This is Mercedes letting its hair down. Meet the AMG Vision Gran Turismo, an impossibly outlandish 300SL-inspired supercar that’s been created in partnership with Gran Turismo video game makers Polyphony Inc.
The Vision GT will be a playable car in the latest release in the franchise, Gran Turismo 6, along with several as yet unknown concepts from other major carmakers.
What’s the ‘spec’ of the crazy Mercedes Vision GT?
The car is powered by AMG’s 577bhp, 590lb ft twin-turbo 5.5-litre V8 mill from the uprated ‘S’ versions of the CLS63, E63 and S63 AMG. There’s a paddleshift gearbox on board, and the front-mid mounted engine breathes out via eight (yes, eight) exhaust outlets faired into the rear valance. Mercedes claims the car’s in-game sound has been tuned to celebrate the V8’s ‘love of high revs’.
Thanks to an aluminium spaceframe chassis, carbonfibre body panels and carbon-ceramic brakes, the Vision GT is light. The car weighs (or rather would weigh if it were real) just 1385kg – 310kg less than an SLS AMG. Purported performance figures for the car have not been announced.
So tell me more about that insane styling!
The front grille’s shape recalls that of the 1952 300SL racing car’s intake, but here it’s illuminated with LED strips, and intricate, cheese grater-like detailing similar to the grilles fitted to top-spec A-class and CLA models.
While the body’s overall shape has been styled for dramatic aerodynamic efficiency, hence its teardrop shape, the enormous wheels squeezed into bulging wheelarches, plus that bulbous bonnet create a stance quite unlike any car in or out of the Mercedes stable.
Inside, the two-seater cockpit has been inspired by Formula One technology, though no pictures have yet been released confirming this. Mercedes hints the cabin features a head-up display, bucket seats moulded into the floor structure to increase integral strength, and a racing car’s steering wheel. Access to and from the interior is granted by signature Mercedes gullwing doors.
It’s not the first time that Gran Turismo has brought out a carmaker’s wild side. In 2008, Citroen created the GTbyCitroen concept for GT5, and Red Bull’s Adrian Newey designed the 249mph X1: his idea of the ultimate no-compromise F1 car.
When can I see the Mercedes Vision Gran Turismo for myself?
A 1:1-scale model will be present at the opening of the new Mercedes- Research & Development Center in Sunnyvale, California on 19 November 2013. If that’s a bit of a trek, hang on until December 2013, and the release of Gran Turismo 6 for PlayStation 4.