Vision Gran Turismo: 18 exclusive concepts from the world's top design studios [w/Video]

After yesterday's news that Gran Turismo 6 will feature an exclusive car from BMW, it seems it's not alone, with 17 other brands creating bespoke designs for the Vision Gran Turismo project.

Design teams from Alfa Romeo, Alpine, Aston Martin, Audi, BMW, Bertone, GM Design, Honda, Infiniti, Italdesign Giugiaro, JORDAN Brand, Mercedes-Benz, Nike, Nissan, Peugeot, SRT, Volkswagen and Zagato are creating models for the latest edition in the series. The project comes as a result of a collaboration between the game's creators and its design partners to celebrate the franchise's 15-year anniversary.

Volkswagen designers are exploring the future of the Golf GTI by developing the Golf GTI Vision Gran Turismo, while the Alfa Romeo team responsible for the 4C has created the Alfa Romeo 6C Biposto Vision Gran Turismo, which celebrates the original 1930's Biposto. Mercedes-Benz's offering, the AMG Vision Gran Turismo, features some of the brand's classic design cues and Nike makes a second entry into the Gran Turismo series following its Nike ONE concept Gran Turismo 4.

Kazunori Yamauchi, producer Gran Turismo, president Polyphony Digital and senior vice president Sony Computer Entertainment says, "[Vision Gran Turismo] promises to provide a window into the future of automotive design that we can bring to life in Gran Turismo 6."

The last major anniversary was in 2008 on its tenth birthday, when Polyphony Digital held the Downshift Session 2008 at the New York automotive membership club ‘Classic Car Club Manhattan', where the main attraction was Gran Turismo 5 Prologue running at a super-high resolution on a 220-inch (5.6 m) screen using a Sony projector.

Suffice to say, it's likely the 15th anniversary Vision Gran Turismo project will enflame the passions of car fans considerably more.

By Rufus Thompson