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Peugeot City Toyz Peugeot, who on the occasion of the Mondial de l’Automobile are launching the first international design competition on the Internet, have decided to set the tone of this event in the field of creativity by introducing four ‘toys’ evoking the pleasure of motoring: the ‘City Toyz’.
These recreational concept-cars have been invented by the Peugeot Style Centre designers. Using their imaginative spirit, the creators set these ‘City Toyz’ at a distant point in time, in the middle of the traffic, in an imaginary town, or nearby, and in the country, where driving and pleasure are still a possible combination. These four interpretations of the automobile, or the ‘motomobile’, have indeed arisen from dreams, where passion expresses itself through freedom, aesthetic beauty, architecture and technology. The ‘vroomster’ is a tandem vehicle with the fuel tank between the driver’s legs. He steers using a ‘handlebar steering wheel’ and, along with the passenger, is protected by an elongated windscreen. Each of them sits on a separate seat.
The body is made of carbon-fibre with foam. Each seat is fitted with three-point seat belts and running boards to facilitate getting on board. The twin-cam sixteen-valve engine, as well as the running-gear, are based on a reasonably high-performance 206 (80 kW – 110 bhp). This ‘tough guy’s’ car is painted in shiny black and ‘flashy’ green. 3.16m long and 1.36m high, it has a wheel-base of 2.10m and a width of 1.52m. The ‘e-doll’ is approximately 2.5m long and its width of 1.54m allows it to carry three people in the front. The self-supporting carbon fibre body carries the batteries; it is covered by a one-piece ‘canopy’, forming the windscreen, the roof, and the rear window.
The side doors remain open and the driver, seated centrally, steers using veritable scooter handlebars, with a starter, twist-grip ‘gas’ and brake controls, and a twin-dial instrument panel. At the rear, the chassis incorporates a ‘trolley, very practical for shopping. At the front are two triangulated half-axles of a pseudo McPherson type. The rear axle has two transverse control arms and contains two electric motors straight from the Peugeot Electric Scooter. Each of these is incorporated into a control arm which, being streamlined, itself incorporates a belt-drive transmission. This orange-yellow 1.29m high ‘dodgem-car’ is both personable and slightly street-wise. Its 10" front wheels and twin rear wheels give it an unquestionably strong personality. The ‘bobslid’ is a ‘engineering-free’ electric car with four-wheel drive and three seats, one behind the other, and a totally new interior layout. The structure is in the form of a sort of bathtub/girder made of carbon fibre. On the left side are three longitudinally adjustable seats for the driver and passengers, all seated in a low position. A large storage area is built in parallel to these, on the right. The ‘bobslid’ has a wheel-base of 2.2m, is 1.69m wide, and 1.1m high.
The cabin formed in this way is protected at the front by a windscreen, then, towards the rear, it is completely covered by a bubble over its entire length, incorporating a glass roof. To allow access to the passenger compartment, this bubble tips up and raises itself on an axis situated on the left side, while on the right a panel/door opens up a part of the bodywork. When closed, the bubble can be electrically unlocked to allow it to slide backwards, providing the options of a sun roof and opening side windows. Below the windscreen, a main instrument panel in translucent orange material is built around the body’s chassis belt. The car is driven by four wheels each having ten small 500W motors. The centre of the wheel, or rather its body is fixed and supports the ten motors distributed around its periphery. As soon as one of the motors turns, a cog at the end of each drive-shaft engages the rim, the interior of which take the from of a notched crown-wheel. The ten small motors thus turn the wheel, which is fitted with 560mm diameter tyres at the front and 730mm tyres at the back. As the available power is 5kW per wheel, the total power of the ‘bobslid’ amounts to 20kW. The car has neither steering-wheel nor handlebars, and steering is carried out by varying the speed of rotation of the wheels. This is controlled by two levers or ‘joy-sticks’ on a rudder bar between the driver’s legs. To give easy access to the driver’s seat, this inclines forward. It holds a monitor screen and two foot-rests. The exterior wiring is protected by two aircraft-type casings. The car is finished in metallic red and its interior is orange-yellow trimmed with black. The ‘kart-up’ is a ‘little bombshell’ whose self-supporting carbon-fibre body has two front seats and a V6 ‘standard engine producing 152kW (210 bhp).
In this neatly-sized roadster measuring 3.28m in length and 1.52m in width, the occupants sit at ground level and are protected by a windscreen/glass roof, which forms a bubble. When this is opened, it tips up towards the front at the same time as the bonnet. As in all the Peugeot ‘toys’, the ‘kart up’ is equipped with two headlights furnished with totally new technology. Each headlight actually contains a lamp which sends a vertical beam of light to a mirror, which in turn directs the light in a forward direction. The reflected beam passes through a lens which disperses it onto the area to be illuminated. A mask with two openings is used to select a choice of ‘road’ or ‘junction’ settings. This design means that very little depth is required. The suspension of the ‘kart up’, which is 1.08m in height, is provided by double triangles at the front and rear; the engine and gearbox are mounted transversely, in front of the rear drive. This ‘arrow’ is finished in deep metallic grey, tipped with green at the front; as it extends backwards its colour changes gradually to a pearly white. Photos: Automotive Intelligence
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