Gran Turismo movie’s star GT-R up for auction
The hit movie Gran Turismo is about the video game Gran Turismo, and a winner of the online competition, Jann Mardenborough, who parlayed his victory in the Nissan GT Academy into an actual racing career.
We mention this because an actual R35-generation Nissan GT-R race car, which is featured in the film and was raced by Mardenborough, and is currently owned by GT Academy founder Darren Cox (portrayed by Orlando Bloom in the movie), goes up for auction Friday in England.
Expected to bring somewhere around $300,000 to $350,000, it is being offered by Iconic Auctioneers at the Silverstone Festival. “Traditionally,” says the auction house, “cars showcased in big-budget movies do not become available for sale, as the film company retains them for promotional PR duties and sequels. As well as featuring heavily in the film central to Mardenborough’s journey, he raced this car in real life when the car was active as a Nissan Europe’s Works car.”
Says Hagerty Valuation team member John Wiley: “Movie cars enjoy a median 7x value multiplier compared to similar cars without big screen time. The 2014 Nissan R35 GT-R race car from the just released Gran Turismo movie follows a similar line, but the 7x multiple is based on road cars rather than race cars. However, this car also has race history in the Nissan GT Academy Team RJN, which could make it an auction star.”
Purchased by RJN Motorsport in 2014, it had a major upgrade to the 2015 Nismo specification before entering into a full race program as a factory car entered by Nissan GT Academy Team RJN. “The GT-R had two excellent results in the Nürburgring 24 Hours with a ninth position in 2015 and an 11th place in 2016 in a well-documented, epic battle with Bentley. Besides Jann Mardenborough, our GT-R GT3 was driven by other GT Academy winners including included Ricardo Sanchez, Gaetan Paletou, Lucas Ordonez and Matt Simmons.”
The car is, in current condition, ready to race. “R35 GT-R 8A01 was fittingly prepared for its film duties by RJN Motorsport and subsequently was fully checked over back in the workshops prior to a final shakedown on April 24, 2023. The Nissan R35 GT-R GT3 can be raced in many championships globally, it would be a great fit in the UK with the GT Cup and Masters and, with its film credentials, would be welcome anywhere.”
For auction information, click here.
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