History Main / Fauxrrari

* ''Manga/InitialD'': Real-world cars are used, but the badges are obfuscated presumably for trademark reasons. The models are clearly shown and mentioned, yet any logos would be mangled up in some way. For example, the trademark Sprinter Trueno AE-86 had "Toreno" badges in many scenes of the first season.

** ''[[VideoGame/NeedForSpeedHotPursuit Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit]]'' and ''VideoGame/NeedForSpeedHighStakes'' are interesting cases: All vehicles with real-life counterparts are licensed, but in the cases of the two Ferraris only under the condition that they can only be used in races, not in police chases. Thus, in Hot Pursuit mode, the Ferraris are unavailable. The same applies to the Porsches in ''High Stakes''. In comparison, Lamborghini had no problems with their cars being used in chases, but keep in mind that there are also police Lamborghini Diablos.

* The movie ''Film/ItTakesTwo1995'' involves the road trip of a man to Denver in order to purchase a Lamborghini Diablo copycat called a "Trovare". The situation goes FromBadToWorse for him when it turns out the brand is a HonestJohnsDealership and he was swindled into buying a nice-looking [[TheAllegedCar lemon (that falls apart after driving it a couple of miles)]].

* ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'': The second episode has a billboard for "Yahaha" motorcycles.

** The series does this for the same reason as ''Burnout''. Most especially given the controversially violent and hedonistic nature of ''GTA'', the likes of Ferrari would be in for a shock if they see their cars being treated as [[EveryCarIsAPinto expendable props]] and [[CarFu murder weapons]] rather than [[CoolCar stylish transportation]]. However, in an [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piEnFTgf8Xk interview]] with former Rockstar staffer Jaime King, he states that it had more to do with licensing; they looked at licensing any and all vehicles to be used as expensive and complicated. Even if they did somehow got their hands on a licence they'd be burdened by long-term distribution (as what has happened when a legacy ''GTA'' game is re-released and/or updated with radio tracks omitted) or restrictions in the case of certain manufacturers like Ferrari.

** The series does this for the same reason as ''Burnout''. Most especially given the controversially violent and hedonistic nature of ''GTA'', the likes of Ferrari would be in for a shock if they see their cars being treated as [[EveryCarIsAPinto expendable props]] and [[CarFu murder weapons]] rather than luxury sports cars. However, in an [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piEnFTgf8Xk interview]] with former Rockstar staffer Jaime King, he states that it had more to do with licensing; they looked at licensing any and all vehicles to be used as expensive and complicated. Even if they did somehow got their hands on a licence they'd be burdened by long-term distribution (as what has happened when a legacy ''GTA'' game is re-released and/or updated with radio tracks omitted) or restrictions in the case of certain manufacturers like Ferrari.

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* ''VideoGame/{{Wreckfest}}'' uses this trope, presumably for the same reasons as ''Burnout'' and ''Grand Theft Auto''.

** The series does this for the same reason as ''Burnout''. Most especially given the controversially violent and hedonistic nature of ''GTA'', the likes of Ferrari would be in for a shock if they see their cars being treated as [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential expendable]] props and [[CarFu murder weapons]] rather than luxury sports cars. However, in an [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piEnFTgf8Xk interview]] with former Rockstar staffer Jaime King, he states that it had more to do with licensing; they looked at licensing any and all vehicles to be used as expensive and complicated. Even if they did somehow got their hands on a licence they'd be burdened by long-term distribution (as what has happened when a legacy ''GTA'' game is re-released and/or updated with radio tracks omitted) or restrictions in the case of certain manufacturers like Ferrari.

* The Argentinian RealismInducedHorror movie ''Film/{{4x4}}'' features a [[https://www.imcdb.org/v001475378.html rebadged Toyota Fortuner/SW4]] where the VillainProtagonist carjacker got himself trapped for the most of the movie.

* The Argentinian RealismHorror movie ''Film/4x4'' features a [[https://www.imcdb.org/v001475378.html rebadged Toyota Fortuner/SW4]] where the VillainProtagonist carjacker got himself trapped for the most of the movie.

