According to Squares Yasuko Nakaaki, the Regalia is part of a larger theme. All the art you see in FFXV was created based on the premise that were delivering a fantasy [world] based on reality. The car itself represents freedom and Prince Noctis bond with his father. That notion came from Hajime Tabata himself: I applied my own experiences of being taught how to drive by my father, Tabata said, then later inheriting and driving my fathers car on my own.
Inspiration for the road-trip theme brings the two studios even closer. Our ties with Forza run deeper, Tabata said. The reason being, one of the games that we looked to as reference when we were creating our road trip-game was Forza Horizon 2. Thats why this collaboration is quite unbelievable and a real honor for us. Plus, according to Tabata, Square/Enix is full of car lovers; including employees who run track days in their off time or even store engines in their living room for future restoration projects.
More directly influencing the design of the Regalia was a directive from Tabata: Make it a royal car that would have a value of over $500,000. So Nakaaki looked for cars that would satisfy both demands. I looked at everything from Rolls Royce to Mercedes, Audi, Bentley, BMW, Alfa Romeo, Bugatti, even Maybach and Cadillac.