Sbarro Picasso art in motion

EUROPEAN design and styling specialist Sbarro has produced a unique version of Citroen's top selling people-mover, the Xsara Picasso.

The Citroen Xsara Picasso Cup meets "kit car" rallying regulations, but still has seating for five, albeit in racing seats with full racing seatbelts.

It is powered by a 175kW, 2.0-litre version of the 1.8-litre petrol engine normally found under the bonnet of the Citroen compact people-mover and this is matched to a six-speed manual gearbox.

Massive 19-inch alloy wheels with 255/40 series tyres compliment the lowered sports suspension and stopping power is provided by four huge 370mm disc brakes.

But, aside from the massively flared wheel arches and deep front and rear body extensions, the most outrageous change to the Xsara Picasso's body is the replacement of the four standard doors with two enormous gull wing doors.

These not only provide access to the front and rear seats, they also allow substantial strengthening of the body shell so that it can cope with the much greater torsional stresses caused by racing and rallying the much more powerful than standard Picasso Cup.

"Before anyone asks, we have no plans to go racing or rallying with the Xsara Picasso when it is launched in Australia later this year," said the general manager for Citroen in Australia, Miles Williams.

"But the Xsara Picasso Cup does show what can be done with the Xsara Picasso, especially as it has the same genes as the Xsara Coupe VTS and the Xsara Coupe WRC rally car."