The car was made by Rockstar in partnership with West Coast Customs

Sep 3, 2013 14:22 GMT  ·  By

Rockstar Games and West Coast Customs have partnered to create a real-life version of the Banshee sportscar from Grand Theft Auto 5, and GameStop is offering it as a prize in a special sweepstakes available to residents of the U.S.

Grand Theft Auto V is out later this month, and Rockstar has begun promoting the open world game in a variety of ways.

One of the most outlandish is through a partnership with West Coast Customs, the famous auto performance company from California, which created a real-life version of the Banshee sportscar from the upcoming GTA 5.

"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," Rockstar said on its Newswire about the new car.

The Banshee was first featured in GTA 3 and, since then, it has been one of the fastest and most expensive cars in the GTA universe, according to the studio.

"Referencing the model and textures of the in-game car, the interior was handcrafted and stitched to capture the look and feel of its detailed cockpit, with seats upholstered and embroidered with the Banshee name and insignia."

"The dashboard, door panels and center console were reconfigured and finished with carbon inlays. And finally, a multi-speaker premium sound system was installed before giving it the iconic metallic blue exterior complete with ice white racing stripe."

The real-life Banshee is also the prize of a special contest organized by GameStop, which allows members of its PowerUp Rewards program to spend their points on virtual tickets for the sweepstakes.

Only residents of the U.S. can access the promotion, which is available at this link.