The 2011 Gran Turismo Awards were held last Thursday night in Las Vegas, and Kazunori Yamauchi himself selected this year’s “Best in Show” winner: a 1971 Chevrolet Camaro, customized and tuned by Mary Pozzi of Salinas, California.
The Camaro beat out an impressive and diverse set of GT Awards finalists in the other categories, including:
- Best Truck/SUV: Casey Scranton’s CGS Performance Ford F150
- Best Domestic Car: Filip Trojanek’s 1966 Widebody Ford Mustang
- Best Asian Import: Mike Mixon’s custom Nissan 370Z
- Best European Import: Mark Arcenal’s custom 1990 Porsche 911 C4
- Best Hot Rod: Marry Pozzi’s custom 1971 Chevrolet Camaro
Mary has been involved with motorsports for many years, and actually drives the car in competitive events. Take a look at this video for more background on Mary’s accomplishments, her thoughts on suspension tuning, and a look at the car in action:
As with previous award winners, the Camaro will be included in the GT franchise at some point in the future, though Kazunori didn’t yet know exactly when that would be when I asked him.
I was personally on hand for the event and toured the SEMA show floor with Kazunori Yamauchi, where he had a surprise encounter with the legendary Nobuhiro ‘Monster’ Tajima – the real-world pilot of Gran Turismo’s Suzuki Escudo Pikes Peak, and the current world record holder of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, set earlier this year (here’s a video of his 9:51 run).
The GT Awards party was held at the Marquee Nightclub in Las Vegas’ Cosmopolitan Hotel, with a special performance by the Stone Temple Pilots. It was an incredible event, and it was great meeting so many GTPlanet readers and community members, North American GT Academy champion Bryan Heitkotter, and GT super-fan Adam Barrera (known in the forums as HondaKid86).
Congratulations to Mary and all the category winners, and thanks to Sony for providing me the opportunity to attend this event!
See more articles on Gran Turismo Awards, Gran Turismo Awards 2011, Kazunori Yamauchi, Polyphony Digital, and SEMA.
how cool will it be if they got all the cars from the awards show ever and put them in the game, just a thought
Well I’m wondering, how the suspension will work..Being that car has AirRide ie, bags instead of springs..
Why not the Production 2012 Ford BOSS 302 it would be a EPIC giant killer in GT5. Or since its SEMA the Ford turn key BOSS302S race cars?
Jordan: it was a pleasure to meet you and Bryan at SEMA, and I hope to see you there next year, too.
Quite a show, eh?
i hope they include all of these Award Winners into the game! The custom F-150 would be AWESOME!!!!
so would the 65 Mustang!
I like the Camaro an all but if older American Muscle is possible I’d like to see these…..1977 Oldsmobile 442
1964 Chevy TWO
1968 Chevy Nova SS
1977Trans Am & 1997Trans Am WS6
1972 Ford Gran Torino
1970 Oldsmobile Cutlass
1986 Mustang SVO- 1993 Mustang Cobra- 1970 Mustang Boss………
don’t forget the Oldest Pony! The 64 1/2 – 65 Mustang GT!!!
If GT5 got Porshe, i would like to drive that carerra( Spelled? ) that has that high pitch engine.
we want some high power FWD drag cars ex… 700-1,200hp Hondas ;)
Nice choice! at least its a Chevy! lol. One question though, Will it be 725,000 CR?
a few laps on the Ferarri Circuit De La Sarthe Seasonal event would make that money and more in no time!
great choice! Thats my favorite body style camaro, and i love pro touring cars!
Well that makes it official, there will be all generations of camaros in Gran Turismo, the only 2 that’ll need to be premium-ized will be the 3rd gen and the 4th gen camaros, of course I couldn’t care less about the 4th gen camaro (I hate the design, it looks nothing like a muscle car), the 3rd gen camaro on the other hand, well, most people have already heard me preach about how much I want that car premium-ized, lol
I like this camaro. :) Reminds me of “Sega GT 2002”.
That wide bodied Mustang looks good. Take two!
We need more british cars please, i would love to see the old aston’s as premium’s, as well as that car no 1 can spell the Kerningzeg, the car that tryed to kill the stig on british Top Gear ( not british but would love to see it in game ). No aston Race cars whats going on there :(
The car you try to spell is the Koenigsegg A creation of the mind from the Swede: Christian.V Koenigsegg .
a company how has already three models, the CCX from 2006, the CCXR from 2007 and this years model the Agera.
