Gran Turismo is Italian for grand touring or "grand tourisme". These terms are used to describe long distance or endurance races like 24 hours of Le Mans, Mille Miglia, Targa Florio, Carrera Panamericana and the high-powered sportscars which compete there, like, e.g., Ferrari 250 GT0 , Porsche 911 GT3.
After these famous races and cars, several road cars and even computer games adopted the Gran Turismo name:
