Do you want an actual modern take on the Ford GT? Forget that thing that that Ford actually makes right now, the Fordzilla P1 concept is perhaps actually more in line with the original Ford GT’s ethos. Instead of competing for the GTE Pro victory, which it took a few years back, Ford should really have been vying for the overall at Le Mans. And if you’re going to extrapolate an LMP1 class car for the street, you could do worse than this one.
Apparently Ford of Europe teamed up with its e-sports racing series racers Fordzilla to sort of crowdsource the design for this concept car, which it is calling Fordzilla P1. Around a quarter of a million people voted on different aspects of the car’s design, including seating position, cockpit design, and drivetrain. Once the aspects of the car were set, a design competition ensued, and Ford exterior designer Arturo Ariño produced the winning design, seen here.
The Fordzilla P1 is said to be the “ultimate virtual racing car” with morphing bodywork for active aerodynamics, a high-powered Ford EcoBoost engine, and judging by the video of the car in virtual action, an uncanny ability to negotiate corners. Clearly this thing is both lightweight and aerodynamically advanced to make stuff like that work. I’m not sure what the lights in the tires are all about, but it looks neat on screen.
It’s pretty obvious that this thing will never see the light of day as a running driving car, but Ford says it will be building a full-scale model of the car to debut later this year. Whether that will include any of the active bodywork is yet to be seen. Ford is also working to get this vehicle inserted into a famous racing video game. Considering that its Fordzilla teams race in Forza, Gran Turismo, iRacing, and Assetto Corsa, it honestly could be any of these.
The debut of this car coincided with the first night of Gamescom 2020 in Cologne, Germany on Thursday.
Is this a preview of Ford’s commitment to running in the FIA WEC’s Hypercar class against Toyota and Glickenhaus? Doubtful. Is it still pretty neat to look at? Yeah, why not? As a concept car, Ford could have done a lot worse than this. Remember the GT90? That was cool. This is the next extension of that.
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