Stuff We Missed: Peugeot’s Blackbird, the SR-71, sorry SR1
Could Peugeot bring Sexy Back?
By Imthishan Giado
Hidden away in a corner of the Peugeot stand was this futuristic hybrid. They may have been ashamed to show it, but I was ecstatic. Find out why, after the jump.
I was pleased, because the SR1 looks like a modern version of one of the best looking cars ever, the first automobile to really show me that cars could really be a rolling work of art.
I am of course, talking about the exquisite 406 Coupe – styled and built by Pininfarina, with a 3.0-litre V6 engine that is the Oxford definition of smoothness. It may only have made some 200-odd bhp, but then, it’s not like you ‘only’ like to hear Keira Knightley in the throes of passion, do you?
ST1 is a bit more humdrum. Under that tapering snout is a 1.6-litre turbodiesel engine, mated to an electric motor working the rear wheels like the way Nucky Thompson would work a room. Together, they put out a relatively uninspiring 313bhp, in other words, just a teensy bit more than a Hyundai Genesis Coupe.
Don’t expect it to ever come to pass, but do expect it to influence the next generation of Peugeot design.
