LOS ANGELES – Imagine a world where fuel economy, crash tests, and pedestrian impact standards don't exist. Where designers can run wild and engineers can concoct a powertrain that would never make it past the EPA. That world exists. It's called Gran Turismo. And Mercedes-Benz' AMG division has cooked up a car that could only live in the virtual world.
For the sixth installment of the world's greatest racing game, Mercedes' design team created the Vision Gran Turismo. Think of it as an SLS AMG, born on Mars and digitized at the hands of GT's creator, Kazunori Yamauchi.
The Vision GT is a nod to the past and a look at the future, with cues pulled from the Benz' 1930s racers and the 300SL racer that inspired the automaker's current supercar. But the glossy exterior, elongated rump, and flared wheel arches are where the similarities end.
There's a subtle air intake above the steeply raked cabin and no rear window, two sets of fuel fillers on the roof, and door sills that glow red in the night, along with LEDs surrounding the grille and sculpted rear end. Inside, the gullwing-shaped dash nixes the gauges in favor of a single slab of glass to display everything from speed to lap times, and an F1-inspired steering wheel with knobs and buttons galore.
But what's surprising about the Vision GT is its powertrain. It's not electric, or hydrogen, or nuclear-powered. It's the same twin-turbocharged V8 in the SLS AMG, putting out 577 horsepower and spitting spent hydrocarbons out of eight exhaust pipes. Even more surprising: Mercedes actually built the thing. Although from what we hear, there's no engine under that aircraft carrier-sized hood, which means a man with a remote control moves the 3,000-pound concept slowly – oh-so-slowly – into position. But that's fitting, considering you'll be able to use your own remote control – in the form of a Playstation controller – to drive the snot out of the Vision GT when Gran Turismo 6 lands next month.
All images courtesy Mercedes-Benz
