Citroën Confirms $2 Million GT Supercar.
By Nick Kurczewski
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.
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.
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