Car Culture

UPDATE: The “Fugu Z” was scanned by the Polyphony Digital team on November 7, 2017 in Long Beach, CA. It was finally added to Gran Turismo Sport in the game’s 1.31 update, released on December 5, 2018.

It’s been a busy day at SEMA, as Gran Turismo creator Kazunori Yamauchi toured the show floor visiting all the finalists for this year’s GT Awards.

Since its inclusion in Gran Turismo 6 was first announced back in 2013, the annual Goodwood Festival of Speed has had a close relationship with the franchise. As many will recall, last year saw the in-game track updated to include the 2014 “Central Feature” sculpture at Goodwood – a soaring art installation that features different manufacturers and changes each year.

Top Gear recently published an interview with Kazunori Yamauchi after speaking with him at the reveal of the Alpine Vision GT in Paris.

While in Paris to help unveil the new Alpine Vision GT concept car, GT series creator Kazunori Yamauchi was awarded the “Grand Prize of Creativity” at the 30th International Automobile Festival for his contributions to the automotive industry.

The 2014 Gran Turismo Awards were held at Drai’s Nightclub on the Las Vegas strip Wednesday night, where Kazunori Yamauchi announced a custom car from SEMA 2014 – the world’s largest aftermarket automotive industry event – would be featured in an upcoming Gran Turismo game.

It’s that time of year again! The 12th annual Gran Turismo Awards have been formally announced, and will be held next week at SEMA 2014 – the largest international automotive trade show in Las Vegas, Nevada.

When Kazunori Yamauchi accepted the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge from Forza Motorsport’s Dan Greenawalt last week, he took the opportunity to pass along the challenge to two more people: Lucas Ordoñez, original GT Academy champion, and Ken Kutaragi, the “Father of PlayStation” who was instrumental in the design and development of the original console.

As you probably know, the “ALS Ice Bucket Challenge” has taken the world (and social media) by storm over the past few weeks. It’s resulted in a lot of fun videos of people getting cold water poured over their head, and it’s raised more than $88.5 million dollars to help victims of ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease) and help fund a global team of researchers looking for a cure.

Each year at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance – the world’s most famous and prestigious car show – Kazunori Yamauchi selects a car to be awarded the “Gran Turismo Trophy”, after which it will be digitized and immortalized in the Gran Turismo series.

In a certainly unexpected turn of events, Cigarette Racing Team has announced a surprising partnership with Mercedes-Benz and Sony to build the $1.5-million Cigarette Racing 50’ Vision GT Concept boat. Yes, that’s right – a speedboat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kc1omWH-0nQ

It may be the best time of the year, but bad things can still happen.

Amazon.com and GT Academy have teamed up to giveaway a 2014 Nissan 370Z NISMO Coupe, with an approximate retail value of more than $43,000.

The 11th annual GT Awards were held in Las Vegas last night, where a car on display at SEMA was chosen to be included in a future Gran Turismo game.

The 2013 Gran Turismo Awards are at SEMA in Las Vegas this week, and the finalists have just been revealed.

Chevrolet has featured Gran Turismo creator Kazunori Yamauchi in their marketing efforts for the new 2014 Corvette Stingray, which includes an interactive film and website with keyboard-and-mouse challenges.

Each year at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas, the Gran Turismo Awards are held to honor some of the best custom vehicles on display – one of which gets immortalized in a Gran Turismo game.

Kazunori Yamauchi will be the star guest of the premier discussion panel at the Gran Turismo-sponsored Jalopnik Film Festival this Wednesday, September 18.