Awaiting that interview, Jordan! Haha :)
Congratulations Mary, can’t wait to drive that Camaro! This would be great in more DLC…
or if they just add it in like they did with the 2011 NASCARs and the 2011 Schulze Motorsport GT-R.
Congrats to Mary on the trophy and on her nice ride! I personally would have preferred that ultraincredible widebody Mustang tho…
Damn those are some awwsome cars loving that mustang too, it’s a shame they only choose 1. Couldn’t they like take the top 10? Come on Kaz make it happen. :D
Hmm, I got a little chuckle when I saw the 1966 Mustang is powered by a GM LS7. Make a nice combo, but I agree, not a fan of the spoiler.
Man, I sure hope we turn on GT5 one day, go to GT Life, the little music plays for your login and it says the Camaro has been added to the garage.
oppps MY BAD C.A.M.A.R.O…AND WHO CARES IF U DONT LIKE IT COME RACE ME AND SEE HOW BAD I BEAT U…PS.. IT DOES LOOK LIKE A WETBACK CAR AND U KNOW IT
And you’re still a non racing idiot.
I wanna drive the Fairlady Z Z34!! :O Want it to run it on Advan Neovas :(
I wanted that truck to win dam it, we dont have any premium trucks it should have been a nice addition, i mean forza 4 has a good selection of trucks.
I bet he picked the Camaro because all it needs is a skin and its ready for the game
They need to build the 3d model first because there isnt any ´71 Cmaro in the game, yet.
Put that GREEN PORSCHE TOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Damn awesome Camaro. The rest isn´t mine.
Hopefully, PD gets the suspension and car behaviour working as great as in the article video.
No offence to anyone, but the Stang looks awful. The Camaro also looks too standard, I think that 911 should have won.
THE 71 CAMERO IS A VERY NICE CAR ALSO THE 68 Z28…WE HAVE A PROMOD DRAG CAR OF THE 68 Z28 WE RACE.BUT IM A FORD MAN AND THE FACT IS THIS 71 CAMERO LOOKS LIKE A MEXICAN GOT HOLD OF…..ALL IT NEEDS IS FUR ON THE DASH AND DICE ON THE REARVIEM MIRROR….U PEOPLE HAVE VERY BAD TASTE!!!
some people may take what you just said personally
At least learn to spell Camaro right before stereotyping people. C-A-M-A-R-O, Camaro.
Who people? Mexicans? Or the readers of this forum? Or Kaz?
Who is we?
At least Mexicans know how to spell camaro and fit 6 people in one. ;)
^^^^
LMAO
There was an aston Martin dbr9 gulf that that looked better than that….then I woke up…. hee hee!
WE NEED MOAR TRUCKS!!!
amen
well obviously the rauh welts werent gonna be chosen,…….
Rauh-Welt!!! I want a Rauh-Welt car on GT5 all the Rauh-Welt all awesome!!!
The red mustang also awesome! I would like racing with it on GT5
They have five best of categories for the GT awards, why can’t we get the best car from each category and not just the best overall. I know it equals more work PD but it would be kinda cool
or at least best car and best truck
dislike this one should win
[IMG]http://ll.speedhunters.com/u/f/eagames/NFS/speedhunters.com/Images/Mike%20Garrett/001nov/SEMA/class11.jpg[/IMG]
hellz yeah!!!
Wasn’t it a ’69 Camaro last year? Kaz must have a thing for vintage Camaros.
And did the 911 really ever have chance of winning? It’s not like it could be in the game.
Boooring
I was hoping for something better. But this will do. Paint it yellow and you got the older version of BumbleBee.
The Camaro is great but I hate old cars with modern wheels. it just looks wrong.
I’m still wating for Porsches in Gran Turismo series. I know that EA has exclusive rights of it (that’s why forza don’t have it anymore), but hope is that last thing that goes away before we do.
Yea I don’t like the RUF brand either. I would love to drive the 911 GT3 RS.
Hey, at least its not another GT-R. : )
I need GT-R 2012 & Super GT 2011
Never seen this ugly american car but WOW its in the game =/ how amazing. Almost nobody in Europe is not interested… but where on the hell are Škoda and Tatra? Never heard of them? Then you cannot say you like cars.
PD should be add one more 1971 Chevrolet Camaro STOCK CAR
I mean a NORMAL version, not a stock racing car
that would be cool, and premium too!
Damn that Suzuki is awesome. Screw the Camaro (even though it is nice).
Forget about the Camaro! We need that Escudo!!! D:
I guess this is the closest I get to getting a 1974 Pontiac Firebird. I want to drive around pretending I’m Jim Rockford. At the sound of the tone leave your message xD
Were still waiting on last years winner. Another camaro… And pebble beach winner fron last year.
Camaro be damned, I want that GoPro Escudo! :D
Happy to see this. I’ve always liked the second gen Camaro. Still crossing my fingers for an 87 Montecarlo SS but lovin anything that isn’t another Skyline. ;P
yeah lets see how it handles and how it looks with a spoiler
W.T.
Ah, it’s this Camaro, heard it’s a rare model so it deserves to be in GT5.
Will Kaz grow a mullet now?
I demand collectible and tradeable mullets for my driver in GT6
Best Hot Rod: Marry Pozzi’s custom 1971 Chevrolet Camaro
Typo. It should be Mary Pozzi ;-)
I LIKE THE MUSTANG BETTER LOOKS LIKES ITS FASTER AROUNDS THOSE CORNERS
Yay, big muscle car fan here. Let’s hope for this in GT5 and not GT6.
Nice lookin’ car. So does this mean we might see an Autocross event in GT6? Then all we need is guns to shoot.
and drag racing 1/4, 1/2 and 1mi, and hookers
Its a good thing there were no GTR’s in the lineup. It would have been picked without him even looking at the other cars.
we need a LIKE button, because ^^ that’s the truth
A japanese car can’t be a hot rod. DOY
I´ll see DLC coming with some of this cars and one car will be the Toyota FT 86-II concept. We have a video of that car in GT TV. (Needed? Nope. Beautiful? Yes. Other Japanese car? Why not…)
Back to the topic…amazing car.
Out of topic again. I love this game but also i need only one thing and it is the engine sound. Just make it real, real, real.To me is the only thing that this game needs to be not only the best (it is, like it or not, haters…) but the best overall.
(the graphic issues with shadows, trees and smoke in the corner is not an issue from the game itself it is our PS3 that can handle the real graphic content that GT5 has, as PC games downgraded for consoles- example BF3 i have both versions and know how it looks and is almost a pain to see how downgraded is the game…GT5 is a downgraded game and with all that it still looks amazing, despite the standard cars and glitches or bugs)…
I must say to me “cool story bro”…but it is the true. GT lover indeed.
NO, no, N. O. Toyota FT-86 mark2. did those words just come out of your fingers? Why? Don’t get me wrong. You are right not only in your opinion but you have the right and freedom to have one as you wish, and I humbly will not call you names or obscenities, it’s just. If you are going to put stuff out into the universe, why put that into the universe. Why not a Gumoert. I am counteracting your request officially right here right now. Universe, he meant Gumpert, Morgan Aeromax, Noble, Mossler any of those will do. Not the FT-86 Mk 2. Thank you.
That’s Mossler with 2 s’s.
Beautiful Camaro! Nice driving, lady ;)
the camero is nice, but c’mon, the RWB porsche is a must! its so dope. GT needs to add more tuner stuff in the game.
Oh neato! These are in the Race 07 expansion and they are a blast to drive!
when is this car coming out?
http://www.gtpla.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/gt-awards-sema-2011-29-640×480.jpg
Someone have the Singstar microphone??
Too bad Porsche ain’t coming to GT anytime soon =(
we need Porsche
look porsche needs to ether change there power plant or get faster as long as chevy is in le mans gt series it’s not going to be easy.
That mustang looks like it can get around the track pretty good.
You took the words right out of my hands.
I like the winner and i’m a die hard gt fan,but pd needs to show the rest of the world some love,” meaning” american cars there’s not a big selection of premium’s,as it is nissan’s silvias that no one hardly uses,”get it”.Only older mod’s that are premium are codra,challenger.camero i would like to see cars like the dodge charger old and new how about the “chrysler 300 srt8 AWD” yeah they do have one.or some of these other cars around the world for example the supra vs silvia as a premium,it would be a land slide if it was a vote “supra”.Why have the castrol supra and not have the regular one.THAT TOYOTA DEALERSHIP IS KINDA DRY JUST LIKE SOME OF THE REST.First place a gt player may go to buy mutiple car from over and over and over again is “nissan” they do have some nice one’s,some of them r the “haft to have cars”, but compare how many different kind of skyline are in this game as aposed to the mustang through the years “60’s-present” and the mod’s.The same for the other car company’s in america and all over the world.Don’t get me wrong they did a great job and i love it to death but like me and other gt fans since the begining want the evolution to lay a little hard for GT6.
