Bugatti Vision Gran Turismo unveiled ahead of Frankfurt debut

Kuala Lumpur: The French supercar has revealed images and preliminary details about the Bugatti Vision Gran Turismo, which will debut at the 2015 Frankfurt motor show. Bugatti has joined the pantheon of automakers taking part in the Vision Gran Turismo video game challenge, with its design taking the form of a stunning supercar-turned-racer.

The design is said to be an homage to Bugatti's racing history, specifically the victories at Le Mans in 1937 and 1939 in the Type 57 Tank. The blue paintwork reflects the 37 car's two-tone livery and a virtual racer.

After showing a teaser of a NACA duct in August 2015, today it has issued a set of renderings of the virtual car. Actual image of the supercar can be only seen at the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show. According to Bugatti, “the design of the virtual race car is about celebrating Bugatti’s racing history and is based on state-of-the-art technology.”

“The Bugatti design team normally works only for the exclusive and very distinguished circle of the brand’s customers. Now Bugatti Vision Gran Turismo has given us the opportunity, for the first time, to do something special for our fans as well,” explained Achim Anscheidt, the head of Bugatti Design.

“In view of the nature of the project, our concept car for ‘Vision Gran Turismo’ will be exaggerated and extremely performance-oriented. Even so, the progressive design language will give an impressive demonstration of the path to be taken by Bugatti design over the next few years,” he added.

This is the first time a Bugatti has ever appeared in Gran Turismo. Polyphony Digital Inc has sold 70 million games since its launch in 1997. 'Bugatti is admired and loved by countless people throughout the world,' said Bugatti president Wolfgang Durheimer. 'We highly appreciate this enthusiasm. The Bugatti Vision Gran Turismo will make our brand available to them as well as to gamers and high-performance aficionados throughout the world, only very few of whom will be able to afford a real Bugatti. This is a project for our fans.

The concept vehicle design mimics the one used on the Type 57 Tank and which came signify French race cars of that era. Another nod to the Type 57 are the fins that start on the front wing, run along and then off the back of the roof, and then down the rear spoiler.

Looking instantly recognizable, the study features the most important characteristics of Bugatti, including the side profile, the ‘’ front grille, flanked by “eight-eyed” LED headlights, and the center fin, employed in two versions on the concept - one on the front and rear wings and the other running the length of the roof.