A racing simulator is a piece of technology which interests many automobile enthusiasts and gamers alike. A wide range of available products serve multiple different purposes, from arcade gaming to race driver development, and some of the most exclusive simulators which are worth upwards of a million dollars also serve more important applications like development of race cars for racing teams, including testing prototype parts, or even entire prototype cars. While you wouldn't need to have a million dollar racing simulator at your home - unless you are a top paid Formula 1 driver - you could very well have a decent racing simulator at your home for as little as $1000.
A basic home racing simulator
These racing simulators - though very functional - are rarely aesthetically pleasing. While the setup might look great to a technology or motorsport fan, it looks very purposeful and out of place to be kept at display in a drawing room of a house. This is exactly what was the thought process of the chairman of Prodrive, David Richards, and he decided to create a home racing simulator that would look like a piece of art whilst also being technologically advanced and highly functional.
"Most racing simulators on the market today are very functional but not particularly attractive. What I wanted was something that was more like a piece of modern art; something you would be proud to have on display in your home like a grand piano or sculpture, indeed something that would not look out of place in a gallery of contemporary art", he said.
"Designing the simulator was a great opportunity to create something technically stimulating as well as visually abstract", said Ian Callum, ex-Jaguar car designer and founder of CALLUM, an independent automotive and product design agency which is designing the Prodrive racing simulator.
CALLUM has created a design for the simulator to make it look like a designer furniture piece, and has used a mixture of natural materials and carbon composites to give it a unique appeal.
Prodrive says that the first Prodrive motorsport simulators will be manufactured at the company's headquarters in Banbury, UK and will be available in the Summer.
