Citroën has decided to sell one of its unique concept vehicles from Le Conservatoire, the company’s private heritage museum. The ECO 2000 – SA 103 (the vehicle for sale is the first of four ECO 2000 prototypes) will go up for auction of Feb. 7 at the Retromobile 2014 exhibition in Paris. This sale is raising some eyebrows in the Citroën community as it is Citroën Heritage, who has decided to part with it, and the raison d’etre for Le Conservatoire is to preserve significant vehicles the company has developed.
Artcurial describes the ECO 2000 as follows:
“…The oil crisis during the 1970s had a huge impact. Fuel consumption in cars became a major preoccupation, not just for commercial purposes but also political reasons, as reducing energy consumption became important on a national scale. Thus, in 1981 the ” ECO 2000 ” program was launched, supposed to culminate in 1986 with the development of a vehicle that consumed an average of 3 litres of fuel per 100km.
This project was 50% funded by the government and a hundred engineers at Peugeot-Citroën took part in the research. The specifications stated that “all technical preconceptions be rejected, and the starting point should be the exploration of the widest variety of solutions across all areas.”
The studies resulted in four successive prototypes : SA 103, SA 109, SA 117 and SL 10. The last version, built in 1985 achieved a consumption rate of 2.4-litres over 100 km at 90 km/h, with an average of 3 litres – objective achieved!
The prototype offered, SA 103 – the first in the series – comes directly from Citroën Heritage, who has decided to part with it. According to Citroën, it was the ” initial synthesis of theoretical work undertaken, focusing principally on weight and aesthetics. The desire not to exclude any potential solution is illustrated through the use of the ” propulsion ” type architecture. In order to save time, the flat twin-cylinder engine was retained. ” The car weighs just 430 kg, with a drag coefficient of 0.267 and fuel consumption of 3.5-litres per 100 km. The 704cc engine develops 26 bhp DIN and the car has a top speed of 140 km/h.
A car prefiguring energy concerns that are increasingly present, this Citroën ECO 2000 provides a unique opportunity to buy a prototype resulting from advanced research carried out in the secrecy of a manufacturer’s design studio. A collector who is keen to invest in this project will be able to restore and put the car on the road, displaying its inimitable 80s styling. It can be registered with in France with a collectors registration…”
Here is the Artcurial auction link:
https://www.artcurial.com/en/asp/email_lot.asp?salelot=2400+++++330+&refno=10469269
Additional info about the ECO 2000 can also be found at Citroenet:
https://www.citroenet.org.uk/prototypes/eco2000/eco-2000.html