Fourth Peugeot Design Competition - remarkable source of automotive ideas

The Peugeot design competition looks set to become one of the most important such competitions in the world. Now in it’s fourth year, the latest competition is now in the voting phase, with internet users being asked to vote on the thirty selected projects prior to January 23 to determine the 10 finalists. As with previous winners such as the Moonster (2001 winner), 4002 (2003) and the incredibly popular Moovie which won the 2005 competition, Peugeot will reward the winner by building a full size version of the car to be shown at the Frankfurt 2007 Motor Show and everyone will be able to drive the car virtually as it will be incorporated into an XBox 360 game. For example, here's the story that the Moovie had won the competition, and here's the story and image gallery of the finished working model. This year the theme for the contest was “P.L.E.A.S.E. Innovate” with the acronym standing for Pleasurable (to drive), Lively, Efficient, Accessible, Simple and Ecological. With the internet being used to make the entry into the competition more accessible, a record 4,000 entries from 113 countries were received this year, pushing the standard of the final 30 to a new high. We won’t bias the judging by saying what we voted for, but we’ve picked our top ten and they are all interesting an inspiring in their own right. The contest is well worth a look for motoring aficionados.

After the ten finalists are announced on 24 January, the winner will be announced at the Geneva Motor Show in March, and a full scale model of the winning design will be created for the Frankfurt Motor Show later in 2007.

Our top ten – we’ve edited the designer’s comments in each case for brevity and conciseness and to overcome language vagaries – if you would like to see the untouched originator’s description of their project, go to the relevant voting pages and click on “descriptive file.”

Peugeot ALLSCAPE HD

The ALLSCAPE HD is designed for a new generation of sports car enthusiasts looking for extreme power yet demanding ecological responsibility in a product on a wholistic level. The ALLSCAPE HD has a natural gas powered two litre, twin turbo V4 engine, plus four in-wheel 30kw electric motors. Lots more detail is available in the description written by Venezuelan designer Gustavo Ferrero and be sure to check out the magnificent detail in the renderings.

Peugeot Coaster

Based on the idea of an entertainment ride on wheels, Korean designer Kim Minchul’s Coaster has an active body and represents an entirely new way of thinking about automotive transport.

Peugeot Cougar

Iranian designer Amin Dahresobh’s Cougar concept uyses transparent materials for the majority of body parts so that the driver and passengers can see more of the road surface and surroundings when inside the car. There’s also an X BOX built-in to the car which has a flexible seating arrangement so the passengers can watch movies and play games, and there’s also provision for a built-in camera on the roof of the car so the scenery can be captured digitally. The Cougar has a four cylinder conventional engine and two electrical motors inside the rear wheels.

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