If you were enamored of the new Peugeot RCZ when it finally debuted in production guise at the Frankfurt show last month, the latest product of the French rumor mill has got more in store for you. According to emerging reports from across the pond, Peugeot is planning to compliment the svelte coupe with a convertible counterpart.
Because the existing 308 on which the RCZ is based already offers a four-seat hard-top cabriolet in its range, sources anticipate that the drop-top RCZ will feature a lighter and more compact conventional cloth roof that will take the place of the rear seats, giving Peugeot its first proper roadster in years. Alternative reports, however, suggest that the French automaker could go a different route with a removable carbon-fiber roof panel to give the RCZ a targa-esque option. In any event, Peugeot isn't expected to return to the North American market any time soon, so we'll just have to suffice with the superior engineering of the Audi TT whose styling the RCZ apes.
If a scooter is too small, dangerous and uncovered for your tastes but you'd still like to have as minimal an impact on your surroundings as possible, Peugeot has just the concept car for you. Called the BB1, the French automaker says of its Frankfurt Motor Show-bound machine, "Its mother is a scooter. Its father is a car." Right.
So, the unholy offspring of a mini two-wheeler and a city car would look something like a cartoon car that's straining to stop before smashing into a brick wall. Good to know. One thing is for certain: you won't mistake the Peugeot BB1 for anything else on the road. With its exaggerated forward-pitched stance, solar cell-covered glass bubble roof and protruding head and tail lamps, this is one concept that stands apart from the rest of the crowd.
Amazingly, Peugeot has found a way to cram four human beings inside the BB1, and those occupants gain access to the cabin via a pair of reverse-hinged doors with mini roll-down windows. Driving the diminutive machine would surely be an experience, and the controls are more akin to those from a motorcycle than a car. See for yourself in our gallery below, and stay tuned for more details as the doors in Frankfurt officially swing open in the morning.
Mitsubishi and Peugeot aren't exactly strangers to each other. Remember, for example, that the current Peugeot 4007 SUV is just a reskinned Mitsubishi Outlander. Apparently, that collaboration has worked out well so far, because the two are planning a new project together, only this one figures to be a lot "greener," as it involves the introduction of the Peugeot iOn in Frankfurt. If the iOn pictured above looks familiar, that's because it's simply the Mitsubishi iMiEV sporting Peugeot's lion badge in front. The French carmaker plans to launch the lithium ion battery-powered electric kei car in Europe at the end of 2010.
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The Audi vs. Peugeot endurance racing battle will continue next month at Road Atlanta as the German team finally confirmed it will bring the R15 TDI back to America. Peugeot announced several weeks ago that it would run its Le Mans-winning 908 HDI at both the Petit Le Mans and Laguna Seca. So far Audi has only committed to the 10-hour race in Georgia. Audi Sport Team Joest will be running the two R15s for the German automaker.
The diesel-powered racers opened up the season battling at the 12 hours of Sebring with the R15 grabbing a debut victory. From there, the Franco-Prussian war moved on to the 24 Hours of Le Mans where Peugeot finally came through with a win after three years of trying.
Audi motorsports boss Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich blamed a lack of testing for the team's failure in France this year and plans to have the team test at Road Atlanta the week prior to the race next month. Hopefully, Audi will stick around for the California race, as well. Full press release after the jump, and thanks to all for the tips!
Between the sports cars and his jet-set lifestyle, John Z. DeLorean was a man typified by excess. So would it come as any great surprise that he wasn't perfectly satisfied with the meager 170 horsepower output of the Peugeot-Renault-Volvo V6 in his self-titled aluminum stainless steel wonder? In 1980, after an aborted attempt at fusion power, the ambitious auto executive turned to Legend Industries to develop a twin-turbo version of the PRV engine, and this is what they came back with.
