Fail of the century #31: Citroen C3 Pluriel

On the frog-eyed face of it, 2003’s C3 Pluriel was an absolute bargain. It was, according to Citroen, no fewer than five cars in one: a hatchback, a ‘sunroof saloon’, a cabrio, a spider, and a roadster pickup. Costing around 12 grand at launch, that meant you were paying a mere £2,400 per car. Quelle bonne affaire!

However, if you were considering adding all five C3 Pluriels to your driveway, there were a few additional outlays to factor in.

First, the doctorate in mechanical engineering required to convert the Pluriel between its many, many different configurations. Assembling an Ikea eight-drawer dresser, without instructions? While blindfolded? And wearing goose-fat-smeared oven gloves? A veritable cinch compared to removing the roof rails from the pram-tastic Citroen.

And were you, at any point, planning to take your Pluriel for a lengthy drive in one of its more open-topped configurations, there was a further cost to consider: the array of lock-up garages you’d need to rent around the country in which to store the bits of discarded roof. Because they sure as hell couldn’t be stowed neatly on board. And, in the event of a sudden shower, you sure as hell weren’t going to make the Pluriel watertight without them.

Five cars in one? Maybe. Any of those five cars one you’d actually want to drive? Not so much.