Called the Fittipaldi EF7 Vision Gran Turismo, it’s set to appear in the game at some point, but unlike many of the other Gran Turismo ‘Vision’ cars, this one is actually going to be made!
Of course, Fittipaldi hasn’t done the whole thing himself. The car was designed in collaboration with legendary Italian styling house Pininfarina, with the engineering being taken care of by HWA – that’s the company that does a lot of Mercedes’ DTM and Formula 3 work.
The EF7 has been in development for three years and is meant to be a high performance track car that’s also easy to drive and maintain. That means that unlike many other modern high performance cars there’s no hybrid system or turbochargers, just a 4.8-litre naturally aspirated V8 pumping out 600bhp. Oh yes, proper old school!
Speaking at the car’s launch Fittipaldi, said: “This is the happiest day of my life! Growing up in Brazil, even before I wanted to race, I dreamed of building a GT car. Thanks to a lot of creative partners, it’s now here for everyone to see.
“What was important to me in creating the EF7 is that the car not only provides pure passion and adrenaline but will also be forgiving and safe for drivers of all skill levels. Owner-drivers can expect reliability, lower maintenance cost and minimal mechanic and tech teams – which means more time and elation on the track.”
Adding to the racing credentials is a sequential gearbox, and both the monocoque and bodywork are made entirely from carbon fibre, so it’ll be incredibly light. The options list also has two of the coolest features of surely any car: you can pick your own racing livery and a number. Oh, and everybody who buys one will also get some personal coaching from Emerson himself. How cool is that?!
The one currently on show at Geneva is just a concept, and the styling is set to change slightly, but the first production examples are set to appear early in 2018. Only 39 EF7s will be made – one for every championship and victory he has in F1 and IndyCar – and while there’s no indication of price yet, you can bet it’ll be somewhere in the region of £loads.
Emerson has no intention of this being a one-off thing either. For his company, Fittipaldi Motors, the EF7 is apparently only the first in a series of cars, so if all goes well chances are we’ll be seeing much more from his company. As long as it does better than his F1 team I think he’ll be ok.