Rockstar Games and West Coast Customs have built six drivable, real-world GTA VI cars. One of them, a Testarossa-inspired Grotti Cheetah, is on sale at Selfridges in London for £1 million. The last time Rockstar put one of its cars on the road, the story ended somewhere very different.
For more than two decades, Grand Theft Auto has borrowed from the automotive world, turning Ferraris, Lamborghinis, McLarens and American muscle cars into fictional machines with their own badges, personalities and reputations.
Now Rockstar Games is running the process in reverse.
What You Need to Know
- Rockstar commissioned West Coast Customs to build six real-world versions of GTA VI vehicles ahead of the game’s November 19 release.
- The Grotti Cheetah is offered for £1 million, roughly $1.3 million, through Selfridges Personal Shopping during the store’s Grand Theft Auto takeover, November 9–28. It is the only one of the six publicly offered for sale.
- The Bravado Banshee that the same shop built for GTA V in 2013 was listed at $170,000 in 2014 and later changed hands for a fraction of that, including $30,800 at a 2018 Mecum auction.
- ECN’s read: what the Cheetah is worth will depend on its documentation and what sits under the bodywork, not on the asking price.
Ahead of the release of Grand Theft Auto VI, Rockstar partnered with West Coast Customs, the Los Angeles shop best known from MTV’s Pimp My Ride, to create six functioning interpretations of vehicles from the game. The collection includes a Ferrari-inspired Grotti Cheetah, a Lamborghini-influenced Pegassi Tempesta and a McLaren-inspired Progen Emerus.
The cars have already been seen on the streets of Miami wearing fictional Leonida license plates, bringing Vice City’s automotive culture into the city that inspired it.
One of them has taken the campaign beyond promotion. The real-life Grotti Cheetah is now for sale through London’s Selfridges department store for £1 million. And it isn’t the first time Rockstar has built a car that someone could eventually own.
The Grotti Cheetah: A Testarossa Reimagined for Vice City
Of all six vehicles, the Cheetah is the most fitting choice to headline Rockstar’s real-world collection.
The Ferrari Testarossa became one of the defining automotive symbols of 1980s Miami, helped by its starring role in Miami Vice. Its wide rear track, dramatic side strakes and low-slung proportions made it instantly recognizable, and Grand Theft Auto’s Cheetah has carried that visual identity through several generations of the franchise. In GTA VI it returns as the ’95 Grotti Cheetah, a bonus car in the game’s Ultimate Edition.
West Coast Customs’ version combines the Testarossa’s silhouette with the fictional Grotti identity. The published build description lists a naturally aspirated 4.9-liter V8, lowered suspension, track-ready tires, custom-stitched Italian leather and a pink-and-blue “Vice City fade” finish that would look equally at home outside a Miami Beach nightclub or on a collector’s display floor.
One line in that description deserves a closer look. The Testarossa’s 4.9-liter engine was a flat-12, not a V8, and no Ferrari of that era used a V8 anywhere near that size. Rockstar’s own photos show a Testarossa body still wearing Ferrari five-spoke wheels with Ferrari center badges and a prancing horse in the grille, but neither Rockstar nor Selfridges has publicly identified the donor car or detailed its drivetrain. The published spec may describe the fictional Cheetah as much as the hardware underneath, and for a seven-figure buyer that is the first question worth asking.
A $1.3 Million Cheetah, but Not an Auction
The Cheetah is on display at Selfridges’ Oxford Street store as part of the retailer’s Grand Theft Auto VI takeover, which runs November 9–28. Selfridges says the car is “available to purchase for £1 million via Selfridges Personal Shopping.” At recent exchange rates that is roughly $1.3 million; the exact dollar figure moves with the pound.
There is no public bidding and no online checkout. Prospective buyers go through a one-to-one personal shopping appointment. That distinction matters: this is an asking price, not an auction result, and it does not establish what the car will ultimately sell for, or whether it sells at all.
It is also far more than a conventional Testarossa costs, which raises an obvious question: what exactly is the buyer paying for?
