If you're not familiar with the name Peugeot, you were probably born in the U.S. after 1990. Though they've never held a particularly strong share of the American auto market, during the 80s the French automaker's badge was another face in the crowd that greeted me on bumper-to-bumper L.A. freeways. Though they stopped exporting across the Atlantic in the 90s, Peugeot has maintained a consistent presence throughout Europe. Now, it appears, they may intend on making that presence known.
Peugeot has revealed a concept car unlike any before it: incredibly lightweight, made from recycled materials, and powered by hybrid fuel technology. From Top Gear:
It's a one-off supercar concept designed by a group of Pug designers briefed with exploring the use of unprocessed materials in new ways. So that body has been hand-finished using pure copper sheet metal, and because it's untreated, the finish will change over the course of time, giving it a new look.This car looks like a monster--albeit a very, very environmentally-friendly monster. If you make your millions off biofuels, this may just be the car for you.
The remainder of the bodywork panels are made from carbon fibre, finished in a matt black, and you can tell how pleased Peugeot is with its RCZ sportscar, as the Onyx sports a double-bubble roof in honour of it. Even the ruddy windows and the roof are made from PolyMethylMethAcrylate (PMMA) - basically, shatter-resistant plastic.
Underneath is where the Onyx gets a bit more exciting. The chassis was developed with the help of Peugeot Sport - themselves a bit handy with a bag of spanners - and is constructed from monolithic carbon, and comprises just 12 parts. It's even been built with a flat carbon fibre floor like they use in racecars, even if the Onyx has been made "suitable for the road". All in, the whole thing weighs just 1,100kg with torsional stiffness said to be ‘optimised'.
It had better be too, because bolted onto that shell is the 3.7-litre V8 hybrid HDi FAP engine used for Peugeot's Le Mans programme, here developing some 600bhp transmitted to the rear wheels through a six-speed sequential gearbox. There's an 80bhp boost button incorporated inside too, utilising battery power recuperated from brake energy. Oh yeah, those brakes: 380mm discs at the front and 355mm at the back. Huge.
Inside is where it gets a bit playschool fantasy. The interior is constructed from compressed and stretched felt (obtained from boiled wool, no less), formed as a one-piece pod with no stitching or joins, and acts almost like a pod: as a whole, it contains the soundproofing, seats, roof and upper console. Your body fits into this pod like an organic whole. Very Alien-esque.
The dash is made from wood produced from recycled newspapers - with not a hacking scandal in sight - complete with digital screens and aluminium switchgear operating the engine and air-conditioning controls.
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