Miguel Sánchez
1984 was a key year in motorsport. Surely now you are trying to remember a sporting success or the launch of a new engine. However, the point and apart did not come from a technical improvement but from a new type of vehicle. That year the minivan concept made a strong foray into the American and European markets. In the first thanks to the Dodge Caravan devised by lee iacocca, while in the second by the appearance of the Renault Space. Equipped with a new vision of habitability, the minivans extended the comfort of the old vans thanks to their movable seats.
Something that looks very good in the French, whose interior allows a multitude of different arrangements thanks to the versatility of its seats. In this way, you can not only easily expand the cargo space, but also choose how the occupants of the car will interact with each other. A true living room on wheels where only the driver has to always remain in the same position. This step forward was revolutionary since, although the idea of a vehicle with several rows of seats but touring amenities came from the 1956 FIAT MúltiplaThe truth is that the Caravans and Space took a giant leap thanks to being able to alter the habitability at will.
However, this idea was already raised years before with the Citroën Kar-a-Sutra. A prototype conceived by the architect and industrial designer Mario Bellini, who presented it in the exhibition dedicated to Italian design organized by the MOMA in New York in 1972. With it, they not only studied the possibilities of a multi-configurable space, but also there was also speculation about the future of mobility and private vehicles. Groundbreaking debates that come from the revolution of customs inaugurated in the West at the end of the sixties. A questioning of the rigidity that is even seen in the name of this interesting prototype.
CITROËN KAR-A-SUTRA. MOBILE SPACE TO INTERACT WITH THE ENVIRONMENT
Few are the elements thanks to which to be able to associate the Kar-a-Sutra with Citroën. From a material point of view they are the panels, remembering those ridden by the Mehari. From a conceptual point of view it is innovation, always present in the French brand although with the case of the minivan it was Renault who anticipated it by taking it to series. However, Citroën is to be recognized for great value in supporting this prototype. And we are not only talking about a new way of understanding habitability, but also of understanding the environment.
Endowed with immense panels, from inside the Kar-a-Sutra you can fully enjoy the outside. In fact, the idea is serve as a travel unit with the possibility of camping, hybridizing the motorhome with the minivan. For this, the roof is mobile, with two heights depending on whether you are traveling or parking.
An approach with which to put the Kar-a-Sutra at the service of leisure and not so much of the daily needs of mobility. Something to blame for criticism, but understandable if we look at the other idea that tried to put this prototype on the table.
KAR-A-SUTRA. A CAR FOR A WORLD WITH MANY FEWER CARS
It does not take too many looks at the Citroën Kar-a-Sutra to realize that it is not a car for day to day. Something that would undoubtedly have caused a commercial disaster if it had been launched on a serial basis. However, neither Mario Bellini nor Citroën ever intended this wheeled saloon to reach dealerships. Largely because is designed for a world that neither then nor now exists. Already concerned about environmental unsustainability and the circulatory collapse of a society where the possession of a private vehicle prevails, the designers of the Kar-A-Sutra wanted to put an alternative transport model on the table.
Far from being designed for owners, this prototype was conceived as a vehicle for collective use available through rental. Offered at strategic points related to tourism on beaches or mountains, the Kar-A-Sutra would be the perfect vehicle to discover nature in a group. Those places would be reached from the cities through public transport, then moving freely thanks to the use of cars like this. All with the idea of reducing the need for owned vehicles to travel, outlining a new mobility system based on the collective.
Conceived for debate and expanding the possibilities offered by a car, the Citroën Kar-a-Sutra remains a suggestive idea for the transport debate 49 years after its introduction.
PHOTOGRAPHS CITROËN KAR-A-SUTRA: THE NEW DOMESTIC LANDSCAPE MOMA 1972 EXHIBITION CATALOG / CITROËN AND MARIO BELLINI
