It’s sexy. It’s a concept car. Yes, this Peugeothybrid is going to debut at the Paris Motor Show later this month.
What am I talking about? The Peugeot Onyx. Designed as a super car, it is outfitted with a V8 hybrid HDi FAP 3.7-litre engine that’s cooled by twin NACA ducts on the roof.
The engine transmits its 600 bhp to the rear wheels via a six-speed sequential gearbox. The hybrid technology also recovers kinetic energy lost during braking, storing it in lithium ion batteries for later use in accelerating in such a way that a nice little 80 bhp boost is offered.
There’s no specs offered at this point on what kind of gas mileage or top speed one could expect out of the Onyx hybrid, but we might learn more about it during its official unveiling at the auto show. It will also likely never be a production model, but were it to be one you can expect it would be beyond the reach of most of us mere mortals in terms of price.
The vehicle is really built to be a thing of raw beauty, according to Peugeot. The wings and doors, for example, were handcrafted by a “master craftsman” from a single sheet of pure copper that is polished like a mirror. Other body panels are formed in carbon and painted black.
The vehicle is very streamlined, with its V8 engine mid-mounted. It has what is described as a “double-bubble” roofline and aluminum roof arches. No gold coins are attached to the Onyx to give it that uber luxury ideal it is shooting for, but you get the general drift here – this car is meant to wow from the moment you first set your sights on it, if that’s your sort of thing.
The interior is described as being bright and natural from floor to the roof. It has a minimalist feel inside, and the dashboard is constructed from what’s described as “newspaper wood,” which is produced from used newspapers that are assembled and compressed to create a new material.
This “newspaper wood” dashboard houses a heads-up display cluster that shows engine activity and the vehicle’s speed on metal components. Operation of the hybrid activation, according to Peugeot, is indicated by digital displays. There’s also a whole lot of other very advanced technological whiz bang going on in the cockpit including, for example, a selection of aluminum roof toggle switches that include the start switch for the engine.
