These '90s cars are only collectable because of video games

The 1990s was a time of dubious fashion, syrupy pop hits, and working out who shot Mr Burns. It was also a boom era for computer driving simulator games, on both PC and consoles as the new-fangled Sony PlayStation started to reinvigorate that market.

As the kids who played those games, racing cars of that era against AI and each other, have grown up they have discovered many of their gaming heroes are now attainable old cars. This has led to an emerging market of collector cars that are really only collectable because they appeared in hit racing simulators of the time.

Below are our top five picks. We’ve left out cars like the JZA80 Toyota Supra and R33 Nissan Skyline GT-R as they had a much bigger impact outside of their video game appearances, as did most of the European supercars.

1. Mitsubishi 3000GT

Designed as a tour-de-force grand tourer the 3000GT (aka GTO in some markets) was a four-wheel-drive twin-turbo V6 coupe loaded with technology. Unfortunately it was also heavy and super-expensive so it never really caught on in real life. However, it was one of the fastest cars you could tune up in the original Gran Turismo game, and the nostalgia for this has already started driving up prices of mint examples.

The only issue with that is that mint examples are rarer than chickens with lips, as these Japanese supercars never really had a large following to keep them in excellent condition over the previous decades. 

2. Nissan 300ZX Twin-Turbo

We could pretty much just copy and paste the Mitsubishi 3000GT description here because Nissan’s Z32-series 300ZX is pretty much the same car but with the option of glass T-tops and the choice of 2+2 or two-seat coupe. The heavy, complex twin-turbo V6 was a bit of a rocketship once it had been tuned up to the max and, with the skyrocketing price of GT-R Skylines, these ‘90s tuner legends are starting to also become sought-after, as they were in Gran Turismo.

Another factor to their rising value is how useable they are as a modern classic, with power everything and generally reliable mechanicals they could even be used as a quirky daily driver. The biggest downside is their super-complex engine bay is next to impossible to work in, although many of the troublesome vacuum hoses and solenoids now have fixes thanks to decades of mechanics working out what goes wrong. 

3. Dodge Viper (Gen 1)

Carroll Shelby was on the design team for the Viper, which was intended to bring back the vehicular madness of the 1960s 427 Cobra. With a 500hp eight-litre V10 this thing was the go-to choice in games like Test Drive 4, Gran Turismo, and Need 4 Speed for degenerate kids who didn’t care about handling and just wanted to fry tyres… and by that I mean me. In real life the Viper RT/10 didn’t have windows, stereo or a functioning roof, it got oppressively hot inside and handled like a broken wheelbarrow.

But that didn’t matter because it was the maddest production car to come from a major auto manufacturer in the decade, and one reason these wild beasts are starting to rise in value, despite how terrible they are to drive.

4. Mazda FD3S RX-7

This might seem like a strange choice as the RX-7 name had been a well-known and loved sports car since the 1970s, but it was games like Need For Speed, Gran Turismo and Gran Turismo II which really showed kids all over the world how beautiful and cool the third-generation FD-series RX-7 is.

Today the special edition Series VIII models are rapidly climbing in value despite only being sold in the local Japanese market, and quite a bit of this international popularity comes thanks to exposure through computer games. The twin-turbo 13B rotary-powered sports car might not be the last word in reliability, but the excellent handling, gorgeous design, and the fact it was the last proper two-door Wankel-powered Mazda sports car (to date) mean the special-edition FD3S model RX-7s are shooting up in value. 

5. TVR Cerbera

The boutique English car manufacturer TVR (which stands for TreVoR, in case you’re wondering) wasn’t all that well-known outside of its UK home before a spate of ‘90s computer games started featuring the lightweight, overpowered sports cars. In short, these things flew and were the in-game equal to Ferraris, Lambos, tuned-up GT-Rs and even the mighty Dodge Viper.

In real life they were unreliable and poorly built kit cars owned by people called Norman who liked to wear socks under their sandals. But they were fast. Today, as TVR is killed off and brought back every few years, appreciation is growing for these utterly insane machines, particularly the V8 Cerbera.

Rare when they were new, punters are now hunting mint examples for their perfect 1990s collection.

What were your favourite cars to race in games 30 years ago? Tell us in the comments.