Paris Preview: Citroën puts un peu d’air sur terre with Lacoste concept

Filed under: Concept Cars, Convertible, Paris Motor Show, Crossover, Citroën

Citroën Lacoste concept – Click above for high-res image gallery

French couture, as is widely known, is at the very height of fashion. French cars, well…less so. But Citroën is hard at work to fix that and capitalize on potential synergies within its own homeland. Its new DS line of premium vehicles is doing much to bridge that gap, as are concepts like the Metropolis and the GQbyCitroën. Now the French automaker has teamed up with a sportswear powerhouse to develop a new show car set to debut on its home turf in Paris next week.

The product of collaboration with tennis-wear giant Lacoste, Citroën’s latest concept takes the alligator brand’s slogan “un peu d’air sur terre” (“a little air on the ground”) to heart with an open buggy-like design ready to, according to Citroën, transports its “passengers to a lighter, fresher world.” And what does that entail, exactly? No roof, no doors and a collapsible windshield, apparently, taking cues from classic Jeeps, but in a more, how you say, avant garde form.

Powering those jumbo golf-ball wheels is a compact three-cylinder gasoline engine that Citroen figures should be plenty to propel the compact vehicle along in joie de vivre bliss. Beyond that, we’ll let the French designers’ work speak for itself, so take a stroll through the Louvre-like gallery of high-resolution images below for a closer look, or follow the jump for the full press release.

Gallery: Citroen Lacoste concept