622 Pagani Zonda LM Race Car
623 Panoz Esperante GTR-1 Race Car '98
624 Pescarolo Courage C60 - Peugeot Race Car '03
625 Pescarolo C60 Hybride Judd Race Car '05
626 Pescarolo Courage - Judd GV5 Race Car '04
627 Peugeot 106 Rallye '03
628 Peugeot 106 S16 '03
629 Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 '85
630 Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 Evolution 2 Rally Car '86
631 Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 Rally Car '85
632 Peugeot 206 CC '01
633 Peugeot 206 Rally Car '99
634 Peugeot 206 RC '03
635 Peugeot 206 S16 '99
636 Peugeot 307 XSi '04
637 Peugeot 406 3.0 V6 Coupe '98
638 Peugeot 905 Race Car '92
639 Plymouth Cuda 440 Six Pack '71
640 Plymouth Super Bird '70
641 Polyphony Digital Formula Gran Turismo
642 Pontiac GTO 5.7 Coupe '04
643 Pontiac Solstice Coupe Concept '02
644 Pontiac Sunfire GXP Concept '02
645 Pontiac Tempest Le Mans GTO '64
646 Pontiac Vibe GT '03
647 Protomotors SPIRRA 4.6 V8 '04
648 RE Amemiya AMEMIYA ASPARADRINK RX7 (JGTC) '04
649 Renault 5 Maxi Turbo Rally Car '85
650 Renault 5 Turbo '80
651 Renault AVANTIME '02
652 Renault Megane 2.0 16V '03
653 Renault Megane 2.0 IDE Coupe '00
654 Clio Renault Sport 2.0 16V '02
655 Clio Renault Sport Trophy V6 24V Race Car '00
656 Clio Renault Sport V6 24V '00
657 Clio Renault Sport V6 Phase 2 '03
658 Lutecia Renault Sport 2.0 16V '02
659 Lutecia Renault Sport Trophy V6 24V Race Car '00
660 Lutecia Renault Sport V6 24V '01
661 Lutecia Renault Sport V6 Phase2 '03
662 RUF 3400S '00
663 RUF BTR '86
664 RUF CTR "Yellow Bird" '87
665 RUF CTR2 '96
666 RUF RGT '00
667 Saleen S7 '02
668 Scion xA '03
669 Scion xB '03
670 Seat Ibiza Cupra '04
671 Shelby Cobra 427 '66
672 Shelby GT350R '65
673 Shelby Series One Super Charged '03
674 Spoon CIVIC TYPE R (EK) '00
675 Spoon FIT Race Car '03
676 Spoon INTEGRA TYPE R (DC2) '99
677 Spoon S2000 '00
678 Spoon S2000 Race Car '00
679 Spyker C8 Laviolette '01
680 CUSCO SUBARU ADVAN IMPREZA (JGTC) '03
681 Subaru IMPREZA Coupe WRX typeR STi Version VI '99
682 Subaru IMPREZA Premium Sport Coupe 22B-STi Version '98
683 Subaru IMPREZA Rally Car '99
684 Subaru IMPREZA Rally Car '01
685 Subaru IMPREZA Rally Car '03
686 Subaru IMPREZA Rally Car Prototype '01
687 Subaru IMPREZA Sedan WRX STi '94
688 Subaru IMPREZA Sedan WRX STi (Type-II) '02
689 Subaru IMPREZA Sedan WRX STi spec C (Type-II) '04
690 Subaru IMPREZA Sedan WRX STi Version (Type-I) '00
691 Subaru IMPREZA Sedan WRX STi Version II '95
692 Subaru IMPREZA Sedan WRX STi Version III '96
693 Subaru IMPREZA Sedan WRX STi Version IV '97
694 Subaru IMPREZA Sedan WRX STi Version V '98
695 Subaru IMPREZA Sedan WRX STi Version VI '99
696 Subaru IMPREZA Sport Wagon STi (Type-I) '00
697 Subaru IMPREZA Sport Wagon WRX STi Version VI '99
698 Subaru IMPREZA Super Touring Car
699 Subaru IMPREZA WRX STi Prodrive Style (Type-I) '01
700 Subaru LEGACY B4 2.0GT '03
701 Subaru LEGACY B4 2.0GT spec.B '03
702 Subaru LEGACY B4 3.0R '03
703 Subaru LEGACY B4 Blitzen '00
704 Subaru LEGACY B4 RSK '98
705 Subaru LEGACY Touring Wagon 2.0GT '03
706 Subaru LEGACY Touring Wagon 2.0GT spec.B '03
707 Subaru LEGACY Touring Wagon 3.0R '03
708 Subaru LEGACY Touring Wagon GT-B '96
709 SUBARU 360 '58
710 Suzuki ALTO LAPIN Turbo '02
711 Suzuki ALTO WORKS RS-Z '97
712 Suzuki ALTO WORKS SUZUKI SPORT LIMITED '97
713 Suzuki Cappuccino (EA11R) '91
714 Suzuki Cappuccino (EA21R) '95
715 Suzuki CONCEPT-S2 '03
716 Suzuki ESCUDO Dirt Trial Car '98
717 Suzuki GSX-R/4 Concept '01
718 Suzuki Kei WORKS '02
719 Suzuki MR Wagon Sport '04
720 Suzuki WAGON R RR '98
721 Tommykaira ZZII '00
722 Tommykaira ZZ-S '00
723 Tom's X540 CHASER '00
