Grand Theft Auto 5 Bravado Banshee Car

We gave you a roundup of all the pre-order bonuses and swag Rockstar Games intends to have available come September 17th, when Grand Theft Auto 5 is released. It turns out we missed one thing.

This shiny, shiny car is the 'GTA Bravado Banshee' and, technically, it could be yours.

According to Rockstar:

Ever since its debut as the getaway car in the opening moments of Grand Theft Auto III, the Bravado Banshee has been a symbol of the ultimate American sports car. With its aggressive, oversized styling and powerful engine, it became a mainstay as one of the most sought after high-performance rides from coast to coast - from Liberty City all the way to Los Santos...

Significant work went into creating this real world version of the 2013 model featured in Grand Theft Auto V. Utilizing state-of-the-art fabrication technologies, molds for the exterior were cut and machined piece-by-piece for the high performance base vehicle. With these molds each panel was laid out by hand to create an entirely new exterior resulting in a screen accurate reproduction of the Banshee.

As they say, the reason it might seem familiar is because of its prominent appearance in the opening of GTA III. Since then, it has appeared in every other GTA game. Keen-eyed gamers may remember it from its most recent iteration as the car you drive when you chase the back-stabbing garbageman Luca Silvestri to his death in GTA IV and as the car Lenny Petrovic is driving before you riddle him with bullets. They also may remember it as the car you can sell for a measly $800 in scrap metal in GTA Chinatown Wars.

Needless to say, it's gone a long way since its first appearance when it looked like this:

Furthermore, it's probably easily come further than any other car there has ever been in the GTA universe because, well, it's a real car now. That's something the Voodoo can't say.

More accurately, it is a converted Dodge Viper made to replicate the appearance of the Banshee, which closely resembled a Viper in the first place, just with notes of a Stealth, Camaro and Firebird mixed in. Make no mistake, using a real car as a basis and only tweaking certain details is the pattern with most cars from Grand Theft Auto, but don't be fooled into thinking Rockstar just bought a Viper and slapped a Banshee sticker on it. Allegedly, original in-game textures were used as a template for a completely customized car cockpit, with such specific detail that even the upholstered seats are embroidered with a Banshee logo and insignia.

Grand Theft Auto 5 Interior Bravado Banshee Car

To reiterate, this car can be yours - but before you get all excited, you should be aware that the chance of it being yours is insanely slim, as this car is a one-of-a-kind. You can't buy it, you can't rent it, and you certainly can't steal a bumble-bee colored one for Brucie Kibbutz. Only one person will ever have the privilege of driving around while perhaps listening to some of the tracks slated to be on Los Santos' radio stations in a Banshee they can actually call their own. (For what it's worth, I recommend listening to Eddie Murphy's "Party All The Time" from Los Santo's classic rock station to the future winner.)

For a chance at being that one person, you will have to head over to the GameStop website and enter. It's set up in an old fashioned new-tractor-at-the-county-fair style lottery, only instead of dollars the currency used is "PowerUp Rewards Points." 1 entry costs 200 points, 7 entries costs 1,000 points and 15 entries costs 2,000 points. Sadly, if you don't have a GameStop account and have no points, you can only enter zero times. This is truly an exclusive that GameStop was lucky to score.

With MotorTrend.com listing the retail value of just a 2013 SRT Viper at somewhere between a cool $97,395 - $120,395, one could only imagine the value of this one-of-a-kind car. With that knowledge, I just hope the winner doesn't get too into the GTA spirit and explode a hotdog stand or irreparably destroy their Banshee within three minutes of driving it.

Grand Theft Auto 5 Dr Friedlander

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Grand Theft Auto 5 is nearing its release date of September 17th, 2013 for the PS3 and the Xbox 360.

Follow Reubnick on Twitter @Reubnick

Sources: Rockstar Games, Jalopnik.com, GameStop.com