Tag Archives: vehicles

NEW CARS

Next-Gen Citroën C4 Promises Radical Design and a Rebellion Against Boring Hatchbacks

Citroën has never been very good at blending in, and it doesn’t plan to start now. As the current C4 edges into retirement—six years old and counting, making it the oldest car in the brand’s lineup—Citroën is preparing a replacement that, in the words of its own design chief, “has to look very different.” Translation: the next C4 is about to get strange in a very French way.

That’s refreshing news in a C-segment world dominated by safe, conservative hatchbacks that look like they were designed by a committee armed with spreadsheets. Citroën, on the other hand, is aiming for something more radical. Design boss Pierre Leclercq says the fourth-generation C4 will be “highly bespoke,” deliberately separating itself from everything else in the brand’s lineup—which, outside of the tiny Ami, has quietly turned into a sea of crossovers.

In other words, the next C4 won’t just be a shrunk C5 or a stretched C3. It won’t adopt the chunky, box-on-wheels vibe of Citroën’s newer crossovers either. It will stay a hatchback—and a defiant one at that.

Cheap Bones, Expensive Attitude

Under the skin, the next C4 could take a very different path from its Stellantis cousins. The current model rides on the CMP platform, shared with cars like the Peugeot 208 and Opel Corsa. But Citroën is reportedly considering switching to the more cost-focused “Smart Car” architecture that underpins the new C3 and C3 Aircross.

That might sound like a downgrade, but Citroën sees it as an opportunity: lower production costs mean a lower sticker price, which frees the brand to spend its capital on what it really cares about—style and character.

That’s classic Citroën. Historically, this is the company that gave us hydropneumatic suspensions, single-spoke steering wheels, and dashboard layouts that looked like sci-fi props. Even now, Leclercq insists experimentation should be central to the brand’s role within Stellantis.

“Citroën has always been a bit experimental, and should be the experimental brand of the group,” he said—and he means it.

Bold Enough to Be Polarizing

Citroën CEO Xavier Chardon is just as blunt. The brand, he says, doesn’t want to be “generic” like Volkswagen or Toyota. It wants to take risks—even if that means not everyone will love the result.

“I’m not afraid if people hate our design,” he said. “But I don’t want anybody to think our design is mainstream.”

That’s a gutsy thing to say in a market where customer clinics and focus groups often sand off every sharp edge. But it’s also exactly the kind of attitude that could make the C4 interesting again. The outgoing model tried to straddle the line between hatchback and crossover, which left it a bit confused. The new one, by contrast, sounds like it will pick a lane—and then swerve creatively within it.

A Hatchback with a Point of View

What we shouldn’t expect is a cookie-cutter shape. Leclercq has already ruled out a boxy, two-volume crossover profile. The next C4 will remain a hatchback, but one driven by “new concepts” rather than a simple replacement brief.

That suggests we might get something genuinely different in a segment that desperately needs it. While rivals fight over who has the sharpest LED headlights or the most aggressive fake vents, Citroën is trying to answer a more interesting question: what if a compact hatchback didn’t have to look like everyone else’s idea of a compact hatchback?

If Citroën pulls this off—combining low prices with bold design—it could give the C-segment something it hasn’t had in years: personality. And honestly, in a world of painfully sensible cars, a little weird might be exactly what we’re missing.

Source: Autocar

Tuning

Koenigsegg Jesko by Mansory

If you thought Koenigsegg’s Jesko Attack was already pushing the outer limits of what a road-legal hypercar should be, Mansory would like a word. The German tuner—best known for its unapologetically extravagant takes on ultra-luxury machinery—has decided that even a 1,600-horsepower Swedish missile deserves more carbon fiber, more aero, and more attitude.

The Jesko, after all, is no ordinary hypercar. With production capped at just 125 units split between the track-focused Attack and the slippery, high-speed Absolut, it’s already rarer than most seven-figure exotics. But one owner apparently looked at their Attack and thought, Nice… but not insane enough. Enter Mansory with a full-carbon aerodynamic package that transforms Koenigsegg’s engineering masterpiece into something that looks like it escaped straight from a GT racing paddock.

Seventeen Ways to Say “More Downforce”

Mansory’s overhaul is comprehensive—almost obsessive. The tuner replaces or adds no fewer than 17 separate carbon-fiber aero components, all designed to increase downforce, airflow management, and visual drama.

