Citroën C-Cactus – Dude where is my dashboard?
September 4, 2007 by Alborz Fallah
Citroën has released images of the company’s newest concept, the C-Cactus. Named after the Cactus plant due to the cars shared characteristic of low consumption, the concept will be on display at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show.
Powered by a hybrid Diesel engine, there is a lot more to the Cactus than meets the eye. Firstly the fuel economy, weighing just 1,306 kg, the C-Cactus uses an incredibly low 3.4 litres of fuel per 100 km with a CO2 emission of 78 g/km, beating the Toyota Prius on both accounts.
The aim was to produce a car that looks great, but doesn’t get bogged down with non-comfort features, such as, say, the dashboard! Yep, the car has no dashboard, apparently it was a little unnecessary.
The design has also changed in order to reduce costs, Citroen have designed the C-Cactus with as few parts as possible, the entire cabin is made up of just over 200 parts, nearly half the number used by a conventional hatchback of identical size.
The rest of the car is no different, both the upper part of the front fascia and the lower part of the rear hatch use the same panel.
Interestingly, the rear taillamp assemblies are see-through from the inside of the car, for extra rear visibility. The bonnet is also long forgotten, instead there exists a single piece that covers the fenders and the bonnet.
Want to fill up the water or oil? There is a flap directly ahead of the windscreen.
From the inside, you would probably think the car is incomplete, with no dashboard and the majority of the instrument cluster attached to the steering wheel, there is something just a little odd about the C-Cactus.
Where is the stereo? On the key! it connects to the car once inserted in the steering wheel, the portable MP3 player acts similarly to an iPod. There are only 2 speakers, but Citroen assures us they are high powered and will do the job.
It almost seems as though this car was made with one thing in mind, budget, even the door panels are covered by coloured insulating foam! At least you get a panoramic glass roof, A/C, and cruise control as standard.
Will this make it into production, I guess that depends on how many of you are willing to buy a car without a dashboard… (at least the rims look good)
Print it: 
Stunning design. Note the speedo . . . the numbers raised on the top of the steering wheel hub which rotate around a fixed pointer to show your speed. Interesting but very impractical in real life. Current analogue display of speed are designed so key speeds (like 110km/h) are known by the vertical position of the speedo needle, visible in peripheral vision!
Cactus by name, cactus by nature….
INTERESTING, NICE. TOUCH OFF AFTERBIRTH TO IT BUT! BIZARRE FRONT.
It does exactly what a prototype should do; introduce some innovation and some very interesting ideas that can be further refined…. BRILLIANT!
Citroen is back!! :D
Love that front.
Glass roof is a gimmick for auto shows.
Windscreen & A pillar design is brilliant.
Protection from overhead sun for the the driver & steering wheel is the object of its design & yet appears to provide good outward vision.
Hybrid Diesel will be something we will hear more about.3.0l/100KM a future possibility?
“Cactus by name, cactus by nature…”
Yup, thats going to need a rename if it ever goes into production. Can you imagine the calls to RACV, “Help, my Cactus is Cactus!”
But it looks like the French are suddenly leading the Hybrid/Diesel charge.
Now that’s a funky piece of design! I especially like the rear end, but the fron (from that angled shot) reminds me of a Mini.
Those seats don’t look real comfy.
HAHAHAHA……….. that would be a funny call out Lazybones.
Looks like the embryo of a Porsche Cayenne.
“Looks like the embryo of a Porsche Cayenne. ”
I’m thinking more mini from the front. But yes I can see a bit of Cayenne love child in there.
But with all that glass, I couldn’t imagine jumping in this car on a 40degs+ day. But then again I don’t think any concept car is suppose to be practical, except the Golf W12.
According to Citroen, there have since been some further improvements as a result of more weight reductions and drivetrain improvements to bring the average fuel consumption down from 3.4 to an amazing 2.9L/100km, CO2 emmisions are down accordingly to 78 g/km.
Imagine if Americans all drove Cactii, we wouldn’t hear anything about Iraq or the Middle East.