Forza and Ford Celebrate Le Mans, Design Sweet Retro-Inspired Xbox One Controllers

Friday, October 30, 2015

Forza and Ford Celebrate Le Mans, Design Sweet Retro-Inspired Xbox One Controllers

-Ten years back, Microsoft's Turn 10 Studios launched Forza Motorsport. Sixty-one years ago, Dan Gurney and Bob Bondurant wheeled a Cobra Daytona to a class victory and fourth overall at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Next year, Ford returns to the Circuit de La Sarthe with the revived GT. The GT also adorns the cover of Forza 6. To celebrate all of this Ford-in-France hullabaloo, the Forza team created a series of one-off Xbox One controllers to display at SEMA, and we must admit, they're pretty rad.

The Viking Blue controller pays homage to Cobra Daytona CSX2299, the car campaigned by Gurney and Bondurant at the '64 running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Two years later, the GT40 Mark II, with its great, thundering 427-inch heart, swept the podium at Le Mans, embarrassing Ferrari something fierce. This controller pays tribute to the winning car, run by Chris Amon and Bruce McLaren under the Shelby American banner.

In 1967, a whole new car was developed, the GT40 Mark IV. While the Mark I and Mark II were quite similar, the 427-powered Mark IV had its roots in Ford's scrapped J-Car program, canceled after a prototype killed Ken Miles during testing. A superstar pairing of Dan Gurney and A.J. Foyt took the car that inspired this controller to victory that year.

To celebrate the return of the GT, the Forza folks ginned up a special version of the Xbox One's Elite controller that's a bit more than a stripe-and-color job. The Liquid Blue controller features real carbon-fiber accents and a clear battery door in an homage to the GT's engine-revealing rear window. The trigger buttons, which act as the player's gas and brake in Forza, are refashioned to resemble the GT's pedals, while the left thumbstick references the shape of the supercar's steering wheel.

Regrettably, none of the controllers are for sale, but we'd love to see Forza do runs celebrating other historically significant automobiles.