** The series does this for the same reason as ''Burnout''. Most especially given the controversially violent and hedonistic nature of ''GTA'', the likes of Ferrari would be in for a shock if they see their cars being treated as [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential expendable]] props and [[CarFu murder weapons]] rather than luxury sports cars.
** Creator/RockstarGames wasn't beyond combining this with the occasional PrecisionFStrike and PunnyName. The Ford Capri look-alike from ''London 1969'' is called the [[https://gta.fandom.com/wiki/Crapi Crapi,]] the Suzuki brand of motorcycles and boat engines is parodied as [[https://gta.fandom.com/wiki/Shitzu Shitzu]] (complete with a logo that looks like a turd), and the parody of Nissan is called [[https://gta.fandom.com/wiki/Annis Annis,]] complete with a car (based on the Nissan Silvia) called the [[https://gta.fandom.com/wiki/Remus Remus]] in case the reference to anal sex wasn't obvious enough

** Most {{Game Mod}}s for the series avert this, replacing the series' fake cars with their real-world counterparts or other real-world cars in general. Starting with the release of the PC port of ''V'', there's been more of an interest in "lore-friendly" vehicle mods that are meant to fit with the brands Rockstar has made for the games and how they stylize their fake cars to be different from their real-world counterparts. The most notable of these mods can be found in Vanillaworks' vehicle packs: The titular [[https://www.gta5-mods.com/vehicles/vanillaworks-extended-pack-add-on-oiv-tuning-liveries-vanillaworks-and-other-modders Vanillaworks Extended]], the emergency vehicle-focused [[https://www.gta5-mods.com/vehicles/dispatchworks-pack-add-on-oiv-tuning-liveries Dispatchworks Pack]], and the [[https://www.gta5-mods.com/vehicles/ivpack-gtaiv-vehicles-in-gtav IVPack]] which focuses on cars that can be found in ''IV'' but not ''V''.

** Starting from ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'', car makers besides Grotti (a pastiche of Ferrari first seen on a neon sign in ''San Andreas'') and Maibatsu (which often radio advertises their car) are introduced, introducing makers that correspond with real-life makers. For instance, Karin is Toyota, Dewbauchee is Aston Martin, Vapid is Ford, [[PunBasedTitle Coil]] is Tesla, and Pfister is Porsche, among many others, though said companies aren't necessarily depicted to be direct parodies of real-world marques they were largely based on -- Karin for one had the Kuruma, which is odd as it is based on Mitsubishi's Lancer Evolution X. Possibly justified due to AlternateUniverse.

* An episode of ''Series/NineOneOne'' has one of Maddie's coworkers get run down by a criminal when she spots him doing something suspicious. The car can be identified as a Saturn Ion, but is called a Vero Galaxy on the show. Likely changed because potential sponsor GM wouldn't want its vehicles associated with this kind of behavior.

* ''VideoGame/SnowRunner'' plays this straight or averts this depending on the vehicle. The general rule seems to be that American (and Canadian in Pacific's case) civilian trucks are licensed while Russian trucks and military vehicles are given pseudonyms.

* The 6000 [[TakeThat SUX]] in ''Film/RoboCop1987''.

This practice of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debadging debadging]] tends to be applied in works of fiction in general, especially if paying royalties to car companies is a concern. Commercials or films may elect to debadge a car either to dodge royalties, to avoid implying that the producers are endorsing a particular automobile brand [[ProductPlacement unless they are paid to do so]], or to keep the car manufacturer from being portrayed in a negative light. This is largely avoided, however, due to the ''de minimis'' rule in that depictions of trademarked objects like cars are considered to be incidental unless the particular car model is the subject of the work, e.g. it would be frivolous for Toyota to sue a production company merely for its use of a Corolla as an incidental object used by the characters in a show, but that would be a different story if the Corolla nameplate itself is the subject, like a ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' character in the form of a Corolla sedan or something along those lines (In some countries such as South Korea however, at least some film and TV studios went through the effort of censoring out car badges likely to sidestep concerns about product placement or royalties)

* While the ''Film/TransformersFilmSeries'' averts it, the toyline had two cases stemming from toy licensing. ''[[Film/TransformersRevengeOfTheFallen Revenge of the Fallen]]''[='=]s toyline had Sideways transform into a mere approximation of the Audi [=R8=] from the movie due to Creator/{{Hasbro}} not having the license to outright copy the car. And ''[[Film/TransformersDarkOfTheMoon Dark of the Moon]]'' has the Autobot Dino, who transforms into a Ferrari 458 Italia and was even named after Enzo Ferrari's first son. Despite this, [[https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Dino#Toys every one of his toys]] uses a genericized approximation of his onscreen vehicle mode (a couple of them are even redecos of the aforementioned Sideways!), since Creator/{{Mattel}} (and later Maisto) held the exclusive license to produce Ferrari toys.

