It's been two years since McLaren unveiled its Vision Gran Turismo, the latest in a long line of futuristic concept cars designed by renowned marques for the virtual realm. The digital creations have already begun to cross over into the real world, though, with the styling of Bugatti's 2015 contribution said to have influenced the production Chiron which launched the following year. And now McLaren is the latest to join the party, unveiling a production car inspired by its original video game machine. Well, if you ignore the fact that is hasn't been unveiled but leaked, and that only a handful of examples are actually expected to be produced, that is.
So what're the actual similarities? Beyond the images you see below, we don't have a great deal of detail on the mechanical workings of the car currently known as the BC-03. The concept was powered by the same twin-turbo, 4.0-litre V8 found in the 720S, with the front wheels independently driven by high output electric motors for a total output of 1,150hp and 940lb ft of torque. With the BC-03 being derived from McLaren's Senna hypercar, which itself makes use of that same 4.0-litre V8, such a set-up isn't completely unbelievable, though those power figures may be a little on the high side.
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For the concept, extensive use of carbon fibre was said to result in a projected kerbweight of just 1,000kg, with centrally mounted carbon-ceramic brakes keeping unsprung mass to a minimum. "Ultra-advanced active aero" improved cornering by opening a series of tiny apertures on external surfaces to create additional downforce without the need for large moving surfaces, and the driver was positioned head first inside the car for an unobstructed view of braking points and apexes.
Should the BC-03 indeed feature a hybrid set-up, it will likely find itself coming in heavier than the Senna's 1,309kg. The sculpted splitter and side skirts, Le Mans-style fin and enormous rear wing seen attached to the car in the leaked images, meanwhile, suggest that conventional aero still very much has a part to play in proceedings and, as for a head first driving position, don't hold your breath.
With the basis for the new design being so heavily reliant on an existing model, a more traditional approach ought to be expected despite the sci-fi styling, then. That doesn't mean the BC-03 won't be a mightily impressive machine, though, potentially sitting somewhere between the road-going Senna and its track-only GTR variant thanks to hybrid assistance and a whole lot of extra aero. Let us know what you think in the comments below.