Citroen unveils the new GQ

Launching something destined never to become a reality doesn’t seem to change all that much about the process.

The first mass production car company outside the United States, Citroen’s history is littered with landmark vehicles, all of them making a mark on the media. The 2CV, the DS, the Dyane spring to mind.

The company lost its way a bit in the 1990s, churning out boxy but functional family saloons, before getting back on track the next decade with the Picasso, the C4, the C5, and in 2009, the reinvigorated DS brand. Critics have referred to the first of the litter, the DS3 by Mark Lloyd, as ‘stylish’ and ‘effortlessly cool’. And the sap is still rising.

Powered by a trend-bucking circulation rise, GQ magazine has partnered with brands before, suits, aftershaves, by way of example(s), but an approach from Citroen to develop a readers’ dream machine with a British designer was too good an opportunity to miss. And editor Dylan Jones jumped at it, working out a brief tailor-made for GQ Man and handing it over for Lloyd to develop.

“Citroen is such a good fit for this collaboration. It’s a company that really understands the consumer, and it’s responsible for some of the greatest cars of all time.”

Dylan Jones

Location, location

Designed specifically for the creative industries, the Hospital Club was an ideal setting for the launch. With GQ and Citroen both having a history there, the Gallery on the ground floor, is used for the proceedings as well. The Nissan Cube drew measures of admiring and quizzical glances in the space, and Peugeot’s BB1 concept was unveiled there too. So it was drinks and canapés for the 160 or so that filled the room, with a DS3 on show for all to peruse, before Jones got to the podium to detail the thinking behind the latest project. GQ Man, we learned, understands the luxury market. He’s elegant, discerning and doesn’t do blind acceptance. So what would he think of his wheels?

“Citroen is such a good fit for this collaboration,” Jones said. “It’s a company that really understands the consumer, and it’s responsible for some of the greatest cars of all time.”

Then, or soon after, the screen was pushed aside to show a low slung sports car, spawn of the GT by Citroen, turning on a Revolving Stage Company platform. GQ Man clearly cuts plenty of slack from the family then. And not content with labels like ‘velour’ or even rattlesnake hide, the interior is designed by Churchill’s tailor, E. Tautz of Savile Row. Style indeed.

“Where this car works so well with GQ is that it fits with the current attitudes of conspicuous consumption. It is understated rather than in your face, and sleek rather than too macho,” Lloyd explained.

“It was a design exercise for Citroen, and reaction has been great,” a spokesman for the manufacturer told Access. “It was on the cover of France’s leading motoring magazine, it’s all over GQ obviously, and it really captured people’s imagination.” There were more than 300 reviews online too.

“This is a car you want to see on the road,” former Tottenham and France midfielder, David Ginola, said firmly. “I’m very
proud to be a Frenchman when I see Citroen producing something like this.”

“Environmentalism is a major issue for car manufacturers but it’s not a justification for bland, anonymous styling.”

Mark Lloyd

While that’s not likely to happen, the meeting of minds in the design stages and at the launch party, won’t let the spirit of the proposition disappear entirely. It might just be on paper but the car comes with solutions to contemporary manufacturer/consumer quandaries, without any humbled, submissive posturing.

“Environmentalism is a major issue for car manufacturers,” Lloyd said in conclusion. “But it’s not a justification for bland, anonymous styling.” That was something the glowering swagger of the GQ by Citroen answered elegantly and discerningly.

“It’s a gorgeous, gorgeous thing but it’s a male fantasy,” BBC News anchor, Fiona Bruce, laughed. And she had it in one.