The open-air Citroen Lacoste concept

At the crossroads of motoring, fashion and sport, the Citroën Lacoste concept is a “shared vision of boldness, creativity and optimism” between the French brands, according to the pre-Paris press release. At first glance, the Citroën Lacoste concept appears to be a very optimistic car indeed, as it doesn't have a roof to mitigate the inevitability of a bleak French winter. In fact, the Citroën Lacoste has an auto-inflatable hood that deploys along the roof backbone to form a bright yellow soft-top roof in what is apparently quite a spectacular transformation. Sadly, the press kit doesn't have any pics of the roof deployed.

The amount of thought that has gone into the Lacoste concept appears to either being withheld until the show, or has been well disguised by the copywriting of the press release. When we boiled down the known facts, we can only vouch for the following:

The car offers a very open-air experience thanks to the broad cut-outs that replace the front doors, the lack of a hard-top roof and a windscreen that can also be lowered out of sight – presumably Lacoste has thought about the comfort levels of driving a car without any shield from the wind.

The concept uses a small three-cylinder petrol engine with “plenty of performance on tap” according to the press release, as the compact (3.45 m long, 1.80 m wide, 1.52 m high and with a 2.30 m wheelbase) vehicle should be quite light.

We can't wait to see the full details when they're available.