[[folder:Live Action Television]]

* ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' toys, outside of specific toylines such as [[Film/TransformersFilmSeries the live-action movies]], the mid-'00s ''Alternators'' line, and the high-end ''Masterpiece'' line, often lean into this area. For instance, ''Anime/TransformersCybertron'' Crosswise is obviously a barely-tweaked Bugatti Veyron. One common practice is to have a vehicle based on a specific model of car with some parts based on another - for instance, ''Universe'' [[https://tfwiki.net/wiki/File:Sunstreakeruniverse2008toy.jpg Sunstreaker]] is a Lamborghini Gallardo with parts such as the headlights and rear modified.

* Crossing over with RealLife, brands that either rebadge or manufacture designs based on Porsche platforms were this until recent years -- The most common stand-in for Porsche cars in non-Electronic Arts racing titles were [=RUF=]s.[[note]][[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruf_Automobile Ruf Automobile]] specialises in Porsche-derived sports cars, using unmarked Porsche body shells but assembled with Ruf-made parts and materials rather than badge-engineering or modifying existing Porsches, effectively classifying them as a manufacturer in their own right.[[/note]] This is because [=EA=] signed a licence exclusivity deal with Porsche in 2000 when they made ''VideoGame/NeedForSpeedPorscheUnleashed''. This meant that Porsche vehicles could only appear in [=EA=]'s racing games, although some non-[=EA=] franchises, like ''VideoGame/{{Forza}}'' and the first ''VideoGame/{{GRiD}}'', were lucky enough to acquire Porsche sub-licences for their games. The contract ended in late 2016, which resulted in Porsches appearing in a wide variety of racing games... and ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077''.
* The {{retraux}} racer '''80s Overdrive'' has a lineup of 80 sports cars lookalikes including the Penetrator GT (Lamborghini Countach QV), Testosterando (Lotus Esprit, though the name is a pun on Testarossa), Intruder Turbo (Ferrari 288 GTO), Aggressor (Porsche 959), De Loan([=DeLorean=] DMC 12), and Tensor V12 (Vector W8). The traffic vehicles include Fiat 500, Dodge Omni, Chevrolet Caprice, and Jeep Wrangler stand-ins.

* ''VideoGame/BeamNG''.drive is built around crashing incredibly familiar-looking vehicles with minor design differences from their real counterparts. As an example, the German brand "ETK" produces cars with [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW a very distinctive grill]].

* ''VideoGame/CaliforniaSpeed'', by the creators of ''Cruisn''' and ''San Francisco Rush'', also follows this tradition: Baja and Mt. Dew=Chevy C/K-series off-road truck, Convertible= '59 Cadillac Eldorado, Sled='49 Mercury coupe, Sportster=BMW Z3, Muscle='68 Chevy Camaro, Mercado=90's Honda Civic hatchback, Fairchild=Lotus 7, 486 SE=Ferrari 512 TR, Ol' Truck='55 Chevy Stepside, Predator=Lamborghini Diablo, etc.
* The UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame series ''VideoGame/{{Cruisn}}'' initially started off with lookalikes of brand-name vehicles coupled with nameplates that are either gaudy or playing on national stereotypes, like for example the "Kamikaze AWD" which riffed on the Toyota Supra Mark IV save for the split rear window. It wasn't until the original arcade version of ''Cruis'n Exotica'' and the [[DolledUpInstallment rebadged]] Wii port of the ''Fast and the Furious'' arcade game, simply titled ''Cruis'n'', that actual licenced cars were used as opposed to lookalikes.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Driver}}'' series had none of its cars named until ''Parallel Lines'', which uses fictional names, although the last game of the series, ''VideoGame/DriverSanFrancisco'' it almost completely averted this trope with the use of real cars, but car bombs or cars being shot during several plot points use the fictional "ASYM Desanne" cars instead. Heavier cars such as buses and trucks are also fictional brands as well.
* NPC cars in ''[[VideoGame/EuroTruckSimulator Euro]]'' and ''VideoGame/AmericanTruckSimulator'' are very obviously real life cars with a slightly modified logo to make them legally not an IRL car according to European law. The German squad car, for example, is obviously a 2012 Volkswagen Passat, but the logo is two inverted V's, and the Renault Clio AI car has instead of the diamond a large capital O -- despite having actual Renault trucks in the lineup, possibly because the license didn't cover personal vehicles. ''American Truck Simulator'' also features what is very obviously a Ford F-150 Raptor, but with the large "Ford" badge replaced with "Frog".

