Did you know that Ford has a sports department? Now you do. Launched in 2019, Team Fordzilla has more than 40 drivers spread across many European countries – such as France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK – all competing on virtual stages. But they do more than just play games.
Team Fordzilla recently partnered with Ford’s design division to create the custom virtual supercar pictured here. Dubbed as Team Fordzilla P1, the concept was unveiled at GameScon 2020 in Germany earlier this week, and it looks absolutely bonkers.
Developed under the codename “Project P1”, Ford’s exterior designer Arturo Areno wrote the final look, creating the inspiration for the iconic GT supercar and employing a number of futuristic elements. Morphing body panels, in particular, can stretch or compress the vehicle as needed. Ford says it would make the configured body panels good for both the Fordzilla P1 “Le Mans’s high speed straights … or tight circuits like Monaco”, if it were real.
Ford and Team Fordzilla used social media to finalize the look, asking fans on Twitter for input on things like seating position, cockpit style and drivetrain. All told, more than 250,000 social media followers voted on individual elements before many concepts were shown, but Areno’s idea garnered more than 83.8 percent of the vote.
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For now, the Team Fordzilla P1 concept is just a digital dream. But there’s good news for those hoping to get behind the wheel (including ourselves): Ford will produce a full-size, real-world version of the P1 concept, under the leadership of its Cologne, Germany’s design department. It’s highly unlikely you’ll buy one – but the company also said it was in talks with a “major sports developer” to potentially get the car on track in the virtual world.
Ford and his team the Fordzilla Sports team have unveiled World First at this year’s GameScom event; The ultimate virtual racing car designed in collaboration with Ford designers and the gaming community. The full revelation can be seen here.
Team Fordzilla P1 was developed under the concept code name Project P1 and was created with the votes of fans on Twitter at various design stages. Before the Ford designers worked out their interpretations briefly, gamers decided on elements including seating position, cockpit style and drivetrain.
Two designs were put forward for the final vote, with Ford’s exterior designer Arturo Ario filling the car or winning the vote. About 250,000 fans can know their preferences during the voting process.
Inspired by the Ford GT, Ario’s design employs a unique touch, such as morphing technique on the body, to get the stability of a longitudinal racer on Le Mans high-speed straights or a shorter body for rigid circuits like the Monaco. Fans wondering when they will be driving into the game, Ford hinted that it is in advanced discussions with a major sports developer to introduce the popular racing game in 2021.
Ford also announced that before the end of the year, the team will build a life-size model of the Fordzilla P1 concept, which it has begun building at its design studio in Cologne, Germany. This is part of its ongoing theme of exploring the parallels between the real world and the virtual, applying concepts to reality learned from design in the digital world.
