Citroën Confirms $2 Million GT Supercar.

By Nick Kurczewski
Citroën The Citroën GT was first envisioned for the Gran Turismo 5 PlayStation 3 video game.

Citroën has confirmed plans to build the Citroën GT, a two-seat sports car originally created for the virtual world of the Gran Turismo 5 racing simulator for the PlayStation 3. The car will be available worldwide, said Anouk van Vliet, a Citroën spokeswoman.

Despite being a volume car company – PSA Peugeot Citroën sold 3.26 million vehicles in 2008 – only six examples of the GT are going to be built, with each mid-engine two-seater costing $2.1 million. For that price, you could opt for one Citroën GT or 35 C6 luxury sedans.

The carbon-fiber bodied GT was revealed last year during the Paris auto show. Its aggressive exterior – complete with gull-wing doors, gaping air intakes and large rear diffuser – was a joint effort between Citroën and designers at Polyphony Digital, creators of the Gran Turismo racing game series.

Citroën The GT would be Citroën’s first production supercar. A production version is expected to be introduced this year at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

Citroën has since been busy hustling the GT around Europe to prestigious racing venues like the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France and the Goodwood Festival of Speed in the Britain.

While it has a long history of building technically innovative cars, the GT represents Citroën’s first leap into a market normally reserved for the likes of Bugatti, Ferrari and other boutique automakers.

Until now, arguably the closest Citroën has come to building a supercar was the futuristic and ferociously complex SM coupe. Built from 1970 to 1975, the SM combined a sleek aerodynamic body with a punchy Maserati V-6 engine (Citroën bought the Italian company in 1968, but relinquished control after going bankrupt in 1974).

The SM had a self-leveling hydro-pneumatic suspension, variable assist power steering, and (in European models) headlights that turned with the steering. This earned the SM high marks for engineering bravado, but a reputation for inflicting major headaches and huge repair bills whenever something went wrong.

The Citroën GT will probably play a similar role as the company’s halo car for daring design and technological innovation. In Gran Turismo 5, the Citroën GT is powered by a 646-horsepower hydrogen fuel-cell, fitted with regenerative braking and an over-boost function that provides an extra 138 horsepower. This video shows the virtual version in action:

That ultra high-tech powertrain will remain video-game fantasy. Ms. van Vliet, the Citroën spokeswoman I spoke to, could not comment about the engine and transmission scheduled for the production version of the GT, though several online forums have suggested Citroën could opt for a traditional (and possibly American-sourced) gas-powered V-8.

This would be a quick and easy solution, but is hardly in keeping with Citroën’s push to environmentally friendly engines and clean diesel technology. One alternative to the gas-guzzling V-8 theory is that the Citroën GT will use a version of the company’s coming diesel-hybrid drivetrain.

First shown in the Hypnos concept car during the 2008 Paris auto show, the diesel-hybrid system combines a diesel engine with a rear axle-mounted electric motor. Citroën plans to bring the drivetrain to market by 2011.

A performance-tuned variation of this diesel-hybrid technology could, potentially, make an early cameo in the Citroën GT. The production version of the GT is scheduled to appear later this year at the Frankfurt auto show.

Comments are no longer being accepted.

larry July 14, 2009 · 9:43 am

why not just re-body the Peugeot (same company) winning Le Mans car?

MM July 14, 2009 · 10:16 am

OW! My eyes, my eyes! What did you just show me??

The designers should be dragged out tomorrow at dawn and flogged and shot.

James July 14, 2009 · 12:57 pm

Right. A car designed by video gamers? I don’t suppose they ever thought of using an aerodynamics engineer?

Jumbo Wiggins July 14, 2009 · 1:47 pm

They should have stuck with the Citroën 2CV. I think they’re out of their league here — they’ve gone and confused cars with video games.

Theo Dimson July 14, 2009 · 3:11 pm

I WANT ONE!

chris July 14, 2009 · 4:00 pm

Don’t be silly. Nissan used video games to create buzz for the GT-R. It’s just a different marketing channel from what you may be used to. Playstation fanboys are probably not the target market for a $2.1 million supercar, but buzz is buzz, and it can drive buyers to showrooms for more modest models.

Besides, of course it’s goofy-looking; it’s a Citroen!

Bill July 14, 2009 · 4:09 pm

Man… this is the same company that built the incomparable DS convertible? I dare Citroen to park an Audi R8 in the same zip code as one of these new GT cars. It looks like the body parts came from several different cars altogether, while the Audi is just a beautiful organic muscle of a car.

Sigh… then again, only super-wealthy vulgarians will buy these, and they can have ’em.

Larry July 14, 2009 · 5:10 pm

Nice idea, but it makes little sense. Audi/Bugatti couldn’t make money (or sell the anticipated allotment) of Veyrons. Now, in a different world, Citroen (few people in North America think Citroen has much brand equity), is going to sell a hyper-car for nearly twice the price? Not likely.

inagaddadavida_loca July 14, 2009 · 5:26 pm

How do you say “Homer” in French?