See I totally agree with what you said, but have you read your own comment? U only ask for American cars. Probably because you ARE American. I’m European and I would like to see more European cars. Its just human to want more of your own country. Patriotism won’t sound unfamiliar to you I think.
Don’t get me wrong though, I like american cars alot aswell and there are indeed some very important cars missing. (you pretty much have them covered) But atleast every major car manufacturer from America is represented. I don’t see Porsche in the dealership and I think alot of people would like to have a go in a porsche. Although I like the RUF thing they did.
THAT’S NOT WHAT SAYING euro already has some of most famous cars on the game i want to see who’s knows what’s instore for the euro on gt6 all the cars that’s coming out the farrari fxx the 610 i thnk most of the euro cars are primeium the ZONDA-R HAS IT’S OWN DEALERSHIP WOULDN’T U WANT TO SEE MORE THAN JUST ONE CAR THERE I BET YOU HAVE MORE NISSAN PRODUCTS IN YOUR GARAGE THAN ANYTHING ELSE THINK ABOUT U HAVE A GTR SOMETHING IN THERE” NOW DON’T U”GTR RULES GT5 RATHER GT PERIOD LOVE THOSE CARS BUT I WANT TO SEE SOMTHING DIFFERENT.
Sorry, but you totally lost me there. I know most of the Famous NEW European cars are in there, but the good old BMW e30 and e34 are cars I would really like to see in the game. Also a BMW M6 and a 1M would be interesting to have. Audi also has an RS6 which is not in the game. We only have the RS6 Avant, a TT RS, I can go on and on, but I won’t.
It seems like you misunderstand me a bit. I totally agree with you, but you have to realize that the game is made in Japan and thats why there are so many Japanese cars.
If it was a European game it would have more european cars, if it was an american game it would have more american cars. That’s all i’m saying. I was just trying to explain to you why there are so many Japanese cars. It’s probably much easier for them to borrow a japanese car so they can model it than it would be to borrow an American car.
I know that kaz is japanese but they could have done better with some of the selection. There are better cars out there than the one’s that are on the game.THEY COULD HAVE PUTS SOME OF THESE PRIMEUMS IN THE USED CAR LOT, I HOPE THE WHOLE WORLD GET AN UPGRADE.
Can’t ‘we’ REbrand that Porsche as as a RUF? >:D …. :'(
Or Gran turismo 911 xD
See, you get the idea ;)
i wouldn’t mind paying for a DLC that included the GT winners
-71 camaro (this year)
– last years 69 camaro
– the plymouth XNR
And heck some of the runner-up cars while there at it like last year’s red AE86,the HPA VW, that widebody mustang the “porsche” LOL its a great idea.
Awesome. Thanks for sharing Jordan. Cant wait to read the interview. I think it will worth the wait.
Oi.
What an outstanding looking car, I can not wait to see this in the GT franchise. Perfect compliment to the Gran Touring Garage Mustang.
I hate ’71 Camaros. So unoriginal. Maybe this will change my mind. Still would have preferred the Plymouth though.
Nice to see another pro-touring muscle car!
Is there any way to convince Kaz to choose the F150 instead!? =D
That’s awesme that you got to go round with him, sounds like you had a great time ^^.
wait a minute, do we already have a old camaro
Very nice ’71 Camaro, glad it won!:tup: Simple, clean and to the point.:)
there should win just a none tuned porsche!! and the tuner name is porche
Where’s the interview?
Monday.
How long was the interview? I hope it wasn’t another short one.
Ah Vegas, how I miss thee…
Sounds like you had a good time Jordan, awesome that you could have a nice wander around with Kaz.
Is he as easy going and relaxed as he looks?
Yep, he is very kind and seemed very relaxed and happy – I think he especially enjoys SEMA and talking with the car owners. Though he’s obviously known for producing video games, he is a true car enthusiast at heart and is extremely knowledgeable about all things automotive.
