The Lexus LS400 from the Classic ‘Street Fighter II’ Video Game Has Been Turned into a Real Car

· 3 min read
  • In a truly excellent movie promotion stunt, a 16-bit bonus-stage car has been created in real life.
  • Not officially a Lexus, but an exact match for an LS400, the “smash 'em up” car level is a video game classic.
  • The real version has a pixelated look and YOU WIN headrests.

Anyone who ever picked up a controller for a Super Nintendo and got to scrapping it out as their favorite Street Fighter II character will have enjoyed hitting the special stage. There, instead of a sumo wrestler with a flurry of slaps, or a green swamp monster with electric power, you could take a break by mashing buttons and beating the absolute seat stuffing out of a Lexus L400.

Why? Well, the reason was pretty convoluted. According to the official Street Fighter lore, the car-bashing scene was supposed to be a used-car dealer's stunt in disposing of unsold inventory. In actuality, it might well have been inspired by U.S. autoworkers smashing Japanese imports in protest in the 1980s.

A dirty car in a studio above an animated character performing an action with another car in a waterfront setting.

The General auto insurance

Whatever the case, battering a digital car made for a cathartic break in the game, and a moment that many a grown-up gamer looks back on with nostalgic fondness. With the new live-action Street Fighter movie opening October 16, fans will no doubt be delighted to see a brief glimpse of scenes where cars are again getting smashed up by fighters in the most recent trailers.

Here’s something even better: the Street Fighter bonus stage Lexus has been taken out of the digital world and into the real one. Officially, the game car isn’t actually a Lexus L400, as it wasn’t licensed, but basically everyone’s always known that’s what it is. Since those cars actually exist, making one look like it was rendered with 16-bit graphics was a unique challenge.

For the team at Vehicle Effects, which built many of the cars for the Fast & Furious series of movies, it wasn’t a particularly high-difficulty setting. Round one, get the exterior paintwork right, with a pixelated effect. Round two, redo the interior with “You Win” embroidered right into the headrests. Round three, swap out the heated-seat controls for an arcade-style coin holder.

It’s all pretty cool and actually far too nice to be smashed up for real. Instead, the Street Fighter car is being given away in a sweepstakes, which also includes a cash prize of $25,400.69. The contest is in partnership with The General auto insurance company and is limited to U.S. residents.

Talk about the perfect car for taking to the movie premiere. Or perhaps not, when you return to the parking lot to find that a bear-sized Russian Wrestler and a masked man with a clawed hand are absolutely tearing it to pieces.

➡️ Skip the lot. Let Car and Driver help you find your next car.

Brendan McAleer is a freelance writer and photographer based in North Vancouver, B.C., Canada. He grew up splitting his knuckles on British automobiles, came of age in the golden era of Japanese sport-compact performance, and began writing about cars and people in 2008. His particular interest is the intersection between humanity and machinery, whether it is the racing career of Walter Cronkite or Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki's half-century obsession with the Citroën 2CV. He has taught both of his young daughters how to shift a manual transmission and is grateful for the excuse they provide to be perpetually buying Hot Wheels.