And when can we expect the Charleston version?

Atlanta July 15, 2009 · 9:06 am

Citroën has obviously found a loophole in the EU’s pedestrian impact rules. Based on the Citroën GT, the rules must allow vehicles to cut off the legs of any pedestrians unlucky enough to get in the way of a moving car!

And how many motorcyclists will be decapitated by running into the back of the Citroën GT before the EU implements rules against giant razor blades on the backs of cars!

snaxalotl July 15, 2009 · 12:05 pm

GAAAAAAAH!

Pickler July 15, 2009 · 12:43 pm

It’s messy and stupid, but don’t judge Citroen overall by this. They’ve actually got a very practical and compelling range.

Dawny Chambers July 15, 2009 · 2:26 pm

I think it’s beautiful.

Maui Mike July 15, 2009 · 3:04 pm

” the rules must allow vehicles to cut off the legs of any pedestrians unlucky enough to get in the way of a moving car!”.

That was my 1st thought exactly!

“It looks like the body parts came from several different cars altogether.”

And that was my second. =)
But I do love Cirtoen. Just not this one…. I do remember the SM. Only ever saw it in the shop, never on the road.

JN July 15, 2009 · 3:24 pm

It looks better in the video than in the side photo. It comes off looking like a Science Fiction submarine. Oh -mechanics used to refer to the SM as the Sadomasochist.

cabernetguy July 15, 2009 · 4:54 pm

All this effort to build just 6 cars?? And $2.1 million each?

I thought extreme stupidity was limited to US automakers.

Dug July 15, 2009 · 6:30 pm

I like it, but “available worldwide” and “six examples” seems contradictory.

dan July 15, 2009 · 7:03 pm

That exact color of SM shown in the link in the article parks on my street in Berlin. I just drooled over it 2 hours ago while riding my bike home. It’s in perfect condition and the interior is a sight to behold.

What a car.

The C6 is so cool too. I saw a bunch of them as “VIP Shuttles” at the French Embassy yesterday for Bastille Day festivities. Different from all these “me too” cars we see so much of.

ming bucibei July 15, 2009 · 8:09 pm

unredemablly ugly but what do you expect from citroen

needs aerodynamic redesign not batmobile designing

they should stick with making the Citroën 2CV

should be shot and put out of its misery and out of sight

ming bucibei

Richard in Connecticut July 15, 2009 · 10:41 pm

Dare I say; not weird enough for Citroen?
Power it with a nanofiber rubber band, give it 5 wheels, or maybe an articulation or two, then it would be sufficiently emblematic.
But now I’m wondering if my 58 2cv truckette might be susceptible to hybridization. Couple of chickens on a treadmill, diesel model airplane engine, solar steam generator?? Or maybe in the great tradition of the silent movies, a horseshoe magnet to latch onto the tail of a passing supercar.

jim rosenthal July 15, 2009 · 10:59 pm

This from the company that brought us the 2CV, the ID and DS cars, and the SM?

What did Citroen do; hire all the idiots that just left the US automakers? What a step backwards- more like a leap. I can’t think of a car which is needed less, or less desirable. And I love cars, always have. But I am willing to make exceptions.

Ross in Paris July 16, 2009 · 3:26 am

It’s just what the world needs, a 2 million dollar Citroen which looks as if it was designed by Homer Simpson. Maybe if we ignore it, it will go away.

Marsden July 16, 2009 · 3:40 am

“… ferociously complex self-leveling hydro-pneumatic suspension”??

May I introduce you to my Mercedes CL with ABC (Active Body Control) electro-hydraulic suspension?

“…a reputation for inflicting major headaches and huge repair bills whenever something went wrong.”

May I introduce you to my Mercedes CL with ABC (Active Body Control) electro-hydraulic suspension?

Oh, also, may I introduce you to my car-buying advice? Buy a Honda.

Charles Hoyenski July 16, 2009 · 4:08 am

You gotta love the French: They are impractical but romantic, they make fine wines, cheeses and art but in the engineeing field (including automotive), they are impractical, some examples of this:
1)The SST (Super sonic transport that was supposed to shuttle the uber rich across continents in luxury), it never made money.
2)The Veyron, an absurdley over priced hot rod that never took off, it too, lost money.
3)The airbus 380 Jumbo plane which currently sees a shrinking market while thier American competitors (boeing), are eating thier shorts in the midsized jet transport market.
4) And now this citroen car an other soon to be money loser, I’m shure, but then again, they can do this since french carmakers have ALWAYS been subsidized by the french government (the US succumbed to this only recently with the bailout of GM & Chrysler).
They always have to make it “bigger and faster” without regard to pracitcality or economic viablility.