Citroen C-Crosser

2001 September, Frankfurt: The Citroen C-Crosser is a concept four wheel drive that attempts to crack the "problem" that seems to obsess many car designers but that buyers may or may not about. That is, the C-Crosser is a multi-role vehicle; it converts between a 6-seat station wagon and a 3-seat ute.

The C-Crosser is 4.28 metres long, with a stub nose (and no kind of looks). Normal seating is in two rows of three. At the press of a button, the rear roof folds, the rear seats fold into the floor, and a glass window rises behind the front seats - instant ute.

Citroen is also experimenting with controls on this vehicle, all of which are mounted on the steering wheel - no pedals. The controls are all drive-by-wire ones, so there are no mechanical linkages to the wheels or brakes. This also allows the steering wheel to be moved easily from the left, to the middle, to the right seating position, hopefully only when the car is stationary.

The C-Crosser uses a version of Citroen's Hydractive suspension which here varies ride height for on-road (140mm) and off-road (200mm) conditions, and can also lower the car for loading.

Finally, the car has four wheel steering which lets it turn very tightly, or "crab" sideways.

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