IT’S SNOW JOKE: CITROËN’S C-DESIGN COMPETITION WINNER SKIS TO VICTORY

With its prominent trademark chevrons, red and white paintjob and contemporary style, the Citroën sledge could be the coolest thing to hit the slopes this year. But look closer and you’ll see this eye-catching toboggan concept is actually constructed from Citroën car parts including a C4 Picasso’s rear seat, a C3 steering wheel, a C3 Pluriel’s roof pillars and the spoiler from a C4 Coupe.

No, Citroën isn’t having a late April fool; this stylish snow surfer design has just won its creator, Ognyan Bozhilov from Bulgaria, the €10,000 first prize in the final of Citroën’s International competition, C-Design - Combine, Connect, Create.

Renowned for its style innovation, the French marque’s online contest threw down the design gauntlet and issued a competition brief for web-savvy creative masterminds to utilise Citroën vehicle parts to design an object intended for everyday use.

A prestigious jury of senior design figures including Citroën’s Head of Styling, Jean Pierre Ploué poured over thousands of design submissions, including a telephone made from a door handle, a staircase constructed from rear spoilers and a seat made from the bonnet of a C1 city car.

The judges singled out Bozhilov’s sledge design from the other finalists, praising its innovation, visual impact and functionality – words synonymous with Citroën’s own design ethic.

Second place went to Roland Kaufmann from Austria, for his Citroën drain-cover concept made from a C4’s alloy rim and third place to Italian Valerio Stamaccioni, for his design which uses recycled glass from Citroën side windows to create a free-standing sculpture of glass sheets covered with special filters that play with the ambient lighting to create different optical effects.

The ten finalists had their ideas prototyped and exhibited at Milan’s International Design Exhibition, I Saloni.