Citroen's GQbyCITROËN concept car (2010)

By Tim Pollard

First Official Pictures

05 March 2010 09:16

Car manufacturers are increasingly looking for brand extensions outside their usual collaborations, so Citroën's new concept car should come as no surprise. They've teamed up with style bible GQ magazine to create the GQbyCITROËN.

Designed to be a gentleman's sports car, GQ editor Dylan Jones worked with DS3 designer Mark Lloyd to create the five-door coupé. The rear pair of doors are suicide-hinged and the concave rear screen is a typical Citroën design flourish. Sadly, there are no realistic prospects for this one-off to go on sale.

Another Citroën hybrid concept car

Barely a day goes past when PSA aren't unveiling some new hybrid something-or-other. The GQbyCITROËN is no different, sporting a 1.6-litre direct-injection petrol-electric plug-in hybrid engine mixing 155mph top speed, 0-60mph time of 4.5sec and CO2 emissions of just 80g/km.

Impressive figures, but Citroën doesn't elaborate on exactly how they're made possible. It's not all pie-in-the-sky, however, as the French are launching their first production hybrids next year.

Inside the GQbyCITROËN

GQ teed up Savlie Row tailors E.Tautz to design the interior. Mark Lloyd said: 'Where this car works so well with GQ is that it fits with the current attitudes of conspicuous consumption. It is understated rather than in-your-face and sleek rather than too macho. With the skills of a Savile Row tailor on the car’s interior we have also achieved that bespoke, fitted feel, both inside and out.

'For me, the car that has always represented the pinnacle of automotive excellence and refinement is the GT – the Grand Tourer. It is not the all-out sports car, rather it is something gentlemanly, it has performance and it is for travelling, not racing.'

Editor Dylan Jones added: 'I wanted something practical, something cool, and something idiosyncratic – i.e. something surprising that didn’t just look like a concept car. The GQ car needed to have the ‘want’ factor, but it also needed to look, feel and ‘drive’ like the sort of car no sane man could choose to ignore.  We think it looks very, very special.'

What's with all the concept cars?

You're right – Citroën's already shown three concept cars this week! The Survolt and DS High Rider concepts were shown at Geneva this week, and now the GQ show car joins the ranks. The French are keen to show they're changing and these show-offs are their way of communicating the shift.

By Tim Pollard