Up front, the Jesko gets a reworked hood with carbon vents, flanked by new side flaps and a pair of race-inspired front wings that give the nose a far more aggressive stance. Two new “boomerang” elements and vertical aero blades add both turbulence control and the kind of visual chaos Mansory customers tend to love.

Around the back, the madness continues. Mansory fits new endplates and aero add-ons to the already gigantic rear wing, along with rear side flaps and an entirely new center diffuser section to better extract air from beneath the car. A full-carbon “racing” brake light—essentially a Formula 1-style rain light—adds a motorsport touch, while carbon “rear eyebrows” finish off the visual theatrics.

And because even the Jesko’s cooling system can always use more help, Mansory adds a roof-mounted air scoop to push extra airflow into Koenigsegg’s monstrous 5.1-liter twin-turbo V8, which already produces up to 1,600 horsepower on E85 fuel.

Peak Excess Meets Peak Engineering

The result is a Jesko that looks even more like a land-based fighter jet than the already outrageous original. Where Koenigsegg’s design philosophy leans toward purposeful minimalism, Mansory’s version turns every aerodynamic surface into a visual statement. It’s louder, sharper, and undeniably more aggressive—exactly what you’d expect when one hypercar perfectionist meets another.

Does the Jesko actually need this much extra aero? Probably not. But in the rarefied world of multimillion-dollar hypercars, “need” has never been the point. What Mansory offers here is individuality—an already ultra-exclusive machine made even more unrepeatable.

And if you’re the type of owner who felt the standard Jesko Attack wasn’t quite outrageous enough, congratulations: Mansory just built your dream car.

Source: Mansory

Uncategorized

McLaren Artura Spider MCL39 Championship Edition

McLaren doesn’t do subtle when it’s celebrating. After bagging its tenth Formula 1 constructors’ championship and handing Lando Norris a long-awaited drivers’ title, the company did what any proper supercar maker would do: it turned a race car into a road car in spirit, then made only ten of them so everyone else could feel left out.

Meet the Artura Spider MCL39 Championship Edition, a hyper-exclusive riff on McLaren’s entry-level hybrid roadster that exists for one reason—to remind the world who won last year. And, because this job was handed to McLaren Special Operations, the brand’s bespoke skunkworks, it’s done with the kind of obsessive attention to detail that makes regular special editions look like rental cars with decals.

The first thing you notice is the paint. This isn’t vinyl wrap or a sticker kit—it’s hand-painted in Myan Orange and Onyx Black, echoing the livery of the title-winning MCL39 Formula 1 car. It’s dramatic without being cartoonish, which is harder than it sounds. Look closer and you’ll find a star-filled “10” to mark McLaren’s tenth constructors’ crown, along with graphic outlines of McLaren’s past championship-winning F1 machines ghosted into the bodywork. It’s history, literally baked into the paint.

The wheels go full stealth mode: Super-Lightweight Dynamo forged aluminum ten-spokes, finished in gloss black with black detailing. Behind them sits a sports exhaust that makes absolutely no effort to hide. Given that modern F1 cars sound like angry vacuum cleaners, this is probably the closest thing you’ll get to a McLaren race-car soundtrack that still stirs your spine.

Inside, McLaren didn’t forget why this car exists. The cabin keeps the light-and-dark contrast going, with Jet Black Nappa leather and Performance Carbon Black Alcantara broken up by Myan Orange accents. A bold orange stripe marks the 12-o’clock position on the steering wheel, just in case you forget you’re in something special. The headrests wear an embroidered “10” in McLaren Orange, and the carbon-fiber door sills are signed by Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri—a rare moment where autographs actually belong on a car.

There’s also a nameplate listing McLaren’s wins, poles, and fastest laps from last season, which feels less like bragging and more like a trophy case bolted to the dashboard.

Underneath all the championship theater, the MCL39 Edition is still very much an Artura Spider, and that’s a good thing. Its electrically assisted 3.0-liter twin-turbo V-6 makes 700 horsepower, launching the car to 100 km/h in 3.0 seconds. It’s fast, yes—but more importantly, it’s the kind of fast that reminds you McLaren knows how to build road cars that feel like racing machines rather than tech demos.

Only ten people on the planet will get one. They’ll get a hybrid supercar, a Formula 1 trophy, and a rolling piece of McLaren history all in the same garage bay.

Everyone else just gets to stare—and maybe dream a little louder.

Source: McLaren