What's this then?

This is the Citroen Cactus M, and before you get too excited it is just a concept. As you might have guessed it is based on the C4 Cactus and draws heavily on the classic Méhari and has been designed with the cool surfing beach-goer in mind.

What is that design all about?

Unlike the C4 Cactus this concept makes do with just two large doors and these are made from plastic to reduce weight while still retaining their protective qualities. Being just a two-door body, designers have integrated a step into the side of the car just ahead of the rear wheel to enable passengers to climb over and into the rear seats.

The real talking point is the totally open design. Aside from the windscreen, which itself has a wood effect surround, there is no other glass used. If required there is an inflatable roof that can be manually fitted onto the rear arch and windscreen and blown up via a boot-mounted compressor. The rear arch can also be used to tether surfboards onto for transportation.

Tell us more about that interior.

In keeping with the beach look Citroen has made the seats from a neoprene-like material that looks and feels just like a wetsuit. This means that passengers can just hop straight in after getting out of the sea without having to worry about drying themselves. Its nautical theme continues in the seat headrests that are styled to resemble the fenders from a boat. To help keep the interior clean it has been designed with drainage outlets in the footwells so that it can be hosed out after a day at the beach.

Any details on the drivetrain?

For the Cactus M Citroen has chosen its 1.2-litre turbocharged PureTech petrol engine, which produces 110hp. It is mated to a six-speed automatic transmission and although it retains the front-wheel drive layout of the regular C4 Cactus it uses the Grip Control system. This modulates the amount of slip between each front wheel depending on the surface underneath. Via a selector on the dashboard the driver can choose between four different modes, normal, all-terrain, snow or sand.