North Carolina woman's son bought GTA V with her credit card and before she knew it she had a real life $170,000 Bravado Banshee at her door
Published on Sep 28, 2026 at 1:27 PM (UTC+4)
by Alessandro Renesis
Last updated on Sep 28, 2026 at 1:28 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Mason Jones
This woman in North Carolina managed to win a real-life Bravado Banshee, the Dodge Viper lookalike you may have seen in the GTA game.
While the car was free after her son entered a giveaway with her credit card, she still had a few issues with it.
Starting with the fact she couldn’t sell it.
And that was for a reason that may be surprising.
Why Rockstar Games created the Banshee
GTA transitioned from 2D to 3D well over 20 years ago and back then, Rockstar Games’ budget, while generous, was still finite.
As a result, the gaming studio realized they didn’t have the budget to pay so many car brands to allow them to showcase real cars in the game.
So they created equivalents.
The Banshee, for example, is obviously the GTA version of the Dodge Viper SRT-10.
So the car you see here is the real-life version of a gaming car designed to resemble a real-life car.
Parkour.
How this North Carolina woman ended up with a GTA car
Back in the early 2010s, North Carolina mom Cheri Parker got more involved with Grand Theft Auto than she probably ever imagined.
Back then, the North Carolina native told her son he could buy the latest GTA game, and he could do so using her credit card.
It turns out that, at the same time her son bought the game, a special competition was being held.
She had no idea, and her son had no idea.
By pure coincidence, legendary tuner West Coast Customs had built a real-life GTA Bravado Banshee car around the same time.
And, again by pure coincidence, her purchase just so happened to qualify.
But then something went wrong.
What happened to the Bravado Banshee
Instead of keeping it, Parker wanted to capitalize on the game and sell it in order to fund her son’s college tuition, which was understandable.
However, she may have overestimated the value of the Bravado Banshee.
She had originally listed the car for $170,000.
Back then, around 10 years ago, the car market wasn’t as crazy as it is today, and $170,000 was enough to buy a long list of new or used supercars, including the real Dodge Viper.
So, unsurprisingly, it didn’t sell.
A year later, she listed the car on eBay – this time for $45,200.
This time, it did sell.
We’re not sure that was enough to pay for college tuition all the way.
But hey, it was still free money.
Alessandro is an automotive journalist with 10 years of experience covering supercars, automotive history, emerging vehicle technology, and luxury transportation. He wrote the first article published on SupercarBlondie.com when the website launched in 2022 and has since built a reputation for insightful reporting across the automotive and transportation industries. His expertise is grounded in hands-on experience. Alessandro has driven every Tesla model ever produced, from the original Roadster to the Cybertruck, and regularly covers the latest developments in electric vehicles and automotive innovation. His passion for transportation extends beyond cars, he has even flown a Boeing 787 Dreamliner simulator in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. His reporting spans everything from classic American muscle cars and rare automotive discoveries to luxury yachts, private aircraft, high-end watches, and cutting-edge vehicle technology. Known for his deep knowledge of automotive history and ability to uncover the stories behind iconic vehicles, Alessandro brings readers a blend of historical context, technical expertise, and first-hand experience.