* Averted with ''VideoGame/TheGetaway'' as all of the cars are actual licensed vehicles, largely to add to the verisimilitude already present with the inclusion of a GPS-street accurate map of London.

* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'', for the same reason as ''Burnout''. Most especially given the controversially violent and hedonistic nature of ''GTA'', the likes of Ferrari would be in for a shock if they see their cars being treated as [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential expendable]] props and [[CarFu murder weapons]] rather than luxury sports cars.

** Starting with ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIII'' and ''[[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoViceCity Vice City]]'', in-universe car designs started to be recycled in games with the same engine, or redesigned to match the era where a game takes place: the Infernus in ''III'' and ''[[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoLibertyCityStories Liberty City Stories]]'' looks like a Jaguar [=XJ220=], in ''Vice City'' and ''Vice City Stories'' it looks like a Lamborghini Countach, in ''[[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas San Andreas]]'' it looks like a Honda NSX, and in ''[[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV IV]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV V]]'' it looks like a hybrid between a Lamborghini Murciélago and a Pagani Zonda.
** Starting from ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'', car makers besides Grotti (a pastiche of Ferrari first seen on a neon sign in ''San Andreas'') and Maibatsu (which often radio advertises their car) are introduced, introducing makers that correspond with real life makers. For instance, Karin is Toyota, Dewbauchee is Aston Martin, Vapid is Ford, [[PunBasedTitle Coil]] is Tesla, and Pfister is Porsche, among many others, though said companies aren't necessarily depicted to be direct parodies of real-world marques they were largely based on--Karin for one had the Kuruma, which is odd as it is based on Mitsubishi's Lancer Evolution X. Possibly justified due to AlternateUniverse.
* As a throwback to old-school SNES-era racing games, ''VideoGame/HorizonChase'' features many cars based on real-life ones, with some even doubling as [[ShoutOut Shout-Outs]] to other franchises such as ''Franchise/BackToTheFuture'', ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' and ''Manga/InitialD''.

* A rare UsefulNotes/FormulaOne-derived example is in classic Sega racer ''Super VideoGame/MonacoGP''. [=McLaren=] would be Madonna, and Williams would be Millions, etc.
* ''VideoGame/{{Motorstorm}}'' is another franchise that makes heavy use of this, being an off-road racing game with a heavy emphasis on destruction, though they tend to group all vehicles of a certain category into one manufacturer, with examples including "Patriot" representing American cars and trucks (the Big Three in particular), "Italia" having a lot of [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Italian sports cars]], "Wulff", "Monarch" and "Mirage" doing the same for German, British and French cars, "Castro" being older heavy American vehicles, "Atlas" being a counterpart to makers of diesel trucks, as well as Hummer, and finally "Lunar-Tec" (almost) exclusively building custom vehicles.
** ''RC'' has a Scion [=iQ=], so far the only licensed car in the entire franchise.
*** ''VideoGame/{{Driveclub}}'' inverts this: all cars are licensed save for one, the Wombat Typhoon buggy from ''VideoGame/{{Motorstorm}}''.

* ''[[VideoGame/NeedForSpeedHotPursuit Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit]]'' and ''VideoGame/NeedForSpeedHighStakes'' are interesting cases: All vehicles with real-life counterparts are licensed, but in the cases of the two Ferraris only under the condition that they can only be used in races, not in police chases. Thus, in Hot Pursuit mode, the Ferraris are unavailable. The same applies to the Porsches in ''High Stakes''. In comparison, Lamborghini had no problems with their cars being used in chases, but keep in mind that there are also police Lamborghini Diablos.

* The ''VideoGame/OutRun'' franchise is another interesting case. The original arcade game and its various home console and computer releases has the player drive what appears to be a Ferrari Testarossa, complete with the iconic "prancing horse" emblem displayed prominently at the back. Sega didn't have the Ferrari license at the time, and as such the car was changed to a similar yet generic Ferrari expy in re-releases, notably on the Dreamcast version which came as a minigame in ''VideoGame/ShenmueII'' and the UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS and UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch ports released after [[Creator/{{Sega}} SEGA]] lost the Ferrari license. ''[=OutRun 2=]'' and its derivatives have fully-licensed cars; the Xbox version even includes the original game as an unlockable, with the prancing horse intact. Unfortunately, ''[=OutRun=] Online Arcade'' (a digital UpdatedRerelease of ''[=OutRun 2=]'') was delisted in 2010 due to SEGA not renewing its contract with Ferrari, which also means it's unlikely for any of the ''[=OutRun 2=]'' series to be re-released anytime soon.

