Now owned by Stellantide, The history of Peugeot goes back more than 200 years, starting in the French town of Sochaux, where the Peugeot family has embarked on a variety of unique achievements. Their inventive spirit would ultimately lead them to build one of the most recognizable automotive brands in the world. Peugeot now has offices and production units all over the world.
The French company is the second oldest car manufacturer in the world. It is now part of the PSA Peugeot Citroën conglomerate, which produces a wide range of small, medium and large passenger cars, SUVs and sports vehicles.
Peugeot has won the coveted European Car of the Year award five times. In 1969, the 504 took first place, followed by the 405 in 1998, and the 307 in 2002. Peugeot won the prize more recently with the 308 in 2014 and the 3008 in 2017.
Peugeot also has a booming motorsport sector. Five World Rally Championship wins, seven Dakar Rally wins, three 24 Hours of Le Mans wins and two World Endurance Championship wins are among his notable achievements.
Peugeot presented a sinister-looking supercar concept at the 2012 Paris Auto Show. The French automaker launched the Onyx concept based on previous performance-oriented show vehicles, such as the SR1 convertible and the electric runner EX1. Peugeot designed the Onyx to study the use of new materials in vehicle manufacturing.
Let’s take a closer look at the Peugeot Onyx concept.
The Peugeot Onyx has a sharp, aerodynamic exterior that’s far from normal
With a strong contrast of materials and colors, the silhouette of the Onyx is clear. A skilled craftsman created the fenders and doors from a single sheet of pure copper. Metal polished to a mirror finish is unprotected from the elements. Through a natural patina effect, it changes appearance over time. Coated matte black carbon fiber covers the rest of the body.
Peugeot designed the front ‘face’ to be aerodynamically efficient, linking the vertical grille and full LED headlights to create a streamlined surface.
The airflow is divided; part of it enters the heart of the car, moves inside the body and supplies air to the engine. The second part of the airflow flows around the sides of the car and into the air intakes via the “double bubble” roof.
Onyx ends in style as the taillights carry on Peugeot’s trademark three-claw design. They also support tiny vanes that guide airflow over the top and sides. To avoid interference, they meet as far away from the body as possible. Onyx’s aerodynamic footprint is inversely proportional to its optical effect, with a drag coefficient of 0.30.
The interior is inspired by F1 covered with futuristic attributes
The Onyx has a breathtaking interior. The seats, floor and center console are all made from a single piece of carbon fiber tub. Wool felt covers the foam padding of the seats, while “newsprint wood,” according to Peugeot, makes up the dashboard.
Peugeot picks up and crushes old newspapers into the appropriate shapes; if you look closely, you can see the type of the original pages. A head-up display shows the driver’s speed and vehicle information when seated behind a typically French square steering wheel.
The Onyx houses a dash studded with aluminum rocker switches, including one to start the engine in the roof panel. A reflective “blade” shows the stream from the three rear view cameras, two mounted on the sides and one at the rear.
The felt-covered center console houses milled aluminum temperature controls in the style of a lightsaber and a blown-crystal “reservoir” that indicates the fuel level using real liquid. Some type of supercar scent fills the second chamber of this piece of glass, which spreads throughout the interior.
The performance and engine that underpins Onyx’s insane automotive design
Monolithic carbon makes up the chassis and has only twelve parts. It integrates front and rear struts, eliminating the need for offset panels. The torsional rigidity and the weight of the structure are then optimized, the measured weight being less than 100 kg.
The 3.7-litre V8 HDi PF hybrid engine and carbon shell bolt-on axles represent Peugeot Sport know-how acquired and perfected on tracks around the world.
The pipes that cool the V8 engine come from the roof and lead to the NACA intakes. The V8 sends 600 horsepower to the rear wheels via a 6-speed sequential gearbox.
The intelligent HYbrid4 technology recovers kinetic energy that would otherwise be lost during braking. This energy is stored in lithium-ion batteries and is then automatically released when accelerating, boosting power by an additional 80hp. This car can accelerate from 0 to 62 mph in 2.9 seconds and has a top speed of 220 mph.
Onyx achieves its exceptional performance with less than 2 kilograms per horsepower while maintaining the purity and beauty of its design. Onyx uses a flat carbon pan that generates huge ground effect to achieve this.
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