No one at Bugatti is saying it officially, but if you read between the lines of their recent press release, there are more than a few hints that the Vision Gran Turismo concept foreshadows a lot of the technology – and possibly the design itself – for the upcoming 1500 hp Bugatti Chiron. Here are five statements in the release that lead us to believe that there’s more than just a little Chiron in the Vision Gran Turismo design.
1. “Bugatti fans, petrol heads and gamers have reason to look forward to the 66th International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt. Specifically for the motor show, Bugatti has transformed a virtual project into tangible reality.” Why go to all the trouble and considerable expense to create a prototype of a digital race car if you’re not going to use the exercise for the development of an upcoming model?
2. Bugatti’s design and engineering leaders were involved in this concept. “The virtual race car was developed in close cooperation with the Bugatti engineers and is based on cutting-edge racing technology and precise aerodynamic analyses.”
3. This was clearly an exercise in transferring the brand’s considerable heritage into something new and fresh. Sasha Selipanov, the Head of Exterior Design Creative Development said, “Under no circumstances did we want to create a retro-style race car in memory of the successes in Le Mans, but rather to transfer the feeling and mood of these special moments in Bugatti’s history to a modern vehicle.”
4, While most Gran Turismo concepts from other manufacturers have been pure fantasy, Bugatti execs talk about this project in real-world terms. “We wanted to create a project as realistic as possible for our fans and put a real Bugatti in the virtual world of the PlayStation video game franchise,” explained Frank Heyl, the head of Exterior Design for Production Development at Bugatti. “Every design characteristic is defined by its function. Bugatti Vision Gran Turismo is the perfect symbiosis of engineering and aesthetics.”
5. They sweated the details. “An interesting detail on the roof is the NACA air intake, which, with its contrasting light blue finish, not only has a strikingly beautiful shape but also makes a crucial contribution to the control of the aerodynamic conditions on top of and at the rear of the car without compromising the effectiveness of the impressive rear wing.”
Will the Chiron look exactly like the Vision concept presented here? Probably not, but we’d be shocked if there weren’t some similarities between this digital race car and Bugatti’s next supercar which will make its public debut in the very near future.