Citroen

Michael Bennett-Levy's extraordinary collection of early technologies went under the hammer at Bonhams in London on Wednesday with 90% of the 758 lots on offer sold for a total of £683,384. A tidy sum no doubt, but having had the opportunity to examine the treasure trove closely, and the benefit of speaking at length to Bennett-Levy about the significance of key items, we can't help but conclude that many pieces were a steal for shrewd investors. The largest privately held collection of early televisions in the world - including 26 pre-war sets - made up a large slice of the auction and in the first of a series of interviews, Michael Bennett-Levy talks to Gizmag about outstanding items in his collection, starting with the much sought after Teleavia type P111, a rare 1958 console-stand television by Citroën DS designer Flaminio Bertroni that was not only a hallmark in style, but also one of the earliest examples of high-definition TV. Read More

Citroen showed an ultra-chic plug-in REVOLTe hybrid concept inspired by its iconic 2CV at the Frankfurt Motorshow. Compact, with a visually-stunning low stance, REVOLTe measures just 3.68m long, 1.73m wide and 1.35m tall. Apart from the drive train, the most interesting feature is its original and distinctive three-seater layout - driver’s seat to one side with two passenger seats behind it - is designed to resemble a lounge, with the rear seats taking the form of a contemporary sofa. Read More

Citroen’s task in redesigning the best-selling C3 was not an enviable one – how do you better a car that is still selling strongly, with more than two million units on the road. We’ll see the finished product at Frankfurt later this month, but the brand’s new ‘Visiodrive’ certainly looks the goods with its huge windscreen, remarkable interior space and what Citroen claims will be “astonishing” road behavior. Read More

This year’s Festival of Speed is almost upon us and as usual, a stellar array of go-fast-gear will assemble to take on the famous 1.16-mile Goodwood Hill. Among the highlights will be the GTbyCitroën, an outlandish concept car designed for the virtual world of Gran Turismo 5 that first appeared in its real world guise at the 2008 Paris Motor Show. Read More

The first all-electric family car went on sale in the United Kingdom over the weekend. Electric Car Corporation Plc has launched a lithium ion battery-powered, all-electric version of the Citroen C1, called the C1 ev'ie. Unlike the previous largest selling electric vehicle in Britain – the Indian-built Reva G-Wiz, which was legally classed as a quadricycle – the C1 ev’ie is a proper car, albeit a mini car. Read More

Citroen Racing has started testing its Citroen C4 Hybrid World Rally Car, proving that its technological showcase is much more than just a motor show model and that it is paving the way for low consumption, low emission, low noise motor sport cars of the future. Just hours after winning its fourth World Rally Championship event of the season, Citroen driver Dani Sordo took the new car testing in Portugal. Read More

The UK's What Diesel magazine is celebrating its 21st year of publication and focuses on one of the few growth areas of the automotive market – the diesel world. Each year its writers and readers vote to award the best diesel car in each category and this year the Car of the Year honour has gone to Ford's new “world car” the Ford Fiesta. Jaguar scored the best executive diesel and second overall with the XF, Volkswagen got three awards (Medium car, coupe and the green award), Citroën grabbed two gongs with the C3 Picasso (best MPV) and C5 Tourer (Best Estate Car) and the Land Rover Freelander 2 won the 4x4 class for the third year running. Read More

As the curtain falls on the Paris Motor Show for 2008 we take a look back at some of the biggest surprises and brightest innovations to emerge from this massive global automotive extravaganza. As a starting point it's hard to go past Lamborghini, which emulated its 2007 most-talked-about crown by showing its Estoque concept. As a mid-engined four-door coupé with a V10 motor and permanent four-wheel drive, it's not really eco-inspired but a weapon to behold for the family man. Mazda definitely made our short-list for the most striking design with the aerodynamic Kiyora Urban compact and Citroen also floated some compelling concepts including the colorful Hypnos luxury hybrid crossover and the virtual-meets-real-world GTbyCITROEN which will appear on-screen in the next installment of Gran Turismo. Read More

Teaser pics of the Citroën Hypnos first surfaced last month and more details have now been revealed to coincide with the unveiling of the outlandish crossover concept at the 2008 Paris Motor Show. Pitched as a hybrid in terms of both technology and styling, the dynamically proportioned Hypnos attempts to marry the elegance of an executive saloon with the volumes of a cross-over while at the same time showcasing the company's HYmotion4 technology - a diesel hybrid drivetrain featuring a rear axle-mounted electric motor which optimizes dynamic performance and traction while keeping fuel consumption down to 4.5 l/100 km (60+mpg) and emissions at 120 g/km of CO2). What really sets the car apart however is the candy-shop "color therapy" interior - sunglasses may be required. Read More