Certainly not performance. The Cheetah’s appeal lies in its identity as a commissioned, functioning recreation of a fictional supercar. Its connection to Rockstar Games, the GTA VI launch and West Coast Customs gives it a story no production Testarossa can replicate. Whether that story supports a seven-figure valuation is something only a buyer can decide.
The Six GTA VI Cars Built for the Real World
The Cheetah is one of six builds, each representing a different corner of Grand Theft Auto’s automotive universe. The details below come from the published build notes.
| GTA VI car | Real-world inspiration | Build highlights |
|---|---|---|
| Grotti Cheetah | Ferrari Testarossa | Listed 4.9L V8, Vice City fade paint, Italian leather |
| Pegassi Tempesta | Lamborghini Huracán | V10, Vice Beach police livery, lowered |
| Progen Emerus | McLaren Senna | Twin-turbo 4.0L V8, candy orange, large rear wing |
| Invetero Coquette | Chevrolet Corvette C8 | 6.2L V8, pink-and-purple camo, custom wheels |
| Albany Buccaneer | Lowrider culture | Restored 1960s body, 7.5L V8, candy green flake, zebra seats |
| Albany Manana | Cadillac-style custom | 1970s base, 7.7L V8, Vice City blue, oversized gold wheels |
Pegassi Tempesta. A modern Italian supercar interpretation finished in Vice Beach police livery, an unexpected twist on the fictional Pegassi lineup.
Progen Emerus. A track-focused hypercar design drawn from one of McLaren’s most aggressive road cars, with fighter-jet-style vents and a towering wing.
Invetero Coquette. Rockstar’s take on America’s sports car, drawing from the mid-engine C8 Corvette.
Albany Buccaneer. A custom American classic rooted in lowrider tradition, where stance, paint and personality matter more than outright speed.
Albany Manana. A dramatic, high-riding build on oversized wheels, tied to South Florida’s distinctive custom-car scene.
Together they show how broadly Rockstar draws from real car culture. Italian exotics, a British hypercar, an American sports car and custom lowriders coexist in a fictional world that exaggerates their personalities without abandoning their origins. According to the published build details, West Coast Customs combined traditional metal fabrication with composite construction and CNC-machined parts. These are not production cars wearing promotional decals; they are individual builds meant to reproduce the character of Rockstar’s fictional machines.
Before the Cheetah, There Was the Bravado Banshee
The new collaboration has an important predecessor.
In 2013, as Grand Theft Auto V prepared for release, Rockstar commissioned West Coast Customs to build a real Bravado Banshee. The Banshee had been a franchise regular since Grand Theft Auto III, drawing most of its inspiration from the Dodge Viper, so the shop started with a 2006 Dodge Viper SRT-10 and reshaped it into the fictional car, with a handcrafted widebody kit, bespoke lighting, custom wheels and a reworked interior.
Rockstar didn’t sell it. The Banshee was the prize in a GameStop PowerUp Rewards giveaway that ran in September 2013, and it went to a North Carolina woman whose son had entered by buying the game.
What the Banshee’s Resale Trail Tells a Cheetah Buyer
The giveaway was not the end of the story. In June 2014 the winner listed the Banshee on eBay with a $170,000 buy-it-now price, explaining that helping put her children through college mattered more than keeping an unusual sports car. Later listings described roughly $180,000 worth of modifications.
The market disagreed. The 2014 listing did not find a buyer at that price, and subsequent reporting put a 2015 eBay sale at about $45,000. In August 2018 the car crossed the block at Mecum’s Monterey auction and sold for $30,800, with roughly 8,000 miles on the odometer. Within months it was back online with an asking price near $63,000.
That trajectory is the most useful context for the Cheetah. The Banshee was a one-off, built by the same shop, for the same franchise, at the peak of a launch campaign. Rarity and a famous name did not make it a valuable collectible. What it remained, underneath, was a modified Viper whose bespoke parts would be difficult to replace.
The Cheetah differs in important ways. It is offered by a luxury retailer rather than awarded as a prize, it is reportedly built on a far more collectible Italian car, and GTA VI is arriving as one of the most anticipated entertainment launches in years. But the scale of the ask has changed more than the underlying question has. Thirteen years ago a Viper-based giveaway tested whether a video-game car could hold value. Today a Ferrari-inspired, seven-figure listing tests it again.
