Michael McAleer, Motoring Editor, tests out the Citroën C-Metisse concept
Nestling beside a copse in the centre of a high-speed oval track outside Paris is Citroën's latest concept car. Lying squat on the tarmac, its stunning good looks are hard to ignore.
Behind us a group of Audi customers are on a handling course, but when they're not slipping and sliding they break away from their minders to paw and photograph the C-Metisse.
Citroën has reinvented itself in recent years, with designs that make it the most creative car company on the mainstream market.
From the C-Airlounge concept - that heralded the C6 - through to this car, all have been received with critical acclaim, none more so than this four-seat coupé.
Sadly, there are no plans to turn this into a production model, but that doesn't stop Citroën giving its designers and engineers the time and space to explore their more adventurous ideas. This attitude has earned the French marque admiration at car shows and respect in the industry. Speaking some months ago with a senior designer at a premium marque, when asked which company he would like to work with - apart from his current employer - Citroën was the name that dropped from his lips.
In the world of car design, Chris Bangle and his team at BMW are recognised as the stars of the premium market while Citroën holds that crown in the mainstream market. For too many other firms, the criteria laid down on each project means the end results of three years development are small incremental changes and the odd bulging wheel arch.
At Citroën - and reportedly at BMW - the criterion is to push the boundaries and see what you can come up with. It's the sort of freedom that car designers dream of. In return, they reward their employer. The C-Metisse proves the point: every carshow heralds a raft of wacky concepts, but rarely are they as drop dead gorgeous as this car. This is a grand tourer, similar in size to a Bentley Continental and with a long sweeping bonnet. While we're not permitted to deviate from the 15kms of test track at the Ceram centre, in the Parisian countryside, the temptation to drive this down the Champs Elysee and gauge reaction is incredible.
The futuristic styling is continued inside, behind the four gull-wing doors. Here, four individual seats sit on either side of a large imposing central console that runs the length of the car.
Various buttons, including the ignition switch, are housed on the ceiling, like a plane cockpit. Gears are changed by moving a metal lever on the massive metal cylinder running through the car.
As with all concept cars, this is all about image. Closer inspection never bodes well. This one-off concept is valued at €3 million but it's powered by PSA's 2.7-litre Hdi diesel engine, albeit with the French firm's take on electric hybrid technology added in. This operates at up to speeds of 30km/h and for 3km, so it's not particularly relevant on an oval speed track. Nevertheless, it's there.
The diesel engine may have the requisite torque and turns in a 0-100km/h time of 6.2 seconds, but it's like meeting Miss World and discovering she has the vocabulary of a drunken docker.
Push the starter button and there's a noisy judder as the big oil burner putters to life. Given that it's not a finished road car, there's none of the noise dampening of regular road cars, so the engine noise combines with the whirr of the air-con system, creating a deafening crescendo in the cabin. It all sounds more Massey Ferguson than C-Metisse.
You can't adjust the seats either, but thankfully the pedals can be moved towards the driver. The binnacle is designed like jewellery, but they can't be read unless you squat in close and study the numbers intently. This is not a car you'd want to drive, but one you'd love to be seen in.
Out on the oval we hit speeds of about 120km/h but the car is heavy, the brakes too grippy, while the 20" wheels and low-profile tyres make it a bit of a beast to drive. The C-Metisse is at its best parked up and surrounded by admirers. We have barely taken to the track when the wiper flies across the windscreen, caught by the wind.
All the time the agrarian roar of the diesel engine chips away at our admiration for this car. I don't care if diesel is more economical: it has no place in cars like this. In many ways the C-Metisse symbolises the issues facing Citroën at present. For all the credit it has garnered in terms of design, its engineering innovations still trail Japanese rivals.
Ironically, in the heydays of the 1960s, cars like the DS managed to combine both engineering and design excellence. The only problem then was that they didn't make any money. These days Citroën is revitalising its design, but needs to do the same with engineering, while watching the bottom line.
That's where Jean Pottier comes in. As head of the innovation and technical department, in charge of the 500 staff in Citroën's R&D section, it's Pottier's job to give the brand the same engineering recognition as it has for design. The problem for Pottier is that while design takes time, engineering innovation devours budgets. Between the engine note and my pidgin French, it's a difficult conversation but it's clear he doesn't want to go into detail on cases where vast sums of money have been spent on projects with nothing to show at the end. That's the case with most industries, but in a market as tight as today's there is no room for such profligacy.
Pottier identifies the three key areas where Citroën's R&D efforts are concentrating: fuel consumption; interior comfort and ergonomics; and quality production. The first is an industry-wide issue, the second an important differentiator for the French brand, and the third is a problem area that Pottier knows Citroën must deal with.
The simple fact is that Citroën has long played second fiddle to its sister French brand. In Ireland, the Citroën brand has taken a beating due to a mix of reliability issues and a decision by French management to operate a short-sighted discounting policy that crucified their residual values. That policy has now been abandoned in Ireland and though sales have fallen off as a result, the future looks a little brighter.
Next year sees the arrival of the C5 replacement, a car that will follow in the lines of the C4 and last year's C6. This car must succeed for Citroën to prosper.
Design and ergonomics will grab public attention, while innovative engineering, such as hybrid diesel technology will win it critical acclaim.
Yet for importers, dealers and customers, the importance of getting well-finished, reliable cars rolling off the production line cannot be over-estimated. The brand's future depends on it.
Factfile:
Length: 4,740 mm
Width: 2,000 mm
Height: 1,240 mm
Wheelbase: 3,000 mm
0 - 100 km/h: 6.2 sec
Top speed: 250 km/h
Combined consumption: 6.5 l/100 km
CO2: 174 g/km
HYBRID DRIVETRAIN V6 HDi diesel engine developing 208 bhp with a 6-speed automatic transmission
Two electric motors in the rear wheels each with torque of 400Nm and developing 20bhp
Electric mode operates for 3km at 30 km/h