Quadruple throwback time: Geoff Crammond's legendary Grand Prix series is the subject of an outstanding tribute mod - Grand Prix Evolution brings the cars of all four titles back to life in Automobilista.
Images: @Whills
Mods are a big part of sim racing’s beauty, both for content from modern racing and motorsport history. How about going back in sim racing’s own history, though? Well, you can with one of the coolest tributes out there – it’s Grand Prix Evolution for Automobilista.
Even though it’s sometimes hard to admit, I am a sim racer over 30. What’s that got to do with anything, you ask? Well, chances are that if you talk to a sim racer in that age range, they have grown up with the iconic Grand Prix series by Geoff Crammond.
These four sims released between 1991 and 2002, and they were incredibly important for sim racing as a whole. Personally, I grew up putting frankly ridiculous amounts of hours into Grand Prix 2 in particular, although Grand Prix 3 and 4 were go-tos of mine after that for quite a while. And I do remember that Grand Prix 4 had an astonishing modding scene, which is still active today, by the way!
But we are not here for a mod for Grand Prix 4, but rather of Grand Prix 4 - and all of its predecessors. The mod has been around since 2020, but has recently received a big update.
Four Games' Cars Revived
And man, is it worth it. OverTake community member @Whills has recreated all cars from the four Grand Prix titles for AMS, including their cockpits, liveries and even sounds. I love the attention to detail, such as Grand Prix 2’s pixelated liveries or the sounds of the car starting up – they are all like they were in the original titles, just like the low-poly car models.There is plenty to play with. The original Grand Prix portrayed the 1991 F1 season, but was not licensed – so all the fictional team and driver names are there, but you can also opt for the accurate names that are on board as a separate set. The others had the F1 license, so you can battle the icons of their eras – or fight teams that are long gone since, such as Arrows, Minardi, Ligier and Prost, or Jordan.
Grand Prix 3 even has two seasons available, true to the actual game’s 1998 season and the 2000 season expansion. Personally, I love the 1998 throwback as it was one of the first seasons I remember watching, and the battles between McLaren and Ferrari are memories that I still love to look back on.
The recreation of Grand Prix 4 is the most intricate, by the way. GP4 is the only game in the series that featured individual car models for all the teams, so all 11 of them are present in Grand Prix Evolution as well. You even get the option to disable seventh gear like you could in the setup menu back then as some cars still used only 6 gears.
Low-poly Cars On Modern-looking Tracks
I have to say that especially in the older cars, things look a bit surreal with the comparatively modern tracks surrounding them – maybe game-appropriate track packs could be an add-on for the mod somewhere down the line. But even in its current form, Grand Prix Evolution – which is also available for the original rFactor, by the way – is a great way get that that sweet nostalgia hit in a more modern setting.I tried to get Grand Prix 4 up and running on my modern setup a while ago, but I had to give up eventually – the game does not really cooperate with modern input devices all that well. But Grand Prix Evolution is a nice substitute!
There is one unforgivable oversight in the mod that makes it borderline unplayable, however. No squeaky rag wiping your visor during pit stops. You can imagine that my day was ruined when I found out about that.
Kidding aside, I think Grand Prix Evolution is one of the coolest mod ideas for any sim out there. I will certainly keep a close eye on the mod while I remember how my best friend from kindergarten and I used to sub ourselves in for Christian Fittipaldi and Gianni Morbidelli at Footwork in Grand Prix 2 and driving with the A, Y, comma and period keys on a keyboard some 28 years ago. Hats off to @Whills for making memories like these reappear!
Which title of Geoff Crammond's Grand Prix series was your favorite, and have you tried the Grand Prix Evolution mod yet? Let us know in the comments below and join the discussion on our forums!