Gaming-Themed Cars Are on the Auction Block Elsewhere, Too
Rockstar’s collection isn’t the only recent attempt to turn gaming’s car culture into real-world sales. At the 2026 SEMA Show, eBay introduced its Most Wanted Collection, four cars it described as inspired by gaming’s most recognizable rides: a 2022 Chevrolet Corvette C8, a 2006 Dodge Viper, a 1992 BMW 325i Convertible and a 1975 Chevrolet Nova.
The cars were modified with parts bought on eBay and auctioned on November 5 during an eBay Live livestream hosted by Sung Kang and automotive creator Hertrech “Hert” Eugene Jr., with bidding opening at $6 and all proceeds going to Susan G. Komen. eBay did not tie the collection to a specific game, and it carries no official connection to Rockstar.
The contrast illustrates two kinds of collector appeal. One is owning a real production car that evokes the games, including, in eBay’s case, the same Viper generation that became the Banshee. The other is owning a purpose-built physical version of the fictional car itself. Both show how tightly car culture and gaming have become connected.
Can a Video-Game Car Become a Serious Collectible?
The answer may depend less on the game than on the vehicle’s history. Collectors already weigh provenance, originality, rarity and cultural significance, and a car tied to a famous film, a notable personality or an important pop-culture moment can command attention far beyond its mechanical specification. As a new generation of collectors reshapes what counts as a classic, the same principles could eventually apply to cars associated with influential video games.
The Cheetah has several things collectors may value: a recognizable Ferrari-inspired design, a direct association with Rockstar Games, a bespoke West Coast Customs build and a prominent role in the GTA VI launch. Its long-term value, however, remains speculative. A one-off promotional vehicle is not automatically valuable because it is rare, as the Banshee showed. Future demand, build quality, documentation, legal registration status and the condition of the underlying mechanical components will all matter.
A buyer should establish exactly what is being transferred: the identity of the donor car and its engine, the title, whether it can be registered where the buyer lives, and any paperwork tying it to the Rockstar commission. At $1.3 million, those details matter every bit as much as the car’s connection to Vice City.
When the Virtual Garage Becomes a Real One
For years, Grand Theft Auto players have recognized familiar silhouettes behind fictional names. Grotti evokes Ferrari. Pegassi recalls Lamborghini. Progen draws from McLaren. Invetero borrows from Chevrolet’s performance heritage. The cars were designed to feel familiar without being direct copies of their real-world counterparts.
Now those fictional identities are becoming physical objects, with custom bodywork, working engines and real ownership possibilities. The 2013 Banshee proved Rockstar could bring a single fictional sports car to life. The six GTA VI builds show how much further the idea can go. And with the Cheetah carrying a seven-figure asking price, the line between gaming memorabilia and automotive collecting has become considerably more interesting.
A player can steal a Cheetah in Vice City. Owning one in the real world is an entirely different proposition.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is the real-life GTA VI Grotti Cheetah?
Selfridges lists it at £1 million, roughly $1.3 million depending on the exchange rate. It is sold through Selfridges Personal Shopping in London, not at auction.
Who built the real GTA VI cars?
West Coast Customs built six cars for Rockstar Games: the Grotti Cheetah, Pegassi Tempesta, Progen Emerus, Invetero Coquette, Albany Buccaneer and Albany Manana.
Is the real Grotti Cheetah a Ferrari?
Rockstar’s photos show a Testarossa body with Ferrari wheels and grille badge, but Rockstar and Selfridges have not publicly identified the donor car. The published description lists a 4.9-liter V8, while the Testarossa used a 4.9-liter flat-12.
What happened to the real GTA V Bravado Banshee?
It was given away through GameStop in 2013, listed on eBay at $170,000 in 2014, and later sold for far less, including $30,800 at Mecum’s Monterey auction in August 2018.
Are the other five GTA VI cars for sale?
As of publication, only the Grotti Cheetah has been publicly offered for sale.
Prices and availability are as listed at the time of publication. Images courtesy of Rockstar Games and Selfridges, as credited. Exotic Car News has no commercial relationship with Rockstar Games, West Coast Customs, Selfridges or eBay.
