Update (22/01): We’ve spoken to HPA and, unfortunately, this one is a mere slip of the finger. The company’s website was supposed to read “Gran Turismo 5” for the TT (the game in which it made its debut), and this has now been corrected. As it’s HPA’s 35th anniversary this year though, wouldn’t it be a nice way to mark it, Polyphony? The original article continues below:
A SEMA GT Award winner last seen in Gran Turismo 6 might be on its way back to the series, according to a curious teaser from the tuner behind the machine.
It’s been quite some time since we’ve seen HPA Motorsports in a Gran Turismo game, though the Canadian tuner is one that fans are likely to remember with some fondness. HPA first grabbed the spotlight by winning the second-ever GT Award at the 2004 SEMA show for a heavily tuned, fourth-generation Volkswagen Golf R32.
Remarkably, thanks to the days of much simpler car modeling, the HPA R32 “Stage II” went on to make its debut in Gran Turismo 4 just three months later in February 2005 (though it wasn’t present in the Japanese version which launched in December 2004).
That would be the first of two unrivaled GT Award wins for HPA. The second came in 2007, awarded to the “FT565” demonstrator pack for the second-generation Audi TT. This bright orange monster stuffed 565hp into the TT’s V6, eclipsing Audi’s own TT RS. It eventually made its digital debut as a launch car in Gran Turismo 5 in November 2010.
Both cars — the R32 as a “Standard” model and the TT as a fully detailed “Premium” model — remained in the roster through Gran Turismo 6. Unfortunately, neither appeared in Gran Turismo Sport in 2017. The omission of the TT was particularly surprising given its future-proofed, fully realized interior.
Per HPA Motorsports’ own website, the situation could be about to change, with the TT potentially staging a comeback nearly a decade after being cut from the roster.
While there is nothing definitive regarding a release date, the company’s “Bespoke Vehicle Build” showcase page on its website has been updated twice in the past four months to include information on the two vehicles.
Initially, both cars were presented under a generic “Gran Turismo Features” header. However, a more recent update explicitly tags the R32 with “Gran Turismo 4” and the TT with “Gran Turismo 7“, despite the fact that it’s not in the game (yet).
HPA appears to retain ownership of both vehicles (Update [23/01]: the company has confirmed that it owns the R32 again, while the TT is in the hands of a good client; both cars remain in the same physical condition as when they were originally captured), frequently displaying them at promotional events and even offering a PlayStation 3/GT6 rig for attendees to test drive the virtual TT.
This continued access would certainly make it easier for Polyphony Digital to rescan the cars, unlike other SEMA winners that have changed hands or disappeared. Notably, HPA upgraded the real-world TT to a new “FT6XX” specification with 614hp in 2018, which could suggest an updated spec for the game.
The teaser is also an interesting flashback, given the recent revival of the GT Award at the GT Fan Fest during the World Series event in Los Angeles. Currently, not a single SEMA GT Award winner that debuted prior to GT Sport exists in Gran Turismo 7, despite seven of the nine appearing in GT6 as Premium models. Should this HPA teaser pan out, it could open the door for more of these legends to return.
We have reached out to HPA Motorsports for comment, so watch this space for updates!
Update (23/01): We’ve added to the above article with HPA’s responses.
Thanks to StigBelcherStyl for the tip-off!
See more articles on Gran Turismo 7 Game Update and SEMA.
