Jalopnik has a nice little feature on how shiny drivable boxes are digitally scanned for the final release of Gran Turismo HD. The binary reproduction process includes two men in jumpsuits dimming the lights and unloading a bunch of lasers on a given car. Not sharks with lasers, but lasers none-the-less.
"It was bizarre. A red line swept across the interior. It was sort of a spacey type of a deal. The room was somewhat dimly lit, and you would see this red line sweep across - bzzzzzzzzt. As soon as it finished it was producing a 3d wireframe model to scale on the screen."
After wireframing is complete, four more nerds take comprehensive photos and videos to fill in the gaps, like turning wheels, braking, opening the hood, and every other type of human-to-car interaction imaginable. Better driving games through technology.