1968 Citroen Ds 19 on 2040-cars

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Touch but don't look at Citro"en's new Cactus concept [w/video]

Citroën isn't telling us much about its concept for Frankfurt this year. All we know is that it's called the Cactus, and its nose in profile looks like the image above. That, and it's got some kind of special bumpers on it that are apparently filled with air to absorb shocks. Whether those are there to protect the doors from dings, the body panels from shopping carts or the structure from crashes, we don't know, but something tells us it's not the latter.
The French automaker plans on revealing more on September 5, just a few days before the show opens, so we'll have to wait until then. But in the meantime you can watch the brief, quirky and typically French clip below.

Peugeot returning to Pikes Peak with S'ebastien Loeb [w/video]

In spite of troubles in other areas - and there are plenty of them - sales of the Peugeot 208 are a bright spot for the French carmaker. Attempting to grab that light and make sure it shines everywhere, the company is returning the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb on June 30 with a specially prepared 208 driven by nine-time World Rally Champion Sébastien Loeb.
Citroën has loaned Loeb to its PSA/Peugeot-Citroën sister company so that he could contest his first Pikes Peak - it only makes sense that he's looking to try new pastures after winning all of those World Rally Championship titles with Citroën. The 208, which will have the start number '208,' will be revealed in April. Peugeot has won the race twice, once with Ari Vatanen in a 206 T16 in 1988 and again the next year with Robby Unser in a 405 T16.
To get you ready, there's a press release and a short film below called Climb Dance which follows Vatanen's drive. We highly recommend a watch - better vintage car porn is hard to find.

WRC crowns driver and manufacturer champs, any guesses who? [spoilers]

Brace yourselves, ladies and gentlemen, for a shocking announcement: Sébastien Loeb has won the 2012 World Rally Championship title, and his Red-Bull-sponsored Citroën team took home the manufacturer's trophy.
For those keeping track, this is Loeb's ninth WRC title, and the season-clinching win at Rally France - in front of fans from his hometown of Haguenau, no less - marks the 75th time Loeb has driven to victory in the series. So dominant was Loeb in 2012 that his title has been secured with two races remaining on the calendar.
Sébastien Loeb has announced that he will be in something of a retirement mode in 2013, but it remains to be seen what the 38-year-old Frenchman will do with all his new-found spare time.