Citroën Stops Teasing and Finally Reveals GTbyCITROËN

Citroën, one of France's largest manufacturers, has been teasing us for weeks with shots of their mystery concept car. The photos that have been dribbling out have shown a white (it's the new black!), highly stylised vehicle mostly shrouded in a red sheet with the Gran Turismo branding on it.

Well, they finally revealed the whole car at the Paris Motor Show and we even know its name: GTbyCITROËN. Yes, the name looks like a typo but that really is it... all mashed up like that.

I'm not a big fan of Citroën's production car designs but this beast blew me away. What makes this concept car even more interesting is that it is already available to play in Gran Turismo 5: Prologue on the PS3. Loading up the game now will let you download a set of new vehicles including the GTbyCITROËN. Citroën says the car was "a partnership between Citroën and Polyphony." Polyphony of course being the people behind the hugely successful Gran Turismo game series on Playstation 2 and 3.

In the game the new GT concept is a hybrid EV powered by hydrogen fuel cells with 646 bhp (481 Kw) from the main engine plus an additional 136 bhp (101 Kw) from hydrogen-power. The 3,000-pound two-seater takes a virtual 3.6 seconds to get from 0 to 100 kmh so it's fast, but not THAT fast. Of course anyone can make up whatever they want in the game world so we'll just have to wait and see what the real deal can do.

Plenty of photos of the real thing and the virtual thing over at Autoblog.

Concept vs Production: Chevy Volt

For those of you interested here are some side-by-side shots of the concept Volt vs the production Volt.









The shape is different due to the fact that the production vehicle needed to be as aerodynamic as possible to ensure good mileage but the GM designers did a good job in keeping the overall "feel" the same, especially in the hind quarters. Perhaps when we see some modded versions with larger rims etc. and in different colours the production Volt might look sportier.

It'll be interesting to see what GM do with rebranding the Volt internationally with it being confirmed recently that it'll go on sale in Europe as an Opel or Vauxhall depending on where you live and may be branded as a Holden in Australia, of course after shifting the steering column to the right side of the car. At least there's no gear box to worry about getting in the way.

Mystery Transformer Revealed

As most people had already guessed the mysterious car that kept showing up on the set of Transformers 2 was a Corvette concept car. Well Autoblog has some more details on this silvery sharky beast.

"According to their sources, the design study will debut sometime next year ahead of the Transformers sequel, but won't foretell the future of the next-generation C7 Corvette. Rather, it's called the Corvette Centennial Design Concept and was developed to celebrate General Motors' 100-year celebration.

Now we can all sleep soundly.

From Concept to Production

Autoblog went for a spin in the 2009 Ford Flex and made a good point that the Flex is VERY close to the Ford Fairlane "People Mover" concept from 2005. Well, here's a side-by-side comparison to show you just how close they are...

Is It a Bird? Is It a Concept Car? Is It a Bumblebee Evil Twin?

Autoblog today was reporting on this mysterious shiny, silver, sleek beast hiding on the Transformers 2 set. The commenters on the site are all taking guesses from a Corvette concept to a rejigged Camaro to a film-exclusive model. Whatever it is (and it's not exactly easy to see from the photo) it's pretty cool with the photographer stating that it has "scissor doors like a Lamborghini".

More info (and original source): http://transformerslive.blogspot.com/2008/06/new-concept-car-at-fairmont-park-base.html

Bendy BMW GINA Concept Car

Today Autoblog posted an article about a wikkid looking BMW concept car which has no solid panels but rather a stretchy fabric "skin" covering a moveable but safe skeleton. Just a quick glance and you wouldn't notice anything whacky but when it BLINKS at you or opens up its chest to display the engine underneath you'll have trouble stopping yourself from saying "COOL!"

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