Even though there's this little car thing happening in
Geneva right now, Citroen has decided to unveil one of its most aesthetic concepts ever in the pages of a magazine. In fairness, the GQbyCitroen is a collaboration between the car maker and the haughty men's lifestyle magazine.
It is a real life car, though - it was unveiled last night (Thursday 4th March 2010) in London's Hospital Club. 'The ultimate gentleman's drive' was the brief for the car (as if Rolls-Royce doesn't exist), concocted by GQ Editor Dylan Jones. The car was designed by Mark Lloyd - he's the British dude responsible for the
new DS3 - though it takes obvious inspiration from 2008's GTbyCitroen too.
Lloyd reckons the car is relevant because "it is understated rather than in-your-face," and it "fits with the current attitudes of conspicuous consumption." Just for clarity, that definitely is the GQbyCitroen one-off concept car he's talking about and not a C4 Picasso...
The GQ has a 'coach' rear door, though it's more MINI than Roller because there's only one. And in line with GQ's 'aspirational' pretentions, the interior is by Saville Row tailor E. Tautz. Sadly, the flaps on the door cards don't have free aftershave samples on them for owners to rub on their wrists before a hot date.
Power comes from a plug-in hybrid drivetrain - very on-trend, chaps - with a 1.6-litre petrol engine mated to an electric motor. It gives the car a 4.5-second 0-60mph time, a 155mph top speed and CO
2 emissions of 80g/km. That's all extraneous, though, because the car will never come close to having a driver.
Talking about the brief, Jones said: "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."
Mark Nichol - 5 Mar 2010