As McLaren revealed their Gran Turismo Concept, called the BC-03, a digital-only semi-fantasy racing vehicle unconstrained from the limitations of real-world materials, cost, or the various headaches of series production, the world wondered how such a thing could come out of the level-headed folks at Woking.
The concept, which is playable in Polyphony Digital’s motorsport simulation game for the Playstation console, resembled nothing from McLaren’s past or present cars except the fact that it uses a hybrid powertrain similar to that powering the P1. It had crazy aero-inspired body, centre-mounted brake rotors, and a head first, belly down, totally horizontal driving position that raises too many questions.
Then again, it was made for a video game, so we shrugged and started to appreciate the car as a sort of vent for McLaren’s best and brightest to explore their wilder ideas. But here we are in late 2018 and apparently the company’s Special Operations division has been tasked with building a real car very similar to the BC-03 designed for Gran Turismo.
The latest MSO project will, then, be truly one of a kind, created for a very deep-pocketed client as confirmed by McLaren themselves when prodded by Pistonheads, saying: "BC-03 is a bespoke customer commission being created by McLaren Special Operations," but it withheld any details "because the specifics of the project are confidential between MSO and its client”.
It’s possible, though unlikely, that the Vision GT version’s lie-down style cockpit will be made into a reality. However, keeping things realistic, what probably is on the horizon are faithful recreations of the rest of the car’s body and hybrid powertrain comprising of a 4.0-litre bi-turbo V8 and front axle-mounted electric motor.
Outputs in the game suggest power could come close to the concept’s 857kW (1,150hp). Paired to a very light kerb weight thanks to copious use of carbon fibre and titanium, as well as all-wheel drive and a instantaneous torque from that electric motor, the BC-03 could become one of the world’s quickest cars bar-none - if only it wasn’t a one-off.
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