The director of the Gran Turismo movie *really* loves his cars

Wandering down the path of director Neill Blomkamp’s history of cars, we arrive at the doorstep to the story that perhaps haunts him the most. Speaking to TopGear.com, the man behind the new Gran Turismo movie recalls his time with one of the world’s finest ever supercars.

“The favourite car that I ever owned was my Lexus LFA,” he said. “I really loved that car... but I sold it.”

Before TopGear.com’s shock was allowed to set in at the sale of an actual unicorn, Blomkamp continues quickly. “It actually gets much worse than that.

“I bought it, sold it, bought it again, and then I sold it again. I loved it, but I don’t want to ever have a car that makes people look at me, I don’t want any attention. I just loved the car. And I was getting so much attention – like, at every single traffic light, people were constantly looking at me.

“It bothered me. But I missed it so much I bought it again. And then I sold it again, and now I wish I kept it because it’s gone so much up in value.”

Head duly spinning at this merry go round of emotion, we’re in free flow now as he recalls what got him into cars in the first place. “My dad was really into cars so that was part of it, just growing up with cars. I’m also really interested in engineering and art.

“If you look at the Ford GT40 or the 2005 Ford GT, there’s an art-meets-mechanics thing that’s happening. You could say the same thing about a tonne of cars – could be Ferraris, for example. It’s that merging of the two things that I like. I love design, engineering and mechanics. They sort of come together with cars.”

His first car was a 1987 VW Golf GTI, which was “pretty classic”, he admits. He later started directing music videos and commercials, and then saved up all his money to buy a now-appreciating Nineties classic.

“I was obsessed with the E36 BMW M3,” he said, “because in 1993 when it came out, I would have been around 13. So I got a silver 1999 E36 M3… which my brother ended up crashing. Hilarious." Blomkamp's sense of humour is unlike TopGear.com's.

“I was really into Japanese cars too and, weirdly, American cars, which surprises me. I’ve had a 2005 Honda NSX and I now have a 1997 NSX, because the ’05 has the sh***y bubblehead lights. You need pop up headlights,” he noted, correctly.

Having clearly not learned his lesson with loaning his brother his cars, he later handed him his C6-generation ZR1 ‘Vette, while another Z06 C7 was also taking up space in his garage, and during his car history owned three R35 GT-Rs.

What’s he got now, then? “I have a 1995 Ferrari F355 - I love the shape of that car, and I love the engine - and a Tesla Plaid. I used to have a Model S P100D but that got written off.

“The thing with the Ferrari and the NSX is that those were my favourite cars in the Nineties when I was a teenager – they’re the ones I instantly loved,” he added.

Along with the Lexus LFA that got away… twice, of course.