Peugeot Onyx Supercar Concept Revealed Ahead of Paris Motor Show Debut

No longer willing to wait until the 2012 Paris Motor Show to show off its Onyx Supercar Concept, French automaker Peugeot has decided to reveal the wild machine ahead of its premiere.

Shortly after Peugeot teased the world with a video of its Onyx Supercar Concept, many expected it was going to be wild. The French automaker didn’t disappoint in meeting our expectations, as the Onyx Supercar is pretty nuts. The sharply-styled body features a two-tone scheme of copper and matte black, but it’s not just simply paint that has been applied to the concept car. Peugeot went all out the copper panels on the vehicle, which are handmade from pure copper sheet. The French automaker elaborated that overtime, the copper will gain patina and its appearance will change. As for the other panels finished in matte black? That’s genuine carbon fiber laying underneath.

As for how wild this concept is, Peugeot says that it has a drag coefficient of 0.30 and weighs in at a scant 2,425 lbs. It was built around a carbon fiber central structure that consisted of 12 parts and weighed only 220 lbs.

Powering the supercar is a 3.7-liter, V8 hybrid HDi FAP engine that’s fully capable of pushing out 600-hp to the rear wheels. The powerplant has been mated to a six-speed sequential transmission while a kinetic energy system allows it to convert braking power to electricity that’s then stored in the lithium-ion batteries. The electric system offers an additional 80-hp.

As for the interior, it’s pretty wild too. The dashboard is made from recycled newspapers that were compressed to create new ‘logs’. The French automaker refers to it as ‘Newspaper Wood’.

Of course it’s an extreme concept study and it’s highly doubtful that anything similar will ever make its way to production. But we’ll be sure to check it out and report live from the 2012 Paris Motor Show later this month.

“The silhouette of the Onyx is sculpted softly, sensuously, but it is also alive and technological,” explains Sandeep Bhambra, Onyx Exterior Stylist. “From the first sketches I wanted to create a showcase for technological excellence and craftsmanship by combining elements demonstrating high aerodynamic performance, Black Diamond lamps and copper bodywork panels fashioned by hand.”