724 Toyota 2000GT '67
725 Toyota ALTEZZA AS200 '98
726 Toyota ALTEZZA Gita AS300 '01
727 Toyota ALTEZZA RS200 '98
728 Toyota ALTEZZA Touring Car
729 Toyota ARISTO 3.0V '91
730 Toyota ARISTO V300 '00
731 Toyota ARISTO V300 Vertex Edition '00
732 Toyota au CERUMO Supra (JGTC) '01
733 Toyota bB 1.5Z X Version '00
734 Toyota CALDINA GT-FOUR '02
735 Toyota CARINA ED 2.0 X 4WS '89
736 Toyota Castrol TOM'S SUPRA (JGTC) '00
737 Toyota Castrol TOM'S SUPRA (JGTC) '01
738 Toyota CELICA 1600GT (TA22) '70
739 Toyota CELICA 2000GT-FOUR (ST165) '86
740 Toyota CELICA 2000GT-R (ST162) '86
741 Toyota CELICA GT-FOUR (ST205) '98
742 Toyota CELICA GT-FOUR Rally Car (ST185) '95
743 Toyota CELICA GT-FOUR Rally Car (ST205) '95
744 Toyota CELICA GT-FOUR RC (ST185) '91
745 Toyota CELICA GT-R (ST183, 4WS) '91
746 Toyota CELICA SS-II (ST202) '97
747 Toyota CELICA SS-II (ZZT231) '99
748 Toyota CELICA XX 2800GT '81
749 Toyota COROLLA LEVIN BZ-R '98
750 Toyota COROLLA LEVIN GT-APEX (AE86) '83
751 Toyota COROLLA Rally Car '98
752 Toyota COROLLA RUNX Z AEROTOURER '02
753 Toyota DENSO SARD SUPRA GT (JGTC) '00
754 Toyota GT-ONE Race Car (TS020) '99
755 Toyota ist 1.5S '02
756 MINOLTA Toyota 88C-V Race Car '89
757 Toyota MR2 1600 G '86
758 Toyota MR2 1600 G-Limited Super Charger '86
759 Toyota MR2 G-Limited '97
760 Toyota MR2 GT-S '97
761 Toyota MR2 Spyder '99
762 Toyota MR2 Spyder (6MT) '02
763 Toyota MR-S S Edition '99
764 Toyota MR-S V Edition (6MT) '02
765 Toyota PRIUS G (J) '02
766 Toyota PRIUS G Touring Selection (J) '03
767 Toyota RSC '01
768 Toyota RSC Rally Raid Car
769 Toyota SERA '92
770 Toyota SOARER 2.5GT-T '97
771 Toyota SOARER 430SCV '01
772 Toyota SPORTS 800 '65
773 Toyota SPRINTER TRUENO BZ-R '98
774 Toyota SPRINTER TRUENO GT-APEX (AE86 Shuichi Shigeno Version) '00
775 Toyota SPRINTER TRUENO GT-APEX (AE86) '83
776 Toyota STARLET Glanza V '97
777 Toyota SUPERAUTOBACS APEX MR-S (JGTC) '00
778 Toyota SUPRA 2.5GT Twin Turbo R '90
779 Toyota SUPRA 3.0GT Turbo A '88
780 Toyota SUPRA RZ '97
781 Toyota SUPRA SZ-R '97
782 Toyota Tacoma X-Runner '04
783 Toyota 7 Race Car '70
784 Toyota VITZ F '99
785 Toyota VITZ RS 1.5 '00
786 Toyota VITZ RS Turbo '02
787 Toyota VITZ U Euro Sport Edition '00
788 Toyota VOLTZ S '02
789 Toyota WEDSSPORT CELICA (JGTC) '03
790 Toyota WiLL VS '01
791 Toyota WOODONE TOM'S SUPRA (JGTC) '03
792 Toyota Yaris F (J) '99
793 Toyota Yaris RS 1.5 (J) '00
794 Toyota Yaris RS Turbo (J) '02
795 Toyota Yaris U Euro Sport Edition (J) '00
796 TOYOTA MODELLISTA CELICA TRD Sports M (ZZT231) '00
797 TRIAL CELICA SS-II (ZZT231) '03
798 Triumph Spitfire 1500 '74
799 TVR Cerbera Speed 12 '00
800 TVR Cerbera Speed 6 '97
801 TVR Griffith 500 '94
802 TVR T350C '03
803 TVR Tamora '02
804 TVR Tuscan Speed 6 '00
805 TVR V8S '91
806 Vauxhall Astra Super Touring Car '00
807 Vauxhall Calibra Super Touring Car '94
808 Vauxhall Corsa Comfort 1.4 '01
809 Vauxhall Tigra 1.6i '99
810 Vauxhall Vectra 3.2 V6 '03
811 Vauxhall VX220 '00
812 Vauxhall VX220 Turbo '00
813 Volkswagen Beetle 1100 Standard (Type-11) '49
814 Volkswagen Bora V6 4MOTION '01
815 Volkswagen Golf I GTI '76
816 Volkswagen Golf IV GTI '01
817 Volkswagen Golf IV R32 '03
818 Volkswagen Golf V GTI '05
819 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia Coupe (Type-1) '68
820 Volkswagen Lupo Cup Car '00
821 Volkswagen Lupo GTI '01
822 Volkswagen Lupo GTI Cup Car (J) '03
823 Volkswagen Lupo1.4 '02
824 Volkswagen New Beetle 2.0 '00
825 Volkswagen New Beetle Cup Car '00
826 Volkswagen New Beetle RSi '00
827 Volkswagen Polo GTI '01
828 Volkswagen W12 Nardo Concept '01
829 Volvo 240 GLT Estate '88
830 Volvo S60 T-5 Sport '03

