8 MAY 2008
The classic car chase from The Italian Job meets the Eden Project in an exciting new mini-movie starring three Citroëns, a grand staircase, one stunned gardener and more than a million plants.
While the original 1960s version had a trio of Minis in red, white and blue, Eden’s 30-second homage to the film’s celebrated chase features three nippy Citroën C1s in similar colours.
The French manufacturer’s most eco-friendly model will be one of the stars of The Co-operative Insurance Eden Sexy Green Car show in the shadow of the world famous Biomes from May 22-31.
Based in a former china clay quarry, Eden is usually a car-free zone but in the new film the C1s snake down to the bottom of the pit in a series of spectacular turns including a descent of the Grand Staircase towards the stage area where the show will be held.
The show’s director, Eden’s Gus Grand, said: “When we decided to do this cheeky mini-movie to kick-start The Co-operative Insurance Eden Sexy Green Car Show in style, Citroën’s C1 was an obvious vehicle of choice. We’re just glad we didn’t blow any doors off!
“Instead of a plan to steal gold, the theme of our film is how the C1s are zipping down to the Eden stage to try to get a peek at the other sexