[imagesource: Porsche AG]

There is reason to believe that we are living in a simulation, and are mere pawns in a game that someone or something is playing in a distant and strange place.

Well, if that is the case, then the virtuality of things is piling up.

Porsche, heralded for its high-performance sports cars that can race along real roads, is getting into the virtual racing game.

For the launch of the Sony PlayStation’s Gran Turismo racing simulator game (7th edition) Porsche has, for the first time, developed a vehicle made specifically for a video game.

Look at this beauty:

Image: Porsche AG

The idea for the Porsche Vision GT is to appeal to both fans of Gran Turismo 7 and Porsche, via Robb Report:

“This creates a bridge between our fan base and fans of virtual gaming—something I’m specifically proud of,” says Fabian Schmölz, a Porsche exterior designer, whose credits include the 992 GT3 RS, 718 GT4 and a starship for the 2019 Porsche x Star Wars collaboration with Lucasfilm.

Because the game doesn’t need to comply with real-world rules and requirements, Schmölz and his team had the freedom to create absolutely anything.

They chose a design that is compact and approachable looking for the VisionGT:

“In real life, if you have an expensive hypercar, you might be too afraid to push the boundaries on the track. So this is why we made it [the VisionGT] small and fun-looking, so you’ll want to enjoy it,” he says.

There is, naturally, Porsche DNA throughout the car, from sharing design commonalities with Porsche’s real-life Mission R concept and Mission E Concept, to the rear light bar inspired by the 992-generation 911:

Image: Porsche AG

The roof canopy opens rearward like a fighter jet:

Image: Porsche AG

The virtual car even has a nifty-looking cockpit:

Image: Porsche AG

The classic and futuristic elements of this race car are meant to appeal to current and future owners alike:

“Our customers are not just from back in the day . . . the world is changing and we wanted to open the door to give every fan easy access to a highly emotional Porsche car for the race track,” says Schmölz.

What’s more, as the design process for real-life cars increasingly shifts to digital, projects like these push designers beyond just the physical:

“For sure the world is changing, and this is going to affect our process and push it further. With a project like a video game, this pushes the boundaries of how far you can actually achieve certain qualities,” he says, adding that targeting new and younger fans can help inform Porsche design.

“You reach a whole new group . . . these people grow up and maybe become our real customers in the future, and we get direct feedback of what they want and how they implement it in their culture.”

Listen to the German Porsche manufacturers speak about their virtual baby:

The Porsche Vision GT is available exclusively in Gran Turismo 7 for PS4 and PS5.

[source:robbreport]