Once we get past the eye-candy in these images, we're immediately struck by a burning sense of annoyance. It was only last Friday when game creator Kazunori Yamauchi announced GT5 would be yet again delayed, this time all the way until March of 2010, now it would seem they're dropping images to distract from that fact. The whole thing is starting to feel more like a protracted PR hustle than an actual lead up to the release of a flagship game for the PS3. Here's a recommendation for Polyphony: instead of endlessly hyping glossy rendered photos and news of game content, just get down to the business of finishing the damn game. It's getting tiresome. OK, /rant. [GTPlanet]

The next edition in the Gran Turismo line was announced at the 2006 Electronic Entertainment Expo, at which time the developers claimed they had already been working on it for four years in an effort to include every car in the world. The latter now just seems like ambitious hype; the former, if true, is just sad.

No release date was claimed at the game's announcement, but during interviews in the summer of 2008, Yamauchi said the game wouldn't be coming out until late 2009. Sony and Yamauchi had been sticking to this rough date in interviews and press materials until yesterday. As expected as the announcement of more waiting may be, it's still disappointing for fanboys — particularly as the demo for Forza Motorsport 3 is on Xbox Live already, right on time. [GTPlanet]

Which is more realistic?

Polyphony's version is definitely more a lingering look at the new Ferrari, which hasn't always been a part of Gran Turismo. Conversely, including Ferrari was a big deal for Forza in its early days, but they haven't always gotten the legendary Italian cars quite right, with early screenshots of the game earning criticism for strangely long-nosed Enzos. Will Turn 10 get the Italia right?

Here's what the car looks like in the metal.

And here's Turn 10's effort at linking the new Italia to previous Modena icons.

[via GTPlanet]

Start your journey though our top 20 auto-themed video games by clicking next on the right and give us what you think we missed in the comments below.

Game: Spy Hunter
Creator: Midway
Release Date: 1983
Original Platform: Arcade

Why We Love It: Elegantly designed and incredibly well-balanced, but all we cared about in 1983 is that we had a Z28 with guns on it. Unlimited ammo machine guns. Also oil slicks, smokescreen, anti-air missles, and support infrastructure in the form of the weapons and replacement vans, and what else do you need from life as long as you had access to the sit-down version? Even the Peter Gunn theme never seemed to get old.

Photo: Wikipedia

Game: Pole Position
Creator: Namco
Release Date: 1982
Original Platform: Arcade

Why We Love It: The faux-3D graphics, the inclusion of the more-or-less actual Fuji Racetrack circuit and the qualify-to-race format allowed certain junior car geeks to act aloof and superior to everyone else in the arcades. Hey, we all thought we were going to be nuked at any moment, and we were living for the moment, okay? Pole Position also featured in-game advertising, which seemed cool in those more innocent times.

Photo: Videogamecritic.net

Game: F-Zero
Creator: Nintendo
Release Date: 1991
Original Platform: SNES

Why We Love It: Listen, Mario Kart is great and all, but F-Zero was hardcore stuff. In the 27th century, gigaillionaires race cars which hover a foot over a track lined with damaging walls and festooned with magnets, mines, and slip zones. Unlock the Super Jet boost by putting in a good lap and you're in a for a combination of Pole Position and Sonic the Hedgehog, meaning that it was fun, colorful, and difficult as hell.

Photo: Wikipedia

Game: Newman/Haas Racing Featuring Nigel Mansell
Creator: Acclaim
Release Date: 1994
Original Platform: SNES

Why We Love It: Now YOU can be Nigel Mansell! Er…great? Well, there weren't a lot of licensed games based on actual series for console owners in those days, and Nigel Mansell was pretty much the most complete. In the early '90s Mansell came over to the States from Formula 1, proceeded to trounce everyone on the Indy-series ovals with a combination of talent and stupefying bravery, and then put his intimidating Brit-stache on this perfectly adequate game. Interestingly, you could retire from a race, or a few in a row, with injuries to the driver, which was perhaps a nod to Mansell's 1993 injury at Phoenix, or perhaps just a really silly idea.

Photo: SNESclassics

Game: Daytona USA
Creator: Sega
Release Date: 1995
Original Platform: Arcade

Why We Love It: Hey, you could race against up to eight of your friends! Or most likely the guy in the one other cabinet who has $14 in quarters up there, won't leave, and smells like gerbil bedding. Still, it was cool, and several different oval, road, and street courses were on offer, plus the option of manual transmissions, so you could actually get pretty wrapped up in it. And it ran extremely fast and smooth for the time. Sadly, instead of an evolved version, Buck Hunter and Golden Tee rule today's bowling alleys and bars.

Photo: Softpedia

Game: Twisted Metal
Creator: SingleTrac
Release Date: 1995
Original Platform: PlayStation

Why We Love It: Mario Kart was cute and all, but character-based car games were going away from races and more towards the fighting-game model. Twisted Metal was the car-combat result, and it was a huge success, even though its evil boss character was the already played-out evil clown. More importantly it had surprising tactical depth and a decent variety of stages and vehicles. Plus you could drop the Eiffel Tower on people, always a must for any fantastical demolition derby. Sadly, the series got "darker," supposedly, and less fun as time went on and people got bored by scary clowns.

Photo: SCEA

Game: WipEout series
Creator: Psygnosis/SCE Liverpool
Release Date: 1995
Original Platform: PlayStation, PC

Why We Love It: Rave on, racers! While in many respects these games hew close to the F-Zero hovering rocket-car format, the production design is extremely 90s and the throbbing electronic soundtrack is extremely throbbing. It also happens to be very good arcade racing, if you can tolerate the well-executed if psychedelic atmosphere. Still popular among people who like their racing alternate and futuristic, their music futuristic and throbbing, and their consciousness throbbing and altered.

Photo: consolewars

Game: Formula 1
Creator: Psygnosis
Release Date: 1996
Original Platform: PlayStation

Why We Love It: It may not have been a true simulation, but the first in-depth racing game for the PlayStation was a very good one indeed. Formula 1 featured the entire field and all the tracks from the 1995 season, full practice and qualifying sessions, and commentary by Murray Walker himself. Graphically, and in most other ways, it was a big step beyond anything else commonly available, and was arguably better than any of the next couple follow-ups in the series, which eventually bogged down somewhat in gimcrackery and tacked-on arcade modes.

