If Picasso had Designed Cars...

29-September-2008

The quirky Picasso Citroen

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What do you get when you fuse a retro Citroen 2CV with Pablo Picasso's quirky designs? The 'Picasso Citroen' designed by British car customiser Andy Saunders...

"I decided to try and blur the line between car design and art by using Picasso as an inspiration," explains Saunders, who was inspired by Picasso's famous 'Portrait of Dora Maar'.

Every panel on the car has been altered, leaving no visible symmetry. The body shell has been widened by 152 mm on the right side only, the boot has been moved off-centre and the bonnet is now made up of 12 separate parts.

The headlights are now on one side and the off kilter grille and doors are striking by their very misfit. The rainbow palette of colours comes from the shades used in Picasso's 'The 3 Musicians' and 'Still Life on a Table'.

Despite the conversion, which took more than 1200 hours, the unique Citroen 2CV is still drivable – and for sale. Like so many art works, it goes under the hammer, in this case at the RM Auctions' Automobiles of London event on 29 October.

The Citroen 2CV, which celebrates its 60th birthday next week (7 October 2008), the anniversary of its launch at the 1948 Paris Motor Show, has been a favourite of generations of artists, both as transport and an inspiration.