Car and Driver: Citroen SpaceTourer Hyphen: Way Cooler than a SpaceTourer Semicolon

The name for Citroën’s SpaceTourer Concept Hyphen, a funkified version of its new SpaceTourer van, did not come via a collaboration with an organization of grammar teachers or copy editors; instead, Citroën teamed up with one the most prolific electronic rock bands in France. The SpaceTourer Concept Hyphen was built with input from Hyphen Hyphen, and the band—founded in 2009 by four art students—gave its best to spice up the otherwise ordinary people-mover.

The exterior benefits most obviously from a funky paint job; it also sports 19-inch wheels and innovative tires with 5 elastomer straps each, an element that is repeated on the front and rear bumpers. Those beefier bumpers and lower-body trim, along with a raised ride height, give the van “an SUV personality,” says Citroën.

Inside, the seats, dash, and headliner are executed in a multi-hued color scheme. And there are straps on the seats as well, beyond the regular seat belts. Its maker describes the cabin as a place “where all occupants can enjoy fun, freedom, and unlimited adventure.”

The limitless adventure can take place at remote locations, thanks to a four-wheel-drive system supplied by Automobiles Dangel, an engineering firm with a long history of 4×4 conversions of PSA cars. Getting your there is a 150-hp diesel engine whose output is channeled through a six-speed manual transmission.

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The truth behind the Hyphen concept is that the exercise is supposed to create a bit of a hype around the hopelessly dull Citroën SpaceTourer, which was unveiled to the public last December. Together with its sister models on the KZéro platform, the Peugeot Traveller and the Toyota Proace II, it is as practical and boring as people-movers come. Might a version designed with the help of grammar teachers been even more rad? We may never know.

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