Three new Peugeot concept cars? What’s going on?
Peugeot is pushing the boat out at next month’s Geneva Motor Show, with news of no fewer than three different concepts. Craziest is the Flux – the winner of this year’s Peugeot Design Competition, a global internet contest to find the best amateur designer. This two-seater eco-sportscar beat off 4000 rival designs and will be built as a concept for the Frankfurt show this autumn. Sadly, 20-year-old Romanian Mihai Panaitescu’s design will remain a pure fantasy. Peugeot isn’t about to launch a stripped-out Ariel Atom rival just yet…
And what’s this Peugeot 4007 Holland & Holland… Pointless concept car alert?
We haven’t even seen this summer’s production 4007 in the metal yet, and already Peugeot has teamed up with outdoor leisurewear specialist Holland & Holland to do a special motor show edition of its new off-roader. H&H makes shotguns, by the way…
Groan… So what have they done to the 4007 Holland & Holland then?
Yes, that is a leather badge you see on the snout of Peugeot’s new 4×4. And the rest of the 4007 has been blinged up, too, with large 20-inch wheels and RSPCA-alarming Chartreuse green bull calf leather smattered across the passenger compartment. Is it just us, or are concept cars getting crazier and more removed from the real world? If you want to see a normal 4007 stripped of such concept-car frippery, and read more about its 156bhp 2.2 HDI engine and 4×4 hardware, click here to see our earlier story on the regular 4007.
This must be the first Peugeot 4×4 for ages?
It certainly is. Peugeot hasn’t done all-wheel drive since the 405 MI-16 of the late 1980s. It’s only used 4wd for its performance cars (remember the 205 T16 rally car?) and the 4007 is the brand’s first proper off-roader designed for light off-roading. Peugeot teamed up with Mitsubishi and used the Outlander for the 4007’s foundation; we’ll also see the mechanically identical C-Crosser from sister firm Citroen.
So to the Peugeot 207 SW Outdoor concept car. This one looks a bit more normal
It does, doesn’t it? This is basically the new 207 SW estate that we’ll see in showrooms this autumn, with a few show-off adornments: blue-tint chrome, day-glo orange roofrails and silken parachute-style door fabrics.
Will this one go off road?
The SW denotes estate in Peugeot-speak – and the Outdoor tag is a hint at a new range of faux-by-four styling packs. Expect to see the slightly beefed-up Outdoor look make it to production cars in the next 18 months, with protective body cladding, chunkier tyres and a raised ride height. They’ll be front-wheel drive, though, so mud-scrabbling is not to be encouraged.