Just because: The gorgeous Peugeot SR1
By The Prodigal Fool, published on 24 January 2010
Gorgeous. Now there’s a word you don’t often hear in the same sentence as Peugeot. Oh sure, the plucky French carmaker has had its moments – 1997′s Pininfarina-styled 406 coupe springs to mind – but on the whole we tend to associate Peugeot with accomplished hot hatches not inspired design.
Well, just because we stumbled across it on Autocar today, we thought we’d bring you some photos of their latest concept car: the SR1.
Now, we’re not ones to throw superlatives around willy nilly. But this gorgeous – yes, gorgeous – hybrid three-seat roadster concept points to a very appealing new direction for Peugeot and we’re not going to be shy about saying so!
Like so many concepts cars these days, the SR1 is likely to make it into production eventually. Let’s hope that when it does it’s as near to this version as possible.
Peugeot is in the throws of a large-scale initiative to enhance its brand image during this, its 200th anniversary as a company.
The fact that it’s a hybrid is neither here nor there – nowadays, it seems every concept car is a hybrid. No, what we really like is the elegant styling. It retains many classic Peugeot styling cues – the headlights in conjure up the Peugeot lion to us – yet actually pushes things forwards (something too few cars manage to pull of these days.)
As Autocar points out, it’s the SR1’s proportions and major exterior design features that really matter for the future of all Peugeots. Jean-Pierre Ploue, the group’s design director says that
the precise shape and restrained size of the countersunk grille, the graceful proportions, the new sense of lightness of the car’s flanks, and the more sharply defined and simpler surfaces are what you’ll see on tomorrow’s Peugeots.
Well done to Ploue and his team. This is a beautiful, forward-thinking car.
To read the full story, head on over to Autocar.
Just because: The gorgeous Peugeot SR1
Gorgeous. Now there’s a word you don’t often hear in the same sentence as Peugeot. Oh sure, the plucky French carmaker has had its moments – 1997′s Pininfarina-styled 406 coupe springs to mind – but on the whole we tend to associate Peugeot with accomplished hot hatches not inspired design. Well, just because we stumbled [...]
3 Responses to “Just because: The gorgeous Peugeot SR1”
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Lexus’ LF-A is also “gorgeous” – no argument there – and, granted, there are styling similarities with the Peugeot – notably the headlights.
The thing is though – it’s a completely different car. Even if you overlook the staggering price difference (of course there’s no price on the Peugeot yet but I can still state with absolute confidence that the Lexus will be at least five times dearer), while the LF-A is supposed to be thoroughbred supercar (and, incidentally, I would argue it fails in this respect), the Peugeot is a more modest roadster. A three seater at that.
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Straight-Six
26 January 2010
The final outcome from Peugeot will most definitively be “modest”…
Straight-Six
25 January 2010
Well, this is certainly a step in the right direction for the French lion. However, I believe Lexus got here first with its mind-blowing (and eye-wateringly expensive) LF-A…