Photo: rscnet

Game: Streets Of Sim City
Creator: Maxis
Release Date: 1997
Original Platform: PC

Why We Love It: Before anyone figured out that manipulating simulated people were where it's at, simulated civil service and urban planning were a huge genre. Streets allowed you to be a puppet master by day and an automotive vigilante puppet by night; the streets you raced and fought on were the very ones you designed. It seemed like a novelty, but besides the racing and car combat it was remarkably absorbing to just cruise the streets of your very own metropolis, consider raising taxes again, and wonder why all your slums were invariably down by your stadium.

Photo: Gosugamers

Game: Interstate '76
Creator: Activision
Release Date: 1997
Original Platform: PC

Why We Dig It The Most, Baby: It's car combat set against a malaise-era oil crisis with a 'sploitation sensibility, and it is funny and it rocks. You play as "Groove Champion," and you fight to stop OPEC from nuking Texas—for reasons that certainly must have seemed sound at the time—from behind the wheel and trigger of an alternate-universe Plymouth Barracuda. The combat mechanics are surprisingly detailed, the driving engine is consistent if unremarkable, and the soundtrack is huge, bass-heavy and fretless. There were sequels, but they didn't have the same magic. A great reason to own an older PC or to emulate.

Photo: Wikipedia

Game: Grand Prix Legends
Creator: Papyrus
Release Date: 1998
Original Platform: PC

Why We Absolutely Adore It: A gem that slowly evolved into a masterpiece and ten years after its release is verging on a magnum opus. You want to talk cult hits and rabid fans? This little game, which started out as an extremely solid simulation of the 1967 Grand Prix season, still has a dedicated playing and modding community today, and when we say dedicated, we mean they're almost done putting together the entire Targa Florio course-all 45 miles of it. It's a classic example of a looks-okay-but-plays-amazing game, and if you're remotely interested in the game type and want to play alongside a passionate, dedicated group, this is exactly what you've been looking for.

Photo: Softpedia

Game: Gran Turismo series
Creator: Polyphony Digital
Release Date: 1998
Original Platform: PlayStation

Why We Love It: Without this game, would people still crave RHD JDM R34 Skylines, we wonder? Probably, but not with the same intensity. Aside from the 176-car menu, Gran Turismo introduced the joy of simulation, with its emphasis on careful setup and car control (if not damage modeling) to consoles. A great racing-school component, challenging event stages, and tantalizing unlockables kept a new generation of digital gearheads playing all night. It was five years in the making, but it was worth it, as every edition since has been a stunner, and there's every reason to suspect that long-delayed GT5 will be astounding as well. As for developer Polyphony Digital, who changed motoring culture by putting Skylines in their product, they now put their product in the Skyline; they famously do the dash graphics for Nissan's GTR.

Photo: Polyphony Digital

Game: Crazy Taxi
Creator: Sega
Release Date: 1999
Original Platform: Arcade

Why We Love It: It's perhaps the last truly great arcade driver, Crazy Taxi is a roaming mission-based game of fare deliver with an odd but consistent physics engine and a great sense of humor. It was simple, buy there was a lot of depth and plenty to enjoy, including the sights and folks of coastal pseudo-California, the ever-present KFC ads, and the jaunty punk soundtrack. It nibbled away your time in happy 90-second bites, and it only got better when it evolved into The Simpsons Hit And Run.

Photo: Loot Ninja

Game: Midnight Club
Creator: Angel Studios
Release Date: 2000
Original Platform: PlayStation2

Why We Love It: The PS2's debut was a revelation, and aptly-named publisher Rockstar Games was there to capitalize with an open-world off-road free-for-all called Smuggler's Run and this free-roaming street racer. The setting was Manhattan, a semi-open world which seemed huge at the time and provided great choose-your-own-course point-to-point racing. The series continues to evolve and has become even more challenging; it may be the arcade racer with the steepest difficulty curve.

Photo: Gamespy

Game: Colin McRae Rally/ DiRT
Creator: Codemasters
Release Date: 2000
Original Platform: PlayStation, PC

Why We Love It: As indescribably cool as rallying is, there aren't many rally games to choose from. Therefore it's fortunate that the McRae games are very good indeed. Although they trend towards the arcadey side in later editions, all of them are fun, challenging , and smooth, and a fitting pop-culture tribute to one of the greatest drivers of all time. They're also some of the best-looking car games out there regardless of genre, and the sound must be heard to be believed; motorsport, and rallying in particular, is not a quiet activity, and this title does a better job than any other game s of bringing it home to the vicarious driver.

Photo: Gamespot

Game: Grand Theft Auto III-IV
Creator: Rockstar
Release Date: 2001
Original Platform: PlayStation2

Why We Love It: Okay, so it isn't purely or even primarily a car game, despite its title. Yet the driving aspects of these satirical mayhem simulators are so much evil-hearted cinematic fun that it can't be left off this list. Much thought has been put into the cars that populate GTA's hilariously mean-tempered cities, and every model is meticulously detailed and clearly inspired by some real-world counterpart. They all blow up real good, too. And the latest installment finally looks good enough to make the first-person view worth using during police chases, which adds an almost frightening level of immediacy to your inevitable brutal demise.

Photo: IGNl

Game: Burnout series
Creator: Criterion
Release Date: 2002
Original Platform: PlayStation2, Xbox, GameCube

Why We Love It: The problem with many racing games, even the less realistic ones, is that one little crash can render the entire race a moot point. Burnout's genius solution was to make crashing just as important as racing, and just as skill-intensive. All the titles were fun, and though the most recent edition, Burnout Paradise, lost the bowling-for-cars Crash Mode, it added a free-roaming component that more than made up for it. One of the great Neanderthal time-wasters of the videogame world.

