Polyphony Digital has launched the official event page for Round 1 of the 2026 Gran Turismo World Series in Milan, with the usual broadcast schedule and format details. Tucked into the announcement is a Viewers Gift campaign that has raised a few eyebrows, because the rewards on offer are something GT7 hasn’t really seen much of before.
Players who tune in to the live broadcast through GT7’s in-game stream will receive two race cars finished in deep black, listed by Polyphony as “Stealth Models” and explicitly not available for purchase elsewhere in the game.
The New Cars
The two Stealth Models tied to the Milan broadcast are split across the two championship streams. Watching the Manufacturers Cup live in-game gets you a Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) ’22 Stealth Model, while the Nations Cup stream delivers a Toyota GT-One (TS020) ’99 Stealth Model.
To collect them, viewers need to find the Viewers Campaign banner in the top-right corner of the GT7 World Map, click into the Manufacturers Cup or Nations Cup broadcast link, and watch the live stream. The Manufacturers Cup goes live on Saturday, May 23 at 15:00 UTC, with the Nations Cup following at 17:30 UTC.
The window to qualify runs from the start of each broadcast through Monday, June 8. Rewards will be distributed in-game following the next GT7 update. Neither car will be available for purchase in the in-game dealerships. If you miss the broadcast window, that’s it.
A Brief History of Stealth Models
The “Stealth Model” badge traces its history all the way back to Gran Turismo 5. It’s limited to cars wearing exclusive Polyphony-designed livery (black with subtle GT-themed branding) and, in some cases, light performance tweaks over the standard in-game version.
When GT5 launched in 2010, Stealth Models were strictly off-limits to most players. They were spread across pre-order incentives and the Signature Edition, with different cars tied to different retailers and regions. The Nissan GT-R GT500 Stealth went to Signature Edition and pre-order buyers, and was later given away free via a PSN code tied to the 2011 GT Academy finale.
Although there was some controversy as the cars were used in various free promotions later, the cars were rare enough that Autoart eventually produced 1/18-scale physical versions of three of them, starting with the Mazda 787B in early 2012.
In GT6, GT5-era Stealth Models were carried over and made available to all players, with an Audi R10 TDI Stealth Model added to the lineup, but none returned for GT Sport.
GT7 brought the concept back in the 3-car pre-order bonus pack, which included a Mazda RX-Vision GT3 Concept Stealth Model alongside the Toyota Supra GT500 ’97 (Castrol Tom’s) and the Porsche 917 Living Legend. That has been the only Stealth Model in GT7 until now, and given that pre-orders closed four years ago, the badge has effectively been dormant.
That’s what makes the Milan campaign interesting. Polyphony has gone past simply rewarding viewers with credits or a livery sticker pack, and dusted off a designation that historically signaled exclusivity (and, in GT5’s case, real-world scarcity).
The Porsche 911 GT3 R and the Toyota GT-One are both significant picks and are available only through a one-weekend campaign window. That’s a much more aggressive reward structure than recent Viewers Gift campaigns have offered.
Whether this signals a broader return of the Stealth Model concept or if it’s just a one-off for the Milan round isn’t clear yet. With two more World Series rounds to follow this season (the the Singapore stop on October 3rd and the World Finals in Tokyo on December 5-6), there’s plenty of room for Polyphony to reuse the format if it lands well.
For now, set a reminder for Saturday, May 23…
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