By Christopher Hubbard | |
| 06 October 2008 18:13:56 | |
Citroen’s ace new green concept
Citroen’s star exhibit is a car so fast it doesn’t even have time for spaces in its name. This is the “GTbyCitroen”, a brand new concept, designed in conjunction with Polyphony, the people behind the Gran Turismo 5 PlayStation 3 game.
 |
Citroen GT: click images to enlarge |
We’ll call it the Citroen GT for the sake of simplicity. It’s a vision of a future performance car, driven by electric motors and powered by a hydrogen fuel cell. So there are no emissions, just maximum performance. But for us what’s really key is that it looks truly amazing.
GALLERY: New Citroen GT in pictures
GALLERY: New Citroen GT in pictures
Long, low, and wide was obviously the brief. But there are tricks here, too, in an effort to make the Citroen GT look like it’s moving even when it’s still. The rear end has been exaggerated, elongated, emphasized, and the impression of always at speed is enhanced by the white-fades-to-grey colour scheme.
 |
Citroen GT |
There are just two seats onboard, finished in sumptuous black leather. To keep the driver focused on the road, the instruments are super-imposed over their vision using a red head-up display (that’s not too impressive, BMW and others already feature this on real cars). The detailing is awesome, including LED lights and petite carbon-fibre wing mirrors.
Citroen hasn’t bothered to include any potential performance figures – despite having more or less free reign, given the GT’s inception in the digital world. But you can always take it for a test drive in Gran Turismo, as the Citroen GT really does feature in the latest instalment of this groundbreaking computer game.
 |
Citroen GT |
So the GT is pretty wild. But this is France, and Citroen couldn’t possibly be content with just one concept car. It’s brought four – and positioned them alongside an important new production car, the C3 Picasso. A compact MPV, this latest C3 variant looks great, as well as practical.
It should do well for the French brand – cute, spacious, and affordable. But returning to the weird and wonderful world of concept cars, the Citroen’s Hypnos is amongst the Paris show’s most bizarre. Ok, so combining the best bits of a coupe, a saloon and an SUV are hardly groundbreaking…
 |
Citroen Hypnos |
But the Hypnos is as much about the interior, featuring what Citroen describes as ‘imaginative use of colour’ to create a ‘powerful sensory experience’ – see for yourself what it’s all about on Citroen’s stand. Predictably, the Hypnos also boasts hybrid power, seemingly compulsory here at the Mondial de l’Automobile.
Speaking of hybrids, another of the Citroen concept is a hybrid C4 WRC rally car. But if you really want green points you’ve got to go all-electric – hence Citroen’s latest Cactus concept car. We’ve seen similar cars from Citroen before, but this time it is literally electric power only.
All the rest of the Citroen range is here, sporting some excellent looking alloys (polished wheel surfaces with black detailing are definitely in), plus the facelifted C4. Debuting in Paris this is up against some stiff home competition in the form of the all-new Megane, not to mention the new VW Golf also making its first appearance at the show.
 |
Rate this article:
Poor
Excellent
ExcellentYour rating helps other users gauge the value of an article
advertisement
Paris Motor Show 2008 - your vote
- Which car unveiled at the Paris Motor Show 2008 do you most want to own?
- New BMW 7-Series
12% - Chevrolet Cruze
1% - Ferrari California
23% - New Ford Ka
4% - Lamborghini Estoque
36% - Lexus IS 250 Cabriolet
4% - New Renault Megane
2% - New Toyota Avensis
4% - Vauxhall Insignia Sports Tourer
3% - New VW Golf
11%
- New BMW 7-Series