I can’t wait for the interview Jordan! I also live in Vegas, I would attened it, but I had car trouble and I don’t know how to obtain tickets. :/ Next year, I’ll be there. By the way, I’m lovin’ that ’71 Camaro.
Meh, me no like.
Coming to the next Gran Turismo game?? Why not as DLC – free of course cos i would not pay for that. It just doesn’t blow me away to be honest. Kaz what were you thinking man ???
Hmmmm..Not Impressed!!! The car looks too standard for a SEMA winner. Chip Foose wold done greater job on the this Camaro. The Porsche and Mustang have good looks. Why do they have selected the Porsche for the competition if they don’t have their License?? Weird????
Any news about the interview Jordan?
Monday. :)
I assume there’s a very good reason you’re delaying it that long…
It was gonna be today, but PD were involved.
Kaz interview? where is? Hype!!
Wouldn’t mind seeing that Suzuki Pikes Peak either!
And now we wait………….4.3 billion years……
you wish it was that soon.
haha :p
just get them all in!
How anyone can hate a 1971 Camaro is beyond me.. especially one like that.. Have some respect guys. Congrats to Mary and everyone else! That F150 and RWB Porsche look great as well. I want to go to SEMA one day!
I don’t like it, I hate the look of it compared to the 1st gen Camaro.
poor, the RWB would’ve been way better
THANKS EA -.-
Yeah but what about the lego shadows?
Just give up….I’ve been begging and complaining and praying for a yr now,….theres no hope :(
He’s right, that will never be fixed – drop it
Translator San :-D
Im gonna buy that in seven years when GT6 comes out
Would have been funny if the Porsche had won best in show ;)
It’s EA’s fault you had no chance of winning Porsche guy
Yeah, it’s sad…
Why can’t Porsche see that all EA is gonna do with their license is show the world that the 911 is the quickest way of oversteering into a ditch and crashing in flames in a very MichalBay-esque kind of way??? At least in GT when people crash their 911s, due to the quirky driving habits of RR drivetrain, there’s no real damage and no death or omgz i lost 25m dollars and Christina Hendricks…
but if the porsche did win it would show up in the dealership as a Mark Arcenal’s 911 C4, as he has tuned and modified it.
@CarBastard haha, top notch stuff dude. TBS, very funny
the red mustang is way cooler and downforce and lower :p
the camaro looks like a stock one with some paints on it :/
I don’t like the Camaro or Mustang, I would of prefered one of the 2010 Camaro’s from last year or this year but that’s not what happened. But out of the list of award cars I would of went with the Ford Truck that thing is awesome.
A japanese game about interesting cars should by law have a Rauh-Welt tuned Porsche. However, I thank you KY for not choosing that bloody awful pick-up track or that Mustang that makes me dwell between loving/hating it.
So what would have happened had the Porsche won???
The world would have imploded.
Same thing as RUF, it would’ve been brander as the tuner and not the manufacture.
Jason_B: That’s actually not the case with the RUFs. They are not branded as a tuner. RUF is officially a manufacturer.
RUF recieve care body shells from Porsche they then put their own VIN on the chassis that designates it as a RUF
Mark Arcenal’s custom 1990 Porsche 911 C4 personally i think that this car should have won!
such a sick car we need some of Nakai San’s rides in GT5!!!!
If Porsche had won then we would have gotten nothing then.
That would be like calling the Tesla Roadster a Lotus just because it uses Elise gliders.
RUF =/= Porsche.
PD can not use any Porsche (as far as I know) so I doubt they could have used it, even if they called it a tuner, it’s still a Porsche.
that is hot sex.
Glad to see he is talking to Tajima Nobuhiro. We need another Pike’s Peak car.
At least you spelled it right! The article has it “Nuborhiro” not the correct Nobuhiro
Why couldn’t we just get a 70′ Z28 instead? I’d rather have that than this.
Why does there always need to be complaints rather than being appreciative of what is offered???
So they have a reason to get us the cars we want.
Agreed.
Loving the Camaro, awesome ride!
That Mustang that is there wasn’t one of the best looking Mustangs then they made it worst by adding the spoiler and front bar.
I went to Mary’s website and she says it’s a 1973 Camaro
Looking forward to seeing this car in GT6 in 2018 :-)!!
LOL BubbaLsL , It’s coming for GT5 , no GT6 :P
You could of found a better car I think a lot better cars at the car show
the 911