From Peugeot, who brought you the ‘Peugeot Vision Gran Turismo’ in June 2015, two new machines have been unveiled: The ‘L500R HYbrid Vision Gran Turismo’ and the ‘L750R HYbrid Vision Gran Turismo’.

These two Vision Gran Turismo cars were created in homage to a race machine from the early years of the 20th century. On 30 May 1916, Peugeot won the legendary ‘Indy 500 Mile Race’ with their comet-like L45 race car. A century from this victory, they created these cars to bring back the passion and sculpted beauty of the L45 using the latest technology.

First comes the L500R, which could be considered the base model. The incredibly low profile is the outstanding feature of its styling. Even the bulge for the cabin containing the driver is kept to a minimum, with a total height of only 1m. The gradually narrowing tail is common with the century old L45, and ends in a streamlined rear feature highlighting the three distinctive rear lamp claws similar to that of the 3008, a part of Peugeot’s design identity today.

The cockpit around the driver utilises a futuristic user interface, with two holograms displaying a variety of information to the driver. And though the L500R is a single seater, the navigator that was necessary in the L45 is now replaced with a virtual navigator.

The powertrain features a 1.6 litre 4 cylinder turbocharged engine and two electric motors. The total output is 500ps, yielding a peak torque of 74kgm. Utilising the latest materials the car only weighs 1000kg, enabling an acceleration from 0-100km in 2.5 seconds, covering 1000m in just 19 seconds.

Next, keeping in line with the original futuristic concept of the L500R, we have the competition model in the ‘L750R HYbrid Vision Gran Turismo’, with even higher performance specs.

The greatest evolution of the L750R is in its power train: raising the rev limit of the turbocharged 1.6 litre inline 4 from the L500R to 10,000 RPM, its output was increased to 580ps. Combining this with the electric motors producing 170ps, the total system output now reaches 750ps.

A large splitter is added in the front, and the airflow of the underfloor was further optimised. Topped off with the addition of a large rear wing, they succeeded in securing powerful downforce for the car. The weight of the vehicle is also further reduced to a bare minimum, 175kg lighter than the L500R at 825kg. This has reduced the 0-100km/h acceleration by 0.1 second, at 2.4 seconds.

In the world of motorsports, Peugeot has continued to perform not only in the Indy 500, but in many races all over the world including races like the Le Mans, WRC and Rally Raids. These are two iconic machines that connect their spirit and passion to the future.