This is the Aston Martin DP-100 concept, the British sports car manufacturer’s concept for the popular Gran Turismo racing game. Officially called the Design Prototype Vision Gran Turismo 100, the DP-100 was developed in-house by the Aston Martin design team over the course of six months.
Led by design director Marek Reichman, the design team started with nothing but the traditional ‘blank sheet of paper’ before combining their efforts with design engineers to create the latest addition to the Vision Gran Turismo stable. Clearly pushing the boundaries of what an Aston Martin could be, DP-100 was designed to “look beautiful” but also boasts a high degree of engineering integrity, says Reichman.
Powered by a twin-turbo mid-mounted V12 offering up to 800bhp, the concept is endowed with blistering physical performance, in keeping with the high octane nature of the game. In order to extract the full potential of the engine’s power, designers sought to optimize the aerodynamic efficiency of the car’s body as well.
“[The] DP-100 has been an exciting and intensive project for the team here at Gaydon,” says Reichman. “Features such as the car’s revolutionary ‘active aerodynamics’ are there not just as a way of enhancing form, but also to support the car’s function in-game.
“As with the CC100 Speedster Concept, many of the design cues visible in DP-100, such as the light blade rear lamps, could also feed through into future sports cars that we’ll launch in the offline world so the importance of this project should not be underestimated.”
Created using same techniques as applied in the development of Aston Martin production cars – hand sketches and 3D modeling, followed by full realization in the virtual world – DP-100 provides an exceptional level of detail with a fully functioning suspension system and state-of-the-art electronics.
“I was surprised by the bold proposal of the car being the first midship layout model in Aston Martin history,” Polyphony Digital President Kazunori Yamauchi recalls upon seeing the car at Aston Martin’s headquarters for the first time. “While it is clean and classy in design, it is also very emotional. Not only that, there was this future Aston Martin in front of me, that was so detailed it could be released on the market pretty much as is.”
Aston Martin has supported previous editions of the long-running and hugely successful Gran Turismo racing series, debuting in the very first game with the Aston Martin DB7 Coupé and Volante. The 2011 Aston Martin One-77 is already a popular car in the Gran Turismo 6 stable.
