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Forza Horizon 6 has barely been with us two months, and the game is entering its third cycle of updates. Part of that is a new Italian-themed car pack, available to those who paid extra money for the game’s premium edition or as a separate standalone purchase. But something every player will be able to appreciate is the addition of a new limited-time dealership with exclusive cars, and, personally, I think it adds a little something this series has been missing.
You may have noticed the Motoki Auto Garage near the soccer stadium on FH6’s map. Motoki serves up a trio of “aftermarket cars,” essentially the game’s name for used vehicles that may or may not have aftermarket parts equipped, sold for a modest discount. For the upcoming season, Playground Games has temporarily rebranded Motoki to “Italian Exotics,” with new signage and a new rotation of rides, as the studio has explained in a recent blog post.
This is more than just a themed dealer, though. Some of what you’ll see for sale at this pop-up is normally only available through Wheelspins, and can’t typically be bought. Those cars include:
- 1984 Ferrari 288 GTO
- 1999 Lamborghini Diablo GTR
- 2011 Lamborghini Sesto Elemento
- 2012 Ferrari 599XX Evolution
- 2012 Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4
- 2019 Ferrari F8 Tributo
Some of what you’ll see on offer at the pop-up Italian Exotics dealership—though, the persistent will be rewarded with even rarer rides. Xbox Game Studios
I like this experiment, because it expands upon one of FH6’s better new ideas that also isn’t quite reaching its potential in its current form. Aftermarket cars are new for this installment, and while it’s cool to happen across something for sale when you’re roaming the map, these vehicles don’t necessarily feel curated or special, and if they’re extensively modded, they usually don’t look good. I find there’s little reason to purchase one unless it’s a car I know I have been meaning to buy, but keep forgetting to. Naturally, as I play the game more, that to-do list of vehicles has dwindled considerably.
So, right off the bat, the potential to nab that exclusive, rare find offers an impetus to visit. But I also like that we’re talking about a brick-and-mortar dealer—or, as much of one as you can reasonably expect in a Horizon game. It reminds me of a frankly worse version of the dealerships in the first Test Drive Unlimited, which I’d trek across that game’s huge, 1:1-scale map of Oahu to visit and spec cars out.
For me, this little tweak fosters a connection with the environment that feels richer and goes deeper than the same old act of going to the Auto Show menu and scrolling through the same billion thumbnails that we have in every Forza game going back over a decade. And it’s one that I hope informs whatever other surprises Playground has in store for FH6.
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Backed by a decade of covering cars and consumer tech, Adam Ismail is a Senior Editor at The Drive, focused on curating and producing the site’s slate of daily stories.