While we figure the turbo upgrade ought to be good for 1.21 gigawatts, official output numbers weren't released when DeLorean introduced the DMC-12 turbo prototype to the National Automobile Dealers Association in January of 1980, nor have they been disclosed since. But fitted with the pair of RHB52 turbos from Ishikawajimi-Harima Heavy Industries (IHI), the gullwinged sportscar was said to be capable of accelerating to 60 mph in 5.6 seconds on its way to a time-space continuum-ripping 146 mph. (We can hear Doc Brown yelling it right now). That's a significant improvement over the stock DeLorean's claimed 8.8 second 0-60 mph run – which was, incidentally, actually clocked by Road & Track at 10.5 seconds – still perfectly adequate for outrunning Libyan terrorists in Volkswagen camper vans.
The Frankfurt Motor Show next month will be a busy place for Peugeot, as the French automaker plans to unveil two new production models plus its first production hybrid along with a gas-electric concept vehicle. The 5008 minivan and RCZ sport coupe are both making their first public appearances as production models, and a second version of the RCZ will also be on display equipped with Peugeot's new HYBrid4 powertrain. HYBrid4 is a parallel through-the-road system that utilizes a conventional internal combustion powertrain that powers one end.
A battery and electric motor reside at the opposite end. In both the RCZ and 3008 crossover, the electric drive is at the rear axle. The system allows the vehicle to have on demand all-wheel drive and can operate in internal combustion, EV or blended modes. The advantage of splitting the powertrains it vastly reduces mechanical complexity compared to power split systems like those from Toyota and Ford. There currently aren't any production plans for the RCZ hybrid, although that could easily change.
After rumors popped up several weeks ago that Mitsubishi and Peugeot would collaborate on a French-badged version of the iMiEV electric car in Europe, both sides vehemently denied it. Those denials can now be laid to rest as Peugeot and Mitsubishi have announced that a memorandum of understanding that should lead to the introduction of a Peugeot EV by late 2010 or early 2011. The two companies have been negotiating for more than 10 months. Mitsubishi will build the cars for Peugeot and they will be sold alongside the iMiEV in the European market. The Mitsubishi version goes on sale in Japan this summer and Europe in mid-2010. Mitsubishi still hasn't decided whether to offer the car in the U.S., although several of them are currently operating in test fleets in the U.S. now. We drove the iMiEV in New York a while back, so click here to check out our driving impressions.
We're just back from checking out the Nissan Qazana, and we're happy to report that it's every bit as zany as it looks in the stock images we saw seen earlier. In fact, it almost looks Gallic, like something from Citroen or Peugeot, or perhaps something reverse-engineered from a Paris-Dakar rally special. We're not entirely sure if (and/or how) the big-fendered, narrow-greenhouse look will translate to Nissan's planned production compact crossover, and we're quite sure that the rear-hinged suicide doors won't see showrooms when the Qashqai receives a kid brother. For now, we're enjoying its novel lighting (including the pair of crazy large front driving lamps and the fender-ridge daytime-running lamps, along with well-integrated boomerang taillamps) and red-velvet cake interior.
Plenty of teams have dropped out racing series around the world this year as economic problems have caused sponsors to pull back. So far, it looks like the 24 Hours of Le Mans has managed to remain relatively immune as the Automobile Club de l'Ouest received 82 entries for the 55 openings for this years race. The top LMP1 class is set to be another battle royal with 12 factory supported entries from Audi, Peugeot and Aston Martin. Peugeot will be trying to finally win Le Mans and has increased its squad to four by entrusting one of the 908s to the Pescarolo Sport team. Audi will have three of its new R15 TDIs and two of the old R10s which will be run by the Kolles team.
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French automaker PSA/Peugeot-Citroen is serious about breathing new air into its chevron-badged division. After partnering with Polyphony's Gran Turismo racing simulator franchise for the GTbyCitroen concept and announcing the revival of the DS nameplate with an upcoming show car at the Geneva Motor Show, the Franco auto group has managed to poach Mercedes-Benz sales chief Jean-Marc Gales to be Citroen's new chief executive. Born in Luxembourg, 46-year-old Gales held a variety of positions at Volkswagen, BMW and Opel before moving to Mercedes-Benz. In his new job, he'll be replacing Gilles Michel, who departed Citroen – now celebrating its 90th anniversary – for a government position last December. Gales will join PSA's five-member top executive committee in a couple of months from now.
