Turkish company builds real life Transformer out of a BMW 3-series

Now, thanks to an ambitious Turkish company, that dream may finally come true.

According to Gizmodo, a company out of Ankara, Turkey called Letvision unveiled a transforming robot based on a BMW 3 Series coupe. A series of videos hosted on Letvision's website and YouTube account showed Letrons, as the bright red transformer is called, being put through its paces by an operator with a remote control.

At the operator's command, Letrons rolls into a parking lot set against a backdrop of lawn sculptures, dry fountains, and incongruous giant suits of cartoon armor. It drives slowly toward the operator and stops dead, facing the camera. Then the magic happens. Slowly but surely, the car unfolds and stands up, revealing a stiff-looking robot beneath the 3 Series' flanks. Once standing, the robot swivels its head around, flexes for the camera, flashes its lights for dramatic effect, then folds back up into car mode and drives away.

Letvision says that Letrons is a prototype, and the only operational member of a family of novelty transformers based on BMWs. The company has plans to unleash more transforming cars on the public soon though, colorful characters with names like Bizmut (clearly an homage to Optimus Prime), Argon, Wolfram, and Tantal. There's no word on what one of these toys will cost the discerning giant robot buyer, but if they ever see the light of day there's sure to be a whole lot of zeroes in their price tag.