1999 Citroen Pluriel Concept

The Citroen Pluriel was derived from the C3 Air Concept and was put on display at the Frankfurt Motor Show. Though Citroen shied away from using the word 'concept', it was a design study that eventually evolved into a future Citroen model. The Pluriel was fitted with a removable superstructure and given an exterior appearance similar to the C3. The car had three separate 'modules' or body styles which are interchangeable; they included a découvrable saloon (ie with a full length soft top), a décapotable and a spyder pick-up.

The Pluriel research prototype illustrated the styling principles of a modular car that Citroen planned to use in the future. The Pluriel could change its body style to adapt to a wide variety of uses.

When the large material sunroof was in the closed position, the Pluriel took on the appearance of a compact 3-door saloon convertible. It could easily be turned into an open-top leisure vehicle by simply pressing the button that controlled the roof and windows. The roof would fold down onto the rear window and disappear into the false floor of the boot. The two arches would remain in place on the car body. These two arches were fitted with an easy-to-use coupling system for easy removal. In this fashion, the vehicle would transform into a Spider pick-up.

By Daniel Vaughan | Jul 2011