Photo: Wikipedia

Game: Need for Speed Most Wanted
Creator: Electronic Arts Canada
Release Date: 2005
Original Platform: PlayStation2, Xbox

Why We Love It: The Need For Speed series has been around just about forever, but frankly not all its editions have been worthwhile. Of the many good ones, we prefer Most Wanted, because if you're going to have a glossy, unrealistic, over-the-top street racer, you should really try to outrun the cops as well. The police pursuits are the best part of this game, which is set in a world where the entire focus of the United States government is apparently dedicated to preventing you from speeding, which results in some wonderfully fun and over-the-top chases, all of them treated with deadly serious attitude. Oooh, those street racers and their pesky nitrouses!

Photo: NFSAddons

Game: Forza Motorsport series
Creator: Forza Motorsport series
Release Date: 2005
Original Platform: Xbox

Why We Love It: While the Xbox had a very pretty and enjoyable arcade racer in Project Gotham, it badly needed a sim-based game. It got a great one in Forza, which had hundreds of cars, very deep graphic customization, extended replays, the Nürburgring Nordschleife, and damage modeling. Finally, a gorgeous, deep console racer where you couldn't just berm off other racers without consequences! Happily, the series continues to evolve in a positive direction, and we have high hopes for the debut of Forza 3 in a couple months.

Photo: Kotaku

Game: Test Drive Unlimited
Creator: Eden Games
Release Date: 2006
Original Platform: PC, Xbox360, PlayStation2, PSP

Why We Love It: The Test Drive series began in 1987-1987!-and like NFS, has varied widely in quality. But it's always featured exotic hardware raced in traffic on public roads, and Unlimited does that wonderfully. The developers took a map of Oahu, simplified it down to a mere thousand miles of road, and modeled it for free roaming. The MOOR system, or Massively Open Online Racing, allowed players to race against friends or just cruise with them, which was much more popular than you might think. Your customizable character was visible to other players at the car clubs, although they couldn't come hang out at your mansion and check out your ever-growing collection of undamagable exotics. There was even an in-game photography mode that allowed players to live out their buff-book fantasies. It was really an automotive lifestyle game as much as a racer, and a pretty decent piece of escapism to zone out with.

There's a lot of good games out there, and it was tough to keep this one to just twenty titles. Think we missed big? Know something we should try? Enraged at the omission of Big Rig Racing? Let us know in the comments.

Photo: Gamerhell

While the GranTurismo does have a V8, it sticks out from the crowd here. The engine is a Ferrari-sourced flat-plane V8 as opposed to the vast amounts of cross-plane V8’s cruising down the avenue.

Not that Maserati per se is alien to the Motor City, if you’ll remember the Chrysler TC by Maserati from 1989. We’ve yet to see one of those, though.

Keep a close eye on our Woodward Dream Cruise tag page for coverage all day!

According to the Gran Turismo creator, Kazunori Yamauchi, GT Mobile will feature all of the tracks from GT4 with an updated car list to include 800 semi-customizable cars. Yamauchi has said that they are trying to keep the game under 1Gb due to the internal memory rating of 16Gb on the PSP Go and will be available both as a download for buyers of the new UMD-less PSP Go as well as a traditional UMD for existing PSP owners. It sounds like we might just have to get back into mobile gaming come October, that is, if Yamauchi isn't pulling our leg. Check out the screen shots below.

[via GTPlanet]

Live at the E3 Expo, Kazunori Yamauchi released two new puzzle pieces to his highly-polished Gran Turismo series. The first? Gran Turismo 5 for the PS3, a direct competitor to Turn 10 Studios just-released Forza Motorsport 3. Packed with active weather effects, night racing and damage modeling, Yamauchi promises GT5 will be the most realistic Gran Turismo game yet. The addition of both NASCAR and WRC licenses is an interesting surprise and will likely bring fans of those racing series games to a unified GT racing platform. A release date will be announced later today.

But the biggest surprise was Yamauchi and Polyphony Digital finally releasing the long-awaited Gran Turismo Mobile for the Sony PSP portable system. Packed with 800 semi-customizable cars and 35 tracks as well as the ability to trade and race with others over the PSP's ad-hoc connectivity. GT Mobile looks to be the overall winner of the two by offering true portable Gran Turismo gameplay and will be released in October. [gtplanet]

For someone untrained in the language of vehicular design, it’s not easy to describe what makes a car particularly Pininfarina or Bertone—but suffice to say that once you’ve seen examples of both, you will be able to tell them apart at the blink of an eye. An easy metaphor would make Pininfarina the designer of jet planes with Bertone in the business of sci-fi spaceships.

Think Bertone and you think Marcello Gandini, the man whose forehead the Lamborghini Miura sprang from like Pallas at the incredible age of 27. Gandini joined Bertone in 1965 and—following the Miura and the wonderful Espada—he went on to design cars which crave, simply crave ion drives and proton cannons, first amongst them the Lamborghini Countach.

The news last fall that Pininfarina’s Jason Castriota was to leave his employer of many years to follow in Gandini’s footsteps at Stile Bertone was quite a shocker. Pininfarinas and Bertones just don’t mix. Add to this that the cars Castriota had worked on at Pininfarina—the Maseratis Birdcage 75th and GranTurismo, the Ferraris 599 GTB and P4/5—are very Pininfarina, their aggression expressed not by sharp angles but flowing lines that hit you like an aikido throw.

Yet six months later, Castriota unveiled the Mantide, a car Bertone to its core. And while it has not become easier in the past three paragraphs for someone untrained in the language of product design to describe what that precisely is, there is one design element very easy to pinpoint: the angular rear wheelarches.

