SPY PICS: Citroen C4 Picasso

If there was a prize for the best disguise cladding applied to a prototype new car, then Citroen’s upcoming next-gen C4 Picasso would surely occupy centre spot on the podium.

If your eyes can hold onto the image long enough to avoid a wobbling head spin, then what you might detect here is a close-to-finished test mule recently snapped by spy photographers Carparazzi.

What the photos appear to indicate is a similarly proportioned shape to Europe’s current Picasso five-seater (which is a shorter car than the seven-seat Grand Picasso-based version sold here) except that the window lines look to be more angular and conservative than the current model with its wavy lower window line - in fact, it looks more akin to the seven-seat version).

Expected to appear formally at this year’s Paris Motor Show in September, the five-seat C4 Picasso is rumoured to move away from anything radical in terms of style to leave room for the more adventurous Citroen DS line.

The general presentation, however, continues with previous-model styling cues, including the ultra-glassy A-pillar area, the equally glassy C-pillar and the snub, sloping nose.

Drivetrains could be expected to mirror pretty much the range of options currently available, including 1.6-litre and 2.0-litre HDi turbo- diesels and 1.8-litre and 2.0-litre petrol four-cylinder engines.

It is unlikely the five-seat C4 Picasso will be sold in Australia - and also unlikely that you will be able to order it with the same paintwork as the prototype.

- With Carparazzi

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