Ford build a full size version of Team Fordzilla’s Extreme P1 gaming race car

Digitising real cars to be driven in computer games is nothing new, but this just might be the first time any car manufacturer has brought a virtual gaming car to life: Team Fordzilla’s P1 race car.

Gamers were asked to vote on features for the car on Twitter, including seating configuration, engine position, cockpit, etc., and over 200,000 votes were submitted throughout the polling process.

The Team Fordzilla P1 race car features an exterior designed by Arturo Ariño and an interior that was the vision of Robert Engelmann, both Ford designers.

The car is built around the monocoque structure partially covered by a large, jet fighter-style canopy, protecting the driver and co-driver. The exterior is a combination of a sleek GT-like front end and extremely sculpted bodyside panels, with their highly memorable twist and floating buttresses visually connecting the cockpit with the rear wheels. 

An integrated screen on the steering wheel enables live data exchange with the team at the pit wall. The whole interior is designed to help the race car driver to minimize any sort of distraction during the race and heighten the enjoyment of racing. 

Team Fordzilla P1 is Ford’s first ever car built digitally without any face-to-face interaction. Due to the current pandemic, it was designed by a team who had never met, working remotely, spread across five different countries and built in just seven weeks – that’s less than half of the time it would normally take. The finished build is a full-size, inside-outside model with extreme proportions and truly unmistakable character.