Like most things Bertone, this is from Gandini. As far as I know, he first used it on the Lamborghini Countach LP500, the prototype which served as the basis for the first production Countach, the LP400. Over subsequent iterations, the Countach lost the angularity, but the motif cropped up in later Gandini designs like the Maserati Shamal—and this Quattroporte IV that was parked the other day on the very street I live on:

By Gandini’s outrageous standards, this car is a subdued Q-ship, especially in the neutral Germanic silver this example—one of only 1,138—was painted in. The Quattroporte IV was produced at the tail end of Maserati’s doldrums, before the company was acquired by Ferrari, and this is their last car that was built in the old Maserati factory, before the Ferrari people threw out all the old machinery. There was a lull of four Quattroporte-less years at the reborn Maserati until they began building the Pininfarina-designed Quattroporte V—the latest version of which we recently drove in Italy.

It’s comforting to see how quickly Castriota has grokked the essentials of Bertone design, as evidenced by this reference to Gandini’s last car for Bertone. I can’t wait to see how he will manage over the years to balance on the shoulders of the giants he’s standing on—and what he’ll add to the Bertone canon. Based on his work at Pininfarina, one is compelled to think he will do just fine.

Photo Credit: Lamborghini, Cartype, 25ora.ro, Stile Bertone and the author

We knew the day would finally come when Planelopnik and Jalopnik would finally mix, but thanks to our boy Aaron, that day came sooner than we thought. Cha-ching!! Apparently the two Ferrari F430s and this Maserati Gran Turismo are being unloaded in Hong Kong for a local auto show. We say f&@k the economic crisis and it seems that we're not the only ones as evidenced by the image below. Do you think they get double the air miles for something like this?
[via Airliners]

The production version of the car will be sold through Maserati's sporting arm Corse and qualifies for the FIA GT4 European Cup. The price is a reasonable $180,000 (before taxes), which gets you the new GT prepped for the track with the ever important rollcage, racing style exhaust/intake, carbon fiber body panels, racing console and Lexan windows.

Following on the success of the MC12, Maserati hopes to drive buzz and develop new tech by getting their cars in the winner's circle. Power numbers haven't been revealed but, even if it doesn't have the juice to capture the checkered flag, it certainly looks the part.

OFFICIAL DEBUT OF THE NEW MASERATI GRANTURISMO MC

Le Castellet (F), 6 April 2009 - The new Maserati GranTurismo MC will be officially unveiled during the FIA GT "Media Days" at the Paul Ricard circuit. The new model is an offshoot of the Maserati GranTurismo MC Concept introduced last September in Monza and based on the Maserati GranTurismo S road version, with electro-actuated gearbox system.

On 17 and 18 March the car participated in the "Balance of performance", two days of practices organized by SRO at the Paul Ricard circuit in order to analyze and balance the performance of the models that will be racing in the GT4 European Cup.

A Maserati GranTurismo MC entered by a private team is to participate in some GT4 European Cup events during the second half of this season.

A limited series of the Maserati GranTurismo MC produced for gentlemen drivers who wish to race in the 2010 GT4 European Cup and the national series, will be on sale as of October 2009. The indicative price is 135,000 Euro + VAT. The cars will be sold directly through Maserati Corse.

In 2010 Maserati intends to once again organize a European single-make cup race. The cars participating in this Cup shall naturally present specifications that will set them apart from the GT4-version Maserati GranTurismo MCs.

Maserati chose to create a model with GT4 features because GT4 is the category with the closest links to production models. There is a niche of GranTurismo road car owners who love racing and want to be able to test their mettle on a track driving a racing version of the same model they own.

The Maserati GranTurismo MC is the result of a development work carried out during many test sessions that started in the Summer of 2008.

Various drivers have taken turns developing the Maserati GranTurismo MC Concept from which the Maserati GranTurismo MC stemmed. With their strong professional and racing background, each and every one of them contributed to the creation of the final version.

The predominant part of the fine-tuning work was conducted by Andrea Bertolini, official Maserati tester as well as incumbent FIA GT Champion at the wheel of the MC12.

Bertolini worked together with Thomas Cremonini, Maserati series production tester, and Vitaphone Racing Team teammate Michael Bartels, also 2008 FIA GT champion.

During the most recent tests, the Maserati GranTurismo MC with GT4 specs was also tested by former F.1 driver Ivan Capelli.

With the creation of the Maserati GranTurismo MC, the tradition of the Trident logo car manufacturer who remains loyal to its origins - those of a company founded in 1914 to tune and subsequently build racecars - lives on.

The Maserati list of wins is abundant and it includes a two consecutive wins at the famous Indianapolis 500 in 1939 and in 1940, with Wilbur Shaw at the wheel of the 8CTF "Boyle Special". This year is the 70th anniversary of that first success.

Juan Manuel Fangio won two F1 world titles in 1954 and in 1957 at the wheel of a Maserati 250F. In the 1950s and 1960s cars with the Trident logo won a good many Endurance races, while the last victory in a Formula 1 GP was clinched by Pedro Rodriguez on a Cooper-Maserati in 1967.

In 2004 Maserati Corse started racing again internationally in the FIA GT Championship featuring the MC12; it achieved three victories at the prestigious Spa 24 Hours (2005, 2006, and 2008 Vitaphone Racing Team) and no less than ten absolute titles:

- Three FIA GT Drivers Championships in 2006 (Michael Bartels/Andrea Bertolini), in 2007 (Thomas Biagi) and in 2008 (Michael Bartels/Andrea Bertolini)

- Four FIA GT Teams Championships in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 (Vitaphone Racing Team)

- Two FIA GT Manufacturers Cups in 2005 and 2007

- One Citation Cup for gentlemen drivers in 2007 (Ben Aucott).

Race have always been the most demanding test-bench for all cars. Traditionally, reliability and performance are checked on track. It is in races that new technologies and materials are tested. And it is on the circuit that Maserati has decided to raise the much praised-sporty verve of its Maserati GranTurismo S to even higher levels to create the Maserati GranTurismo MC.

