MOTORING NEWS - The Citroën Karin was a concept car presented at the Paris Motor Show in 1980 as the motor manufacturer wanted something very different for the occasion. Over the years, Citroën became synonymous with innovation - sometimes quite revolutionary - as demonstrated in its hydro-pneumatic suspension systems as well as the more recent Cactus model.
The Karin was very different, but unsurprisingly never made it to production.
The design can't be overlooked - it is a breathtaking, pyramid-form design by Trevor Fiore.
The exterior of the car incorporated flush glass panels, faired rear wheels and gull wing doors. The roof of the Karin was only the size of an A3 sheet of paper due to its truncated pyramid shape.
One of the most noticeable interior features was the unique three-seat layout with the driver seated between two passengers. A popular joke of the day was that this was a unique French arrangement to transport both the wife and the mistress!
Other features were a 4-cylinder engine, front wheel drive and a hydro-pneumatic suspension as was used in the Citroën DS.
Trevor Fiore followed Robert Opron as the head of Citroën Design for a short time. He gave the go-ahead for an innovative concept for the show - starting from a blank sheet.
The Karin's three-seater interior layout has the driver sitting in the middle, slightly ahead of the two passenger seats.
With its flush glass panels, partly covered rear wheels and its earthy colour, the Karin took inspiration from Gandini's Lancia Sibilo with the design simplified to its purest form.
Using radically straight lines, it was built as a truncated pyramid pointing towards the rear, just above the passengers.
If it had wings, the Karin would have looked like an F-117 stealth aircraft fighter.
The headlamps with triple projectors were reminiscent of the Citroën SM as well as the Alpine A310 on which Fiore also worked. The rear design is somewhat reminiscent of the Lotus Esprit. Inside, the driver faced a clean dashboard and a long cantilever steering column. Following the ideas of the Citroën CX, the highly functional fascia had every control at the driver's fingertips.
Karin includes an inboard computer with a screen displaying information about the car and the road. Small pop-up computers were also integrated into the door panels, ahead of the grab handle. Finally, additional controls were mounted on each side of the pod so that the driver could adjust audio settings.
And where is it today? A photo taken in September 2016 shows a 1980 Citroën Karin concept car at the Conservatoire Citroën museum in Aulnay-sous-Bois, Paris.
Sources: http://oldconceptcars.com, Wikipedia.com.
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