* Nintendo 64 racing game ''World Driver Championship'' had, among others: Ellipse Stallion=Ford Mustang Cobra R, Rage 512 EVO=Porsche 911 GT 1 EVO, Reeds R12 Manta=Chevy Corvette [=C5R=], Elan Swift TT=Lotus Esprit [=GT1=], Ram Venom GTR = Dodge Viper GTSR, EXR Mystic=TVR Speed 12.

* ''Manga/InitialD'': Real-world cars are used, but the badges are obfuscated presumably for trademark reasons. The models are clearly shown and mentioned, yet any logos would be mangled up in some way. For example, the trademark Sprinter Trueno AE-86 had "Toreno" badges in many scenes of the first season.

* ''ComicBook/GhostRider'': Robbie Reyes is referenced in an in-universe newspaper article as driving a "Dotch Charter."

* The producers behind ''Film/SlumdogMillionaire'' had to [[http://adage.com/article/madisonvine-news/coke-mercedes-avoid-gritty-film-cameos-slumdog/132301/ remove the badges]] off the Mercedes-Benz cars used in the film, as Daimler AG, Mercedes-Benz's parent company, felt that putting their (luxury) vehicles in a slum setting would tarnish their image, effectively making the cars more or less generic if not for the familiar body design.

* In the novella ''Literature/BlackTrip'' there's a whole city full of cars that look like any regular car of the [[TheSixties '60ies]] or [[TheSeventies '70ies,]] but on closer inspection they aren't. In some cases it's details, like a vehicle that in RealLife had rectangular headlights has round headlights, some two door only models have an extra set of doors and so on. In more pronounced cases cars will just look faintly similar to something, like the Dodge/Buick thing that Mack takes for his own for a time.

* Crossing over with RealLife, brands that either rebadge or manufacture designs based on Porsche platforms were this until recent years - The most common stand-in for Porsche cars in non-Electronic Arts racing titles were [=RUF=]s.[[note]][[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruf_Automobile Ruf Automobile]] specialises in Porsche-derived sports cars, using unmarked Porsche body shells but assembled with Ruf-made parts and materials rather than badge-engineering or modifying existing Porsches, effectively classifying them as a manufacturer in their own right.[[/note]] This is because [=EA=] signed a licence exclusivity deal with Porsche in 2000 when they made ''VideoGame/NeedForSpeedPorscheUnleashed''. This meant that Porsche vehicles could only appear in [=EA=]'s racing games, although some non-[=EA=] franchises, like ''{{VideoGame/Forza}}'' and the first ''{{VideoGame/GRiD}}'', were lucky enough to acquire Porsche sub-licences for their games. The contract ended in late 2016, which resulted in Porsches appearing in a wide variety of racing games... and ''VideoGame/{{Cyberpunk 2077}}''.
* The ''VideoGame/AceCombat'' series is weird about this, in terms of planes. Like, ''really'' weird. Apart from creator-designed SuperPrototype aircraft, ''all'' the planes used are real-life aircraft, but the companies that manufacture them do not exist in Strangereal. Instead, the aircraft are created by ''fictional'' companies (Such as "North Osea Grunder Industries), but are still referred to by their real-life classification. This leads to some strange moments where you have American F-14's being apparently manufactured alongside Russian [=MiG=]-29's under the same company, and still being referred to by their official classification, ''despite neither country nor their respective manufacturing companies'' existing in the ''Ace Combat'' universe. It's easier to just HandWave this rather weird aspect of the franchise's lore.
* ''VideoGame/WanganMidnight'', following a similar principle as with RUF, made the Blackbird a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemballa Gemballa]]; like RUF, Gemballa's cars use Porsche bodies but the machinery and interior is all made by Gemballa, which is why they are considered a separate manufaturer.

* The ''Videogame/{{Driver}}'' series had none of its cars named until ''Parallel Lines'', which uses fictional names, although the last game of the series, ''Videogame/DriverSanFrancisco'' it almost completely averted this trope with the use of real cars, but car bombs or cars being shot during several plot points use the fictional "ASYM Desanne" cars instead. Heavier cars such as buses and trucks are also fictional brands as well.

* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'', for the same reason as ''Burnout.'' Most especially given the controversially violent and hedonistic nature of ''GTA'', the likes of Ferrari would be in for a shock if they see their cars being treated as [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential expendable]] props and [[CarFu murder weapons]] rather than luxury sports cars.
** Rockstar Games wasn't beyond combining this with the occasional PrecisionFStrike and PunnyName. The Ford Capri look-alike from ''London 1969'' is called the [[https://gta.fandom.com/wiki/Crapi Crapi,]] the Suzuki brand of motorcycles and boat engines is parodied as [[https://gta.fandom.com/wiki/Shitzu Shitzu]] (complete with a logo that looks like a turd), and the parody of Nissan is called [[https://gta.fandom.com/wiki/Annis Annis,]] complete with a car (based on the Nissan Silvia) called the [[https://gta.fandom.com/wiki/Remus Remus]] in case the reference to anal sex wasn't obvious enough
** Starting with ''Grand Theft Auto III'' and ''Vice City'', in-universe car designs started to be recycled in games with the same engine, or redesigned to match the era where a game takes place: the Infernus in ''III'' and ''Liberty City Stories'' looks like a Jaguar [=XJ220=], in ''Vice City'' and ''Vice City Stories'' it looks like a Lamborghini Countach, in ''San Andreas'' it looks like a Honda NSX, and in ''IV'' and ''V'' it looks like a hybrid between a Lamborghini Murciélago and a Pagani Zonda.
** Starting from ''Videogame/GrandTheftAutoIV'', car makers besides Grotti (a pastiche of Ferrari first seen on a neon sign in GTA San Andreas) and Maibatsu (which often radio advertises their car) are introduced, introducing makers that correspond with real life makers. For instance, Karin is Toyota, Dewbauchee is Aston Martin, Vapid is Ford, [[PunBasedTitle Coil]] is Tesla, and Pfister is Porsche, among many others, though said companies aren't necessarily depicted to be direct parodies of real-world marques they were largely based on--Karin for one had the Kuruma, which is odd as it is based on Mitsubishi's Lancer Evolution X. Possibly justified due to AlternateUniverse.
* Averted with ''VideoGame/TheGetaway'' as all of the cars are actual licensed vehicles, largely to add to the verisimilitude already present with the inclusion of a GPS-street accurate map of London.
** British Telecommunications, however, took umbrage to a mission involving a van bearing their livery, where a driver has to be killed and the van used to assassinate a police officer. As the company was worried that the use of their vehicles in an organised crime game "might incite attacks on [its] engineers," this was later amended on subsequent pressings, though the initial release wasn't recalled (considering how console games at the time had no facilities for game and fimware patches and any glaring bugs or issues would cause the game to be recalled).

* Averted with ''VideoGame/LANoire'', produced by the same person, Brendan [=McNamara=], who headed development of ''The Getaway''. Which is excusable as the player assumes the role of a police detective, and the vehicles in question are already over seventy years old at the very least (and some of the marques featured are either defunct or merged with other manufacturers), though they are still subject to the same rigors a typical WideOpenSandbox car is subjected to - you can pretty much wreck or disable almost any vehicle in the game, but since you play as a police officer you'd end up getting penalised for causing collateral damage.

* The ''VideoGame/OutRun'' franchise is another interesting case. The original arcade game and its various home console and computer releases has the player drive what appears to be a Ferrari Testarossa, complete with the iconic "prancing horse" emblem displayed prominently at the back. Sega didn't have the Ferrari license at the time, and as such the car was changed to a similar yet generic Ferrari expy in re-releases, notably on the Dreamcast version which came as a minigame in ''VideoGame/ShenmueII'' and the UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS and UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch ports released after SEGA lost the Ferrari license. ''[=OutRun 2=]'' and its derivatives have fully-licensed cars; the Xbox version even includes the original game as an unlockable, with the prancing horse intact. Unfortunately, ''[=OutRun=] Online Arcade'' (a digital UpdatedRerelease of ''[=OutRun 2=]'') was delisted in 2010 due to SEGA not renewing its contract with Ferrari, which also means it's unlikely for any of the ''[=OutRun 2=]'' series to be re-released anytime soon.
* A Rare Formula One derived example is in classic Sega Racer Super {{VideoGame/Monaco GP}}. Mclaren would be Madonna, and Williams would be Millions, etc.
* ''Videogame/RidgeRacer'' uses fictional makes and models presumably so that Namco would avoid having to pay royalties to car manufacturers, with further games in the series being set in a ConstructedWorld (the fourth game did mention real countries and featured ads for other Namco games, but everything else is all fictional). The fifth game is implied to be on [[VideoGame/AceCombat Strangereal]], with Neucom and General Resources's logos figuring on the in-game scenery alongside [[FictionalCounterpart Fictional Counterparts]] of real life cars that may or may not being tied to ''Ace Combat'' in terms of universe (although ''Ace Combat'' primarily features real life airplanes except for the third game, and most fictional planes outside of the third game are [[SuperPrototype Super Prototypes]]).

