From your TV to your garage in 1.8 million dollars
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At the 2008 Paris Motor Show Citroën tried something new and different with its marketing: it partnered up with the people behind [what my calloused thumbs and I think of as] the greatest racing series of all time, Gran Turismo. The idea was to create a very special concept, one that fused the intangible sparks of dreams with the knife's edge of reality. The result arrived in the form of the GTbyCitroën.
While the GT began as a high-end concept - based on a car from Gran Turismo 5 Prologue - in order to show off design capabilities, it may have just been approved for production. The details aren’t exact yet (for that we’ll have to wait for the Frankfurt Auto Show in September), but production numbers could be as low as six or as high as twenty, depending on who you believe and how hopeful you are that the ticket in your hand is the Powerball winner.
Apparently the final, road-going version will be significantly influenced by the concept (one would hope), including but not limited to the variety of exotic touches such as its carbon fiber body, the sculpted copper interior with steel highlights, and the LED head-up-display. If it could get those 21-inch aluminum wheels and realistically-silly-but-visually-delicious sharp edges, well, that would be nice, too. What definitely won’t make it to the final version is the drive train. Under the sleek shell of the video game version resides a hydrogen fuel cell which is powered by four electric motors that help it develop a digital 780 horsepower. The production model is rumored to be getting a 500+ horse “Made in the good ol’ USA” V8 from GM or Ford (I’m thinking the ZR1’s LS9 would be a good fit). Even if it is some powerhouse like the LS9, I would hope that for the estimated $1.8 million price a significant amount of work would be done to it to help differentiate it from the lump in the Bowtie.
Designed by Yamamoto Takumi, a friend of Gran Turismo-creator/Polyphony Digital CEO Yamauchi Kazunori, the GTbyCitroën captures precisely the kind of car kids dream of when they’re five years old and playing with crayons. Now Citroën is going to build it, making those fantasies a reality for a few lucky people.
Images: Citroën ; Polyphony
Video: whaswanr via youtube ; for a Hi-Def version, CLICK THIS
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