We have CarScoop to thank for pulling many of these photos off of the truly annoying Panamera minisite. In them, we can see a few new, intriguing details. First of which is the Turbo’s wing, which appears to extend upwards from its cubby at the base of the rear glass before the wings extend outwards to the edges of the glasshouse. That sounds pretty neat and we can’t wait to see video of it in action.

Also interesting is the hybrid drivetrain. That model will premiere some time during Spring 2009, so in the meantime we can only look at the battery location and hope that the extremely rearwards location will lend the vehicle some shadow of the 911s character.

Our favorite model is the brown version. Somehow the unfortunate color combines with the awkward shape to cancel out the negative aspects of both. If we were forced at gunpoint to purchase a Panamera, it’d be a brown one with a white interior.

10. G-6155 (Spy Hunter)

What is a "Spy Hunter" exactly and why is everyone trying to run the "Spy Hunter" off the road? It's hard to say, but few people locked into the excitement of playing Spy Hunter bothered to do anything but toss Road Lords off the screen to the hypnotic beat of the "Peter Gunn" theme. It had smokescreens, it had oil slicks and with a trip to the weapon van it was seriously armed. Most of all, it was sexy.

9.) Suzuki Escudo (Gran Turismo Series)

You started out with a Mazda Demio, worked your way up to a Del Sol and struggled your way through to a Mitsubishi 3000GT stacked so high with performance parts you could barely keep it on the road. You did all these things but you weren't anybody in Gran Turismo until you could plop down the insane cash for the even more insane Suzuki Escudo Pike's Peak Racer. How insanely fast was it? As Dr.Danger pointed out, you could achieve unreal speed by setting up a long draft on the oval course. Given the right setup the physics engine would even let you do a somersault with it. [Photo: IGCD.net]

8.) The 4x4 (Ivan "Ironman" Stewart's Super Off Road)

7.) Sweet Tooth's Chevy Ice Cream Truck(Twisted Metal)

Twisted Metal has a special place in our hearts for merging the concept of head-to-head destruction with a driving game in such an enjoyable package. Everyone had a favorite vehicle and a belief that their special weapon was the key to success. But no car managed to stir the imagination like Sweet Tooth, the insane clown in a Chevy Ice Cream Truck. It was tough. It was fun to drive. It had a giant clown head on the top of it. It was the ultimate extension of teenage angst in a purely digital form.
[Photo: IGCD.net]

6.) Mario's Kart (Mari Kart Series)

Who knew that a game essentially about go-kart racing could be so much fun? It manages to feature no vehicles or weapons from the real world. The race tracks are often shaped like characters. The physics of the game are completely unlike even kart racing. Yet time-after-time we manage to sit down with our friends and enjoy hours of the game on any console it appears on. As with other games, there is debate as to what kart is truly the best, but Mario's red kart clearly carries with it the best balance of speed, size and acceleration. Be on the lookout for that kart and LamerX with a red shell on your tail.

5.) Infernus (Grand Theft Auto Series)

It takes a lot of effort to stand out in a game that features, amongst other vehicles, an Armored Personal Carrier and an ambulance. What makes the Infernus so special to the Grand Theft Auto series is the durability of its enjoyment (if not its actual, rather poor, durability). Whether it's the Vector-based Infernus of GTA III or the Murcielago of GTA IV, there's little that's as much fun as hopping in the high-speed ride, finding the best ramp and learning how to fly higher than a helicopter. We imagine Msketchler is trolling a virtual world in one now. [Photo: IGCD.net]

4.) The Blue Racer (F-Zero)

The Blue Racer from F-Zero stands out on this list, and not just because it is the only car here without any wheels. When F-Zero debuted on the SNES it blew our minds. With its quasi-3D graphics it felt like a revolution in gameplay. It was as if we had gone from horse-and-buggy to hovercar. Though the differentiation between cars was for the most part completely visual, everyone seemed to want the Blue Racer when it was their turn at the controls. It not only carried the cover and looked the fastest, it felt the fastest. It is the only futuristic racer that Dr. Danger would pilot around Mute City. [Photo: Wikimedia]

3.) Hornet (Daytona USA)

Rather than bothering with the complicated licensing involved in creating a NASCAR-type game, SEGA pushed through a rather detailed racing simulator with made-up names. As the driver in the original version of Daytona USA you raced a Hornet, and only a hornet. Is it a Ford or a Chevy? We don't know. We just know that when anyone is invited to an event at Dave & Buster's the first test of skill is behind the wheel of Hornet. It looks like a stock car but it drives like a dream and takes abuse like Rodney Dangerfield.
[Photo Arcade-History]

2.) Buick Skylark (Driver: You Are The Wheelman)

Before there was a fully 3D Grand Theft Auto there was Driver: You Are The Wheelman. As an undercover cop asked to infiltrate the world or organized crime, you have to dodge the cops and carry out jobs for the villains without becoming one yourself. Rather than throwing the driver into an officially-licensed Dodge Intrepid or something equally as ridiculous, the designers start out the driver in what is essentially a Buick Skylark. The mix of tire-smoking rear-wheel-drive and a growling V8 make for classic and unforgettable enjoyment. It's one big reason to never part with that PS1.
[Photo: IGCD.net]

1.) Ferrari Testarossa (Outrun)

Though Hang On may have been the test-bed for the technology, the original Out Run arcade game was one of the first driving simulators to put the player head first into the action. It was the game that let us dream of actually cruising down familiar roads at high-speeds and it was the Ferrari Testarossa we associate with that dream. It combined the beauty of a classic Italian design with the fun of open-top driving. But the best feature, and the reason why we can't forget the car, was probably the girlfriend in the passenger seat. Any car that comes pre-equipped with a blonde passenger that's easily impressed by beating a checkpoint is the car for Kors and a ride worthy of our endless appreciation. [Photo: IGCD.net]

This tester seems to be using the same style of breadvan-inspired camo used to disguise the Ferrari California. While we can enjoy a good convertible on a nice sunny day, we'd actually rather have something with the long roofline of this testing mule. But it doesn't really matter, since we won't be able to afford one until that power-folding roof has become a manual folding hardtop, and then someone drives it into an overpass.
[AutoExpress]

To get to the 24-hour race it begins with elimination tournaments for Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. This will eventually whittle down to two winners who will then partake in four months worth of racing lessons eventually leading to the opportunity to take Godzilla around the track, for 24 hours of Dubai racing action. Sony will also be filming the bulk of the academy and will be made available for download on the PlayStation Network.