* ''Thrash Rally'', a top-down Neo Geo rally racing game, had, among others, Toyot GT-Four/Land Crusher (Toyota Celica GT-Four), Parsche 911/OD 6000X (Porsche 911), or Mitsuboshi/Thunderjet (Mitsubishi Pajero).
* Early installments of ''[[VideoGame/TokyoXtremeRacer Shutokou Battle]]'' lacked licensed cars, instead using replicas of them, each named "TYPE-_____." If you get up close to a car and look at its emblem, you'll notice that it looks almost like a real brand name, but altered slightly; for example, Isuzu-like trucks have the emblem spelling out "USUZU." During ''Shutokou Battle Online'' and ''Kaido Battle: Nikko, Haruna, Rokko, Hakone'', the developers got the licenses for their real-world counterparts, although due to Honda not wanting to have their vehicles associated with illegal street racing, their cars are absent from the mainline ''Shutokou Battle'' games from this point on, and are only seen in the ''Kaido Battle'' spin-off.

* ''VideoGame/MySummerCar'': Almost every vehicle is based on a real life counterpart. Being a game set in Finland in 1995, most of the vehicles are limited to what was common over there at that time. The titular car is based on a '70s Datsun.
* NPC cars in ''[[VideoGame/EuroTruckSimulator Euro]]'' and ''VideoGame/AmericanTruckSimulator'' are very obviously real life cars with a slightly modified logo to make them legally not an IRL car according to European law. The German squad car, for example, is obviously a 2012 Volkswagen Passat, but the logo is two inverted V's, and the Renault Clio AI car has instead of the diamond a large capital O -- despite having actual Renault trucks in the lineup, possibly because the license didn't cover personal vehicles. ''American Truck Simulator'' also features what is very obviously a Ford F-150 Raptor, but with the large "Ford" badge replaced with "Frog".
* The {{retraux}} racer '''80s Overdrive'' has a lineup of 80 sports cars lookalikes including the Penetrator GT (Lamborghini Countach QV), Testosterando (Lotus Esprit, though the name is a pun on Testarossa), Intruder Turbo (Ferrari 288 GTO), Aggressor (Porsche 959), De Loan([=DeLorean=] DMC 12), and Tensor V12 (Vector W8). The traffic vehicles include Fiat 500, Dodge Omni, Chevrolet Caprice, and Jeep Wrangler stand-ins.
* ''VideoGame/SnowRunner'' plays this straight or averts this depending on the vehicle. The general rule seems to be that American (and Canadian in Pacific's case) civilian trucks are licensed while Russian trucks and military vehicles are given pseudonyms.

* The UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame series ''VideoGame/{{Cruisn}}'' initially started off with lookalikes of brand-name vehicles coupled with nameplates that are either gaudy or playing on national stereotypes, like for example the Toyota Supra {{Expy}} "Kamikaze AWD". It wasn't until the original arcade version of ''Cruis'n Exotica'' and the [[DolledUpInstallment rebadged]] Wii port of the ''Fast and the Furious'' arcade game, simply titled ''Cruis'n'', that actual licenced cars were used as opposed to lookalikes.

This practice of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debadging debadging]] tends to be applied in works of fiction in general, especially if paying royalties to car companies is a concern. Commercials or films may elect to debadge a car either to dodge royalties, to avoid implying that the producers are endorsing a particular automobile brand [[ProductPlacement unless they are paid to do so]], or to keep the car manufacturer from being portrayed in a negative light. This is largely avoided, however, due to the ''de minimis'' rule in that depictions of trademarked objects like cars are considered to be incidental unless the particular car model is the subject of the work, e.g. it would be frivolous for Toyota to sue a production company merely for its use of a Corolla as an incidental object used by the characters in a show, but that would be a different story if the Corolla nameplate itself is the subject, like a ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' character in the form of a Corolla sedan or something along those lines.

* In ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory'', the Pizza Planet delivery truck is modeled after a Toyota, though most of the letter decals on the tailgate had been removed, just leaving "YO". (At the time, it wasn't too uncommon for RealLife Toyota owners to do that deliberately.) The truck reappears in ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory2'', and the instruction manual reveals it's actually a ''Gyoza''.

'''Wildcat:''' It's not a [=McLaren=], they can't say its that for copyright reasons... it's a [=McLarry=]!

