Citroen GT (2009)
The importance of the computer games industry is pretty clear to everyone these days. In 2008 the industry was worth $21 billion in the US alone. In the same year, Grand Theft Auto 4 grossed $500 million in its first week.
So, it’s no surprise to see real world companies queuing up to be a part of the Next Big Thing. In the car world, the computer game of choice for the last decade has been Gran Turismo. The latest edition of Gran Turismo, GT5 Prologue, was released mainly as a tech demo for the PS3, with a more complete version of the game due later this year, or at the start of next year, although it seems to be delayed more with each passing month.
Citroen designed the car in the picture above especially for GT5 Prologue, a nice way to build a halo car without having to spend any money on actual manufacturing or engineering. So, imaging the surprise when they went and built a show car for the 2008 Paris Auto Show, and then went on to announce that they’re going to build six of them for around $2 million each.
Then, to top it off, they went a drove it around London along some of the streets used in the game itself. Here’s the video: Citroen GT on the Streets of London (HD)
Watch out for similar activity from other car manufacturers in the future. One day you’ll be test driving and choosing the colour of your new Ford Focus on the PlayStation before you ever set foot in the showroom.
1955 Ghia Streamline
Oh, and thanks to the wonderful Horse Latitudes blog, without which I wouldn’t have come across Autopia. The picture of the Ghia Streamline above is what caught my eye at first.
[Sources: Autopia / Wired, MCV]