That only means it's time to get practicing. [Via Kotaku]

Perhaps someone will admit their love for Mario Kart Double Dash or maybe an arcade game like Carismo. If you own a Wii you can race through British streets in classic British cars in Classic British Motor Racing. Personally, we're partial to the arcade version of Tokyo Cop, which allows you and a friend to chose down the bad guys in a Kei Car. So many to enjoy, so much actual real person work to do. What games are occupying your time now?

Given the insane advances in technology and communication we saw a lot of changes in the racing/car games of the 1990's. Is your favorite an ideal racing simulator like GT1 or a nostalgic experience like Megarace? Just to rekindle some older memories, we've included the intro to the original Gran Turismo, which blew our tiny minds back in the day.

It's good to see the automakers warm to the idea of kids across the world smashing the hell out of their cars. It may not sound like a feasible idea at first, but it adds a completely new level of realism to the GT series that is already pushing the realistic boundaries of racing sims. [IGN via Kotaku]

Sony brought in Ferraris, a yellow Lotus and Godzilla himself to an underground car park in London decorated like a real pit lane. The party included a live DJ, bars and, of course, arcade-style simulators running the demo of the highly anticipated game. A competition was also held looking for the top driver. Drew Forster took home the prize that included a trophy and two tickets to the Le Mans 24-hour race this summer. We're great at games, so we're sad we missed it. [Reuters]

We've had a lot of discussions with the manufacturers and although at the beginning they hated the idea of deformation, now they're slowly coming around to it. We've still got a few to convince, but we will. Expect deformation in the very near future: very, very soon.

Gran Turismo is one of the more realistic driving simulators available, but without damage modeling, it's still simply a video game. If its developers hope to get it to that next level, they need to convince manufacturers to greenlight the results of inadvertent mayhem. Even though it pains me to see amazing cars smashed to hell by our gaming-deprived editors, there is something thrilling about knowing my driving fuck ups have real consequences. [Kotaku] (Image)

Maserati presents the GranTurismo S

Modena - February 26th, 2008. A year after the unveiling of the GranTurismo, Maserati will be back at the Geneva International Motorshow with yet another world premiere, the GranTurismo S. The ultimate expression of the Trident coupé's sportiness shifts the emphasis onto performance and driving enjoyment.

Two main novelties are at the heart of the new Maserati: the 440 HP V8 4.7 engine and the electro-actuated gearbox with fast MC-Shift arranged in the Transaxle layout typical of high-performance sports cars that represents the technological DNA of all Maseratis.

The GranTurismo S makes use of the high-performance brake system developed in collaboration with Brembo and introduced for the first time in the automotive field on the Maserati Quattroporte Sport GT S. The system features front brake discs made with dual-cast technology - a dual casting of cast iron and aluminum, paired with aluminum mono-bloc 6-piston brake calipers, ensuring optimized braking performance.

On the exterior the Maserati GranTurismo S is characterised by a number of aesthetic modifications that, although discrete, are highly effective and make the car body appear sportier without abandoning the sleekness of the lines masterfully designed by Pininfarina.

The interior upholstered in Poltrona Frau leather and Alcantara reflects the sporty flair of the Maserati GranTurismo S; the figure-hugging front and rear seats are distinguished by their new dynamic design with horizontal piping on the seats and seatbacks

What we know about the GT5 is that it's super realistic looking, it'll have the Nissan GT-R, the track from Top Gear and us scrounging for a few hundred bucks.

You're going to need a Playstation 2 to play one, but it's totally worth it. I mean, you've got to do something until GT5 comes out. And it's only $20.00 in Greatest Hits form. What are you waiting for?

Spy photos: 2010 Maserati Spyder will get hardtop [Edmunds Straightline]

Related:
Geneva Showcase: Maserati GranTurismo; Maserati GranTurismo Priced At $95K? [internal]

Maserati Granturismo: $95k puts it head-to-head with Jaguar XKR [eGMCarTech via Autoblog]

Related:
Geneva Showcase: Maserati GranTurismo; Geneva Pre-Show: Maserati GranTourismo Coupe Revealed [internal]

The Winding Road crew procured some shots of the new, Pininfarina-designed Maserati GranTurismo coupe being highly molested on Germany's N rburgring. Apparently, an aging rock singer was behind the wheel, and he was brooking no guff from the long-lens set. Still, it looks just about ready for a life behind wrought-iron gates and valet parking. Hopefully it won't always be that way. – Mike Spinelli

Spied: Maserati GranTurismo On The 'Ring [Winding Road]

Related:
Geneva Showcase: Maserati GranTurismo [internal]

Things we know Bumbeck likes: StarQuests, Datsuns, Mission of Burma, pretty models and video games. Sadly, there were no Starions, Conquests or B210s, and Toyota sure as hell wasn't about to blast "Academy Fight Song" over the PA as they introduced the Yaris sedan. But over in the relative calm of the Subaru booth, there were pretty models. And one big freakin' video game: a fully-wired Petter-Solberg's-car simulator. He was lovin' the thing, and we think he especially liked it when the pretty model touched the steering wheel to set the game prefs. He was drivin' smooth and settin' fast times galore. Meanwhile, we got dizzy and contented ourselves with making donuts 'til the clock ran out.

Related:
Gran Turismo 4 Launches [Internal]