The Weird and Wonderful World of Gran Turismo's Cars

As it was the initial release and Polyphony Digital was still experimenting on the format, the first Gran Turismo from 1997/8 didn't contain a lot of surprise automobiles. Nonetheless, it exposed those of us in Europe to fast Mitsubishis from throughout the world and America and Japan to Blackpool's TVR. It's something we take for granted now, but it was shocking back then.

Gran Turismo cars featured a huge number and diversity of racing cars, and whether they're modified for car racing to look like the real-world competitors or even the true-and-tried machines, there's a lot more to such GT cars than meets the eye.

Photo Credit: www.gtplanet.net

M12 GT2

The first is a 1998 American Spirit Racing Vector M12 GT2, also known as an M12 LM Edition in the game. In 1998, the M12 competed in the GT2 racing class against BMW and Porsche, with mixed results. As a result, in order to "recompense for the absence of legacy," the measure of enhancing brand image was taken.

The vehicle looked the part when it entered its maiden race in Las Vegas, powered by a similar 5.7-litre Lamborghini V12 engine and modified with an aggressive and powerful aerodynamic package. Still, after a unfortunate qualifying position along with the DNF because of the overheating, the project was short-lived and got eventually shelved.

Photo Credit: www.gtplanet.net

Mercedes-Benz AMG Vision GT

Back in those days of the Gran Turismo 6, in the late 2013, Mercedes-Benz was the first to showcase a Vision Gran Turismo concept. The business is among the few cars to have produced a full-scale duplicate of this car, and the interest in AMG's Vision GT is known to have lately risen thanks to the news that Ben Affleck's Bruce Wayne will be seen driving one of these in the upcoming film of Justice League. Nonetheless, it is one of the most attractive, with a smooth style similar to that seen on its production vehicles.

Mitsubishi Concept XR-PHEV Evolution Vision GT

Mitsubishi explained its Evolution brand in the latest Tokyo car show and it was thought to be as one of the substantial advancements of current vehicle classes, not just rally-bred saloons. When Gran Turismo 6 was released in 2014, it meant SUVs, and the XR-PHEV was among them. It's a plug-in fusion, as the name implies, with the CFRP body that keeps the weight down with a torque-vectoring the overall-wheel-drive system that distributes power.

Subaru Viziv GT Vision GT

If you're familiar with the Subaru Viziv name, you've certainly seen this one during the coverage of the Tokyo auto show, where Subaru unveiled a sporty fast back-style 4-door that teased the upcoming WRX STI. Unfortunately, many of the Viziv's more dramatic features will likely be toned down in the actual car - but then again, Subaru Viziv Vision GT is much more spectacular. The 591 BHP engine, which is naturally horizontally opposed and combined with 3 electric motors, drives a 1380 kg body frame through all the four wheels. This initially appeared in GT6 in late 2014, and, like other Vision GTs, it reappears in GT Sports.

Photo Credit: pictures.topspeed.com

Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 GTS-1

The 1995 Morrison Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 GTS-1 comes up next. The #96 car that raced in the year of 1995 season was built in the 1992- 1993, rendering it obsolete by the time the twenty four hours of the Daytona rolled around. Morrison Motorsports would finally field the Corvette after struggling to stay up with the competition during its IMSA campaign.

The ZR-1 only raced in one event, in a GTS-1 class. On the race day, Don Knowles, Stu Hayner, John Heinricy, and Andy Pilgrim was known to drive the ZR-1 to the finish of the 10th overall, completing 3rd in the Gran Turismo S-1 class, after qualifying 29th out of 74 cars. Considering the odds, this is unquestionably a remarkable achievement.