So you wanted an exotic supercar in that WideOpenSandbox MurderSimulator you're developing, but there's this negative reaction from car manufacturers if you decide to acquire a licence for said vehicle. Ferrari is particularly notorious for that, [[FanworkBan disallowing companies or even owners themselves from putting their cars in a potentially negative or unflattering right]], case in point Music/Deadmau5 whom Ferrari sent a cease-and-desist letter for violating their trademarks with the "Purrari" badges. What are you going to do then? Simple, make a car that's similar to the real life vehicle in some way, but is still distinct from the car in question. In theory this can save developers the trouble of having to pay for either royalties or lawsuits over the use of a licenced vehicle, though it is understandable that some may be put off with the lack of vehicles from actual manufacturers.

This practice of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debadging debadging]] tends to be applied in works of fiction in general, especially if paying royalties to car companies for the vehicles to be used is a concern. Commercials or films may elect to debadge a car either to dodge royalties, to avoid implying that the producers are endorsing a particular automobile brand [[ProductPlacement unless they are paid to do so]], or to keep the car manufacturer from being portrayed in a negative light. This is largely avoided however, due to the ''de minimis'' rule in that depictions of trademarked objects like cars are considered to be incidental unless the particular car model is the subject of the work, e.g. it would be frivolous for Toyota to sue a production company merely for its use of a Corolla as an incidental object used by the characters in a show, but that would be a different story if the Corolla nameplate itself is the subject, e.g. a ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' character in the form of a Corolla sedan or something along those lines.

Another benefit as far as royalties and licensing are concerned is the fact that video game developers or film studios are free to distribute their work for as long as they see fit without worrying over paying an automotive manufacturer the rights to use the vehicles. This is why some racing games [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes end up getting discontinued or do not see a re-release]], which [[WritingAroundTrademarks can be avoided]] with faux cars.

'''Wildcat:''' It's not a [=McLaren=], they can't say its that for copyright reasons...[=it's a McLarry!=]

This practice of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debadging debadging]] tends to be applied in works of fiction in general, especially if paying royalties to car companies for the vehicles to be used is a concern. Commercials or films may elect to debadge a car either to dodge royalties, to avoid implying that the producers are endorsing a particular automobile brand [[ProductPlacement unless they are paid to do so]], or to keep the car manufacturer from being portrayed in a negative light. This is largely avoided however, due to the ''de minimis'' rule in that depictions of trademarked objects like cars are considered to be incidental unless the particular car model is the subject of the work, e.g. it would be frivolous for Toyota to sue a production company merely for its use of a Corolla as an incidental object used by the characters in a show (ie. ''Manga/InitialD''), but that would be a different story if the Corolla nameplate itself is the subject, e.g. a ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' character in the form of a Corolla sedan or something along those lines.

This practice of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debadging debadging]] tends to be applied in works of fiction in general, especially if paying royalties to car companies for the vehicles to be used is a concern. Commercials or films may elect to debadge a car either to dodge royalties, to avoid implying that the producers are endorsing a particular automobile brand [[ProductPlacement unless they are paid to do so]], or to keep the car manufacturer from being portrayed in a negative light. This is largely avoided however, due to the ''de minimis'' rule in that depictions of trademarked objects like cars are considered to be incidental unless the particular car model is the subject of the work, e.g. it would be frivolous for Toyota to sue a production company merely for its use of a Corolla as an incidental object used by the characters in a show, but that would be a different story if the Corolla nameplate itself is the subject, e.g. a ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' character in the form of a Corolla sedan or something along those lines.

** Starting from ''Videogame/GrandTheftAutoIV'', car makers besides Grotti (a pastiche of Ferrari first seen on a neon sign in GTA San Andreas) and Maibatsu (which often radio advertises their car) are introduced, introducing makers that correspond with real life makers. For instance, Karin is Toyota, Dewbauchee is Aston Martin, Vapid is Ford, [[PunBasedTitle Coil]] is Tesla, and Pfister is Porsche, among many others, though said companies aren't necessarily depicted to be direct parodies of real-world marques they were largely based on--Karin for one had the Kuruma, which is odd as it is based on Mitsubishi's Lancer Evolution X. With that in mind, fans wondered why R* simply didn't use the Maibatsu brand on it considering that the Penumbra is heavily based on the 2012 Mitsubishi Eclipse.

** The Pika seems to be based on the Honda Fit.

** The Ponderosa sedan seen in the first episode is a modified Chrysler 300.