Aston Martin has made a name for itself by producing some of the most amazing sports cars in the world and, believe it or not, a mid-engined Aston Martin was once about as alien as the original thought of an Aston Martin SUV, which is now known as the DBX. But, while the DBX came to life due to market trends and demand, Aston’s entire mid-engined future came to life because of a digital concept for a video game. I’m talking about the Aston Martin DP-100 and PlayStation’s Gran Turismo racing game.

How A Video Game Changed Aston Martin’s Future

Over the last decade, Aston has built quite the portfolio of mid-engined sports cars. There’s the Aston Martin Valkyrie, which debuted as a concept in 2016, then the Aston Martin Valhalla, and now the Aston Martin Vanquish with a desire to take on Ferrari. All of this, however, can trace its roots back to 2013 when Gran Turismo launched the Vision Gran Turismo program – a feature that allowed automakers to release digital concept cars that players can drive for themselves inside the game. Aston Martin launched its first car, the DP-100 in 2014. It was Aston Martin’s first mid-engined supercar with the iconic front grille, a mid-mounted V-12, and some 800 horsepower of digital go-juice.

It didn’t take long for the company to start receiving inquiries from excited customers who really, really wanted a real-life version of the DP-100. Aston Martin didn’t jump on the boat right away, but after enough interest, Aston Martin’s Design Director, Marek Reichman, created a model based on the DP-100 and launched it in 2014 at Pebble Beach Concours. The customer interest was overwhelming, to say the least, and that’s what led to the creation of the Valkyrie and, ultimately, the Valhalla and reborn Vanquish that followed.

Part of what made it possible for the DP-100 to come to life outside of the digital world is the requirements of Gran Turismo to introduce a car into the game. It’s more than just a sketch with pretty colors. Game designers required automakers to provide detailed engineering information, including CAD files, engine dyno information, and every other conceivable metric used to describe the car from dimensions to aerodynamics. The idea is that it allows its presence in the game to be as realistic as possible, despite only being a concept. So, when Aston Martin started contributing to the Vision Gran Turismo program, it actually had to commit legitimate engineering resources. How’s that for cool?