The enterprising Captain Jean-Luc Picard could sit in shiny-domed self-confidence as he operated the controls of the Citroën C-Métisse concept car, at one with its totally Gallic – and galactic – origins.

If ever a car boldly aped science-fiction design and technology it is the C-Métisse. But what might make the Star Trek captain’s heart quicken its beat is the news that the interior of this spacious transporter was designed not by a Frenchman at Star Fleet headquarters but by 29-year-old Steven Platt, from Hayle, Cornwall.

Six Citroën designers competed to create the interior and Platt won. Inspired by today’s jet fighters and tomorrow’s Klingon and Borg-bashers, he gave the cabin the sort of impact that the Citroën DS19 created at the Paris Motor Show in 1955, when it made every other car look like a frumpy old has-been.

“So it is very technical and very driver focused – he or she might think they were in a single seater if no passengers were on board,” Platt says. “Normally, the dashboard, doors and seats are all separate. I tried to integrate them to create one environment.”

The gull-wing front doors form part of the roof, folding upwards and forwards, while the rear doors move outwards on hydraulic rams and then arc backwards 90 degrees. Getting into the driving seat demands a slick piece of choreography.

The car’s interior is part comic book rocket cockpit, part melding cocoon; instruments resemble powerplant exhaust nozzles, controls of brushed aluminium have an advanced utilitarian feel and the driver’s seat, different from those of the three passengers, just could have an ejection mode.

The ignition switch is above the driver’s head. I flick it then push an aluminium start button. Instantly there is silence. Have I broken it already?

No, the Citroën is a planet-friendly machine, a very special sort of hybrid. In the hub of each rear wheel is a 20bhp electric motor. Squeeze the accelerator and the carbon-fibre C-Métisse glides away in near silence. Then, at about 20mph, its V6 diesel engine starts and this long, low (49in), lithe, machine surges around the banked track of a highly secure test centre north of Paris, the snug-fit cockpit’s light strips changing colour from blue to red as hybrid power switches from electric to diesel, accentuating the concept’s other worldliness. “It is a dance of light,” the imaginative Platt says.

Fuel consumption is a modest 43mpg and CO2 emissions a responsible (for its size and performance) 174g/km. That performance includes a 0-62mph time of 6.2sec and a top speed of 155mph.

As a production saloon, the C-Métisse concept may be a designer’s fancy, but beneath the glamour and the sci-fi is the embryo of a serious piece of machinery. PSA Peugeot Citroën is unimpressed by the petrol-hybrid case for low emissions. It believes that, for Europe, the diesel hybrid is best. Ally a diesel with an electric motor – or motors – and efficiency soars.

Diesel engines are expensive, however, and, unless heavily subsidised, a hybrid package today would be priced well above a petrol counterpart. But the payback promise would be sensational: for a 1.6litre family car, better than 80mpg and emissions of 90g/km. I have driven Citroën and Peugeot research cars that can achieve those figures; production versions are expected by 2010.

Unlike the DS 19 of half a century ago, the exotic C-Métisse concept is unlikely to be produced. But elements of its daring design and advanced technology may become reality. Picard would be impressed, as would another famed Enterprise captain whose voice out there amid the music of the spheres just might whisper the immortal words: “Beam one up to a Citroën dealer near me.”

Specification

Car Citroën C-Métisse concept

Engine V6 HDi turbo-diesel 205bhp with diesel particulate filter; two electric motors in rear wheels each developing 20bhp and 400Nm of torque

Transmission Six-speed automatic

Aerodynamic features Two retractable rear airfoils, rear fixed fin spoiler

Suspension Hydraulic, double wishbone, special Michelin tyres

Fuel consumption 43mpg

CO2 emissions 174 g/km

Price £1 million – but there is only one

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