Pininfarina 2uettottanta

How do you make a Ferrari 458 Italia and Maserati Grancabrio look a bit bland? Plonk them on stage next to your stunning concept. That’s exactly what Pininfarina did at the 2010 Geneva motor show with its Alfa Romeo 2uettottanta show car, and next to it the black 458 and cream Grancabrio garnered no attention whatsoever.

Alfa Romeo 2uettottanta? What’s that about?

The 2uettottanta is a concept car by Italian design house Pininfarina, to celebrate both its 8oth birthday, and Alfa Romeo’s centenary. It’s Pininfarina’s vision of a future open-top Alfa. The headlamps and taillights are very minimalist, but the bodywork is flowing and voluptuous (even more so in the metal) and the proportions are spot on. We could describe the looks further, but we’ll leave you to drool instead.

Unfortunately there are no plans for the 2uettottanta to become a production car – there’s no rolling chassis underneath the concept either – but it’d be a great £25k roadster. Pininfarina designed it with a 1750cc turbocharged petrol engine to pay homage to the 1750 Veloce of 1968. There are no production plans, but it would look great in a remake of The Graduate.





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Peugeot SR1 concept: a new design direction

Peugeot is signalling a fresh design direction with this brave new SR1 concept car. And if it doesn't look like a Peugeot, that's deliberate. It's all change at Peugeot, tacit admission that its design has erred in recent years. Until now, they claim.

The new Peugeot SR1 is a 2+1 concept car – a roadster with overtones of Aston Martin's V8 Vantage. Seriously! The snout and body surfacing is remarkably like Aston's triumvirate. And who'd have thought we'd be saying that about a humble Peugeot?

Peugeot SR1 concept car: what's the point?

This is no show car today, real car tomorrow. Okay, it could influence a future 407 Coupé successor, hint the design chiefs, but that's not this car's intent. It's all about drawing a line in the sand for Peugeot design. And that's fine by us. We've been fierce critics of dull Peugeots for years and can't remember the last time we got so revved up by a Pug. Excluding perhaps the soon-to-be-launched RCZ coupé.

So read this car and note a few key pointers. The front end is realistic and will influence future Peugeots 'within two years', new design director Gilles Vidal told CAR Online. Those narrower headlamps, that smaller, recessed grille – they're all coming. Thank goodness; we're no fans of the gaping shark's gob adorning the front of most Pugs. The roaring lion is redrawn, too.

Take note also of the metalwork. Vidal talks a good game about how Peugeots are going to appear lighter, nimbler, more elegant. He is keen on sculpting away from the body surface, so those scoops appear to be gouged from the bodywork – implying lightness, taking away, rather than adding heft and bulk.

What's under the pretty body?

The SR1 is a petrol-electric hybrid, showcasing the 218bhp 1.6-litre turbo up front twinned to a 95bhp electric motor turning the rear wheels.

This Hybrid4 system is coming to production Peugeots in 2011 on the 3008, but here it's used to turn Peugeot's design statement into a sporty roadster. It can operate in zero-emissions mode around town – in RWD – and yet the average figures tumble to 119g/km and 58mpg.

Perhaps the best bit of the SR1 is its interior. A pair of front seats provide accommodation for adults, and a single rear seat is centrally mounted. The front armrest slides back and forth to allow space for the rear passenger's feet.

And there's a neat attention to detail to the finishes inside. Leather, aluminium and 'black nickel' provide strokeability, clever dials appear to accelerate towards the horizon when you accelerate, and there's a solid wooden gunwale ringing the cabin. All very lovely, but less production bound than the exterior.





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Citroen's GQbyCITROËN concept car

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.




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Ferrari 599 Hybrid Concept to Appear in Geneva

Ferrari is expected to reveal a hybrid version of the 599 GTB during the 2010 Geneva International Motor Show in March, according to the publication Quattroruote's January issue. Coinciding with the same "green" strategic direction as some other notable supercar makers, fans of the Italian marque might not find this news too disappointing or at least not much of a surprise.

The car should use a system based on lithium-ion batteries and an electric motor, both of which are respectively placed on either side of the rear transaxle. Overall a reduction of about 35% in fuel consumption (equivalent to about 17 litres per 100km) will be achieved. A KERS-like brake regeneration system, start/ stop technology and electric boost will also be installed.

A hybrid 4x4 Ferrari technical illustration first appeared a few months ago and was reported to be the real thing. It seems in the absence of a sedan from the prancing horse the more family-oriented V12-powered 599 GTB would be the perfect candidate for a hybrid powertrain.




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