When the Citroën Karin was first revealed at the Paris Motor Show in 1980, it caused quite a stir. Its radical design was so futuristic that many mistook it for a glimpse into the future of automotive innovation. Some even went as far as to suggest that it was the precursor to today’s Tesla truck, thanks to its bold, geometric lines. However, the Karin wasn’t the cutting-edge electric vehicle we might imagine today. It was, in fact, a bold yet misguided concept, born from Citroën’s desperation rather than a deliberate vision for the future of automobiles.

Citroën’s Unexpected Design Strategy

Unlike many car manufacturers that come to motor shows with a bold new vision of the future, Citroën had little to show in 1980. The story behind the Karin’s creation is one of necessity rather than creativity. With no new cars ready to present, a designer was hastily dispatched to create something—anything—to showcase at the prestigious Paris Motor Show. The result wasn’t a forward-thinking masterpiece but a strange, trapezoidal car that shocked and confused spectators. The Karin was essentially a rushed design with sharp, angular lines that seemed to disregard curves entirely. While it featured elements of Citroën’s trademark styling, such as rear lights reminiscent of the Citroën SM and hidden wheels, the overall impression was one of a half-baked concept with little thought given to practicality or function.

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The Designer Behind the Karin Concept

The Citroën Karin was the brainchild of Trevor Fiore, a British-born designer with a passion for bold and unconventional designs. Born Trevor Frost, Fiore adopted his Italian mother’s surname while working for the Milan-based Fissore studio in the 1960s to sound more exotic. During his career, Fiore worked on several understated designs for brands like TVR and Jaguar before joining Citroën in 1980. While his other works were far more traditional, his Karin concept and its successor, the Xenia, cemented his place in automotive history. After leaving Citroën in 1990, Fiore disappeared from the automotive scene, and his name is seldom mentioned in car design circles today.

The Karin’s Shockingly Small Roof

One of the most striking features of the Karin is its incredibly small roof, which some even claim is the tiniest ever seen on a production vehicle. Measuring roughly the size of an A3 sheet of paper, the roof was so small that even the Peel P50—widely known for its diminutive proportions—had a larger roof. This tiny crown of glass created a rather bizarre and impractical look, making the Karin more suitable for growing tomatoes than serving as a practical vehicle for daily use. But that was just the beginning of its unconventional design.

The Interior: A Chaotic, Futuristic Vision

Inside the Karin, things were no less odd. The car featured a quirky three-seat layout, with the driver sitting in the center and two slightly offset passengers on either side. The layout, while unusual, was the subject of playful rumors at the time, with some suggesting it was designed for a wife on one side and a mistress on the other. The dashboard was extremely minimalistic, but what it lacked in conventional design, it made up for in buttons. Every inch of the steering column was adorned with a myriad of buttons, each serving a function that seemed more speculative than practical. There were even rumors of buttons that could perform functions that hadn’t even been invented yet—one such button supposedly had the power to stop time, though that remains a mystery to this day.

Hidden Surprises: Buttons and Screens Everywhere

Fiore’s design for the Karin didn’t stop at an overabundance of buttons on the steering wheel. In a truly bizarre touch, more buttons were hidden in the door panels, which could be pulled out to reveal small screens. The idea was presumably to keep passengers entertained on long journeys, though given the lack of any real technological development at the time, it’s unclear just how practical or functional these screens were. Still, the Karin was filled with surprises, all of which seemed to push the boundaries of what was possible in car design, even if the car’s actual performance was far from revolutionary.

The Karin’s Engine: A Mystery Under the Hood

When it comes to the engine, the Karin remains something of a mystery. Official materials from Citroën suggest it was powered by a four-cylinder engine, but details are scarce, and no one seems entirely sure what was under the bonnet. Some have jokingly speculated that the car ran on “smelly cheese and Gallic indifference,” with just a shrug and a chunk of Brie being enough to power it for at least 150 miles. Of course, the reality is that the car’s engine—if it even existed—was never the focal point of the design. After all, the Karin wasn’t meant to be a serious production vehicle; it was a showpiece, a bold statement from Citroën at a time when the company’s future seemed uncertain.

Why Did the Citroën Karin Never Go Into Production?

Despite its striking appearance and the attention it garnered at the Paris Motor Show, the Citroën Karin never made it into production. In fact, it’s almost a tragedy that more car manufacturers didn’t stop what they were doing and take a page out of Citroën’s book. The Karin, with its quirky design and unconventional features, could have marked a new era in automotive design. However, Citroën’s lack of commitment to turning the concept into a real, functional car suggests that it was always meant to be little more than a fleeting showpiece. With its impractical size, bizarre features, and lack of real-world usability, the Karin was doomed to remain a curiosity, one that car enthusiasts still look back on with fascination and bewilderment.

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In the end, the Citroën Karin represents a forgotten chapter in the history of automotive design—an ambitious concept that was far ahead of its time, but ultimately too strange and impractical to ever see mass production. Though the world may never get to drive a Karin, its place in car history is secure as one of the most memorable and bizarre concepts ever created.