| The last image on that page has text in Dutch, I took a few moment to have a quick translate. (P.S.: I have no idea what they meant with that last sentence)... In the last 20 years, every stylist has met the forcing limits of designing a car, set by the cost, production methods and the ever growing regulation. But this situation has had little consequences for the standardisation of cars, it's more due to market probes that there's a danger of all cars looking the same. There's that many investments involved that the stakeholders don't dare create a car that deviates too much from the normal. Currently in Europe cars increasingly look very similar and the public is taking notice. This is an opportunity Citroën should take: its image has always been about creating cars that are different than the rest and that's undoubtedly what's the buyer is seeking these days. At the Automobile Salon in Paris 1980, Citroën presented 'a dream car', designed by it's 'Design Bureau': the Karin. This prototype is the first stage of research into the mid-range: 2 'wing'-doors coupé with 3 separate seats with the driver's seat in the center. The car is 3.70 meter long (145.7 inch), 1.075 meter high (42.3 inch) and 1.90 meter wide (74.8 inch). It has front wheel drive.
The interior is also avant-gardistic. An electronic screen continually provides information about the condition and performance of several elements of the car.
Though the esthetic design of massively produced cars has improved all these years, their style risks turning somewhat monotonous, since the designers get less playing room due to inceasing external demands. With this in mind the 'Bureau de Style Citroën' has undertaken this 'design exercise' to reasearch the impact of a body with really clear lines on the car buying public. With designing this car an attempt is made to describe an offer for the future. |