With the discovery of the 24H Le Mans event-spec 2003 C60 in
GTC Lupo Cup Version 2, I've starting to wonder if the red #1 2004 C60 from US GT4 and
European Space Agency websites are for a similar event that year.
Problem was, for which year? BMW 1 Series Virtual Drive, the earliest near-final GT4 build, wasn't compiled until June 18, 2004 (Le Mans in 2004 was held on June 9-13, qualifying included) and I am not confident if they used 2004-spec cars for in a such 2005 running of a similar event.
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EDIT:
Period pre-release ancedote that hinted that a such event may have been run at 2004 Le Mans:
Regarding the special red #1 variant of the
PlayStation Pescarolo C60/Judd Race Car '04, I have my own theory-craft regarding all of this.
First of all, the first known near-final GT4 build, is the
GT4 E3 2004 demo build (May 11-14, 2004); it could be the
GT4P SUBARU Version 2nd Edition demo build that is actually the first ever near-final GT4 build (which I have speculated before that it could have been perhaps compiled on either late-April 2004 after PAL GT4P or in the beginning of May 2004 before E3 2004), but the unknown date of that build is a discussion for another day. Anyways back to E3 2004, it is also where the 2004 PlayStation Pescarolo C60 LMP
debuted in a playable fashion; it's worth noting that before E3 2004, it was first shown in
eight pre-release screenshots of GT4 that were published on April 28, 2004. In there, the car is shown as the #18, but in the green trim (unlike the final release of GT4 where #18 is actually in the red trim), as well as the driver's helmet being identical to the one used in the beta Pescarolo C60 Peugeot 2003 model from the GTC Lupo Cup Training Version 2 demo build. I have here a picture of this version of the 2004 Pescarolo C60:
Getting into the meat of all this, I think I know exactly what that mysterious #1 red Pescarolo C60 '04 means. You see, in the
game files of final Gran Turismo 4, in addition to the pre-release GT4 builds such as the BMW 1 Series Virtual Drive demos, GT4 (Internal) Event Code build, and GT4 First Preview demo, there seems to be filenames for "
lmv" variants of four cars:
- ford_gt_05_lmv
- m3_gtr_alms_01_lmv
- mclaren_f1_gtr_long_97_lmv
- pescarolo_c60_lmp1_04_lmv
Yup, that definitely took a turn... As you stated tankuroded, there was a hint that such event was indeed run at the 2004 24 Hours of Le Mans, and there definitely is evidence in the game files to suggest that it did in fact exist. I also assume that "lmv" stands for "Le Mans Version" or something like that, which might also mean that the GT4 demo build that was playable at Le Mans 2004 might have been called "Gran Turismo 4 Le Mans Version", or something to that effect. The "lmv" versions of the
Ford GT '05, B
MW M3 GTR Race Car '01,
BMW McLaren F1 GTR Race Car '97, and of course, the
PlayStation Pescarolo C60/Judd LMP Race Car '04 definitely existed back then in this GT4 Le Mans 2004 demo build, which definitely existed too, as in the GT4 game files (first seen in the two BMW 1 Series Virtual Drive demo builds), there is also the game config known as "
config-lemans.adc". Sadly, the car models of these "lmv" versions are missing in any build where their filenames are featured. However, there are two types of leftovers for them: vehicle banners, as well as, most importantly, thumbnails, which are the only one we can see how they actually looked like. I have the thumbnails down below, sourced from
The Spriters Resource (special thanks to the user
blueberrymuffin for uploading them in The Spriters Resource):
Surprise surprise, the thumbnail of the LMV version of the 2004 Pescarolo C60 looks identical to the #1 red 2004 Pescarolo C60 that is shared in the post I'm replying to. This basically confirms that the #1 red C60 '04 is definitely the LMV variant!
Although there are sadly no images nor documentations of the LMV variants of both the BMW M3 GTR Race Car '01 and the BMW McLaren F1 GTR Race Car '97 at all whatsoever, there does exist a
few pre-release screenshots of GT4 that were published on around October 2004 (if not, late-2004) through Kikizo that featured the LMV version of the Ford GT '05 at El Capitan in some of them. The screenshots can be seen below:
As you can see, the 2005 Ford GT LMV's livery seems to be a red color (possibly Mark IV Red Clearcoat) with decals featuring racing number #1 (same number as the 2004 Pescarolo C60/Judd LMV) on the hood, doors (both sides), and on the left side of the engine cover on the rear. Apparently, the livery alone seems to be heavily inspired by the
2003 Ford GT Concept (with a few tiny differences here and there).
Anyways that is all for my post. In conclusion, there is evidence that a GT4 Le Mans "LMV" 2004 demo build exists, with the cars that were playable on it with their own special liveries, with leftovers of being thumbnails as well as two of the LMV variants actually being seen outside of the thumbnail leftovers. That is all I have to say. Apologies for the extremely long post, and thank you so much for reading. If you have something to say, please don't hesitate to reply!
Oh and here's another beta GT4 screenshot featuring the PlayStation Pescarolo C60/Judd Race Car LMV '04 undergoing a pit stop:
Source of Image.
(Dark Gold Metallic, Medium Green, Tan Metallic, Gold Metellic and Gold twice).
