Wired: Citroën Brings GT From PlayStation to Pavement

In a case of life imitating a video game, Citroën has confirmed that it will build an extremely low-volume production version of the GT originally created for the PlayStation 3 racing sim Gran Turismo 5.

Revealed as a concept car at last year’s Paris Auto Show, the GT was penned by PSA Peugeot-Citroën designer Takumi Yamamoto in a tie in with the virtual car available to players of GT5. Now, AutoCar and other sources have confirmed that six — count ‘em, six – examples of the carbon-fiber bodied beauty will be built and sold for about $2 million.

Already, a video (below) of the GT concept driving through the streets of London shows it gets more attention than a Sonia Sotomayor speech.

No word yet on the drivetrain — that’ll be announced officially when the production version is revealed at this September’s Frankfurt Motor Show — but AutoCar cites Citroën Products and Markets head Vincent Besson saying a General Motors of Ford V8 might make it under the hood. Whatever winds up in the engine bay, it will be mated to a paddle-shifted manual.

We were hoping for a production version of the diesel-hybrid first shown in the Hypnos concept, or at least an Italian-sourced powerplant in the vein of the legendary SM, but anything will do in a car that looks sogood.

According to the New York Times, the GT will be sold worldwide, making it the first Citroën available stateside since the last grey market XMs hit US shores in 1994. We bet one will end up in Dubai, and another will end up on wreckedexotics.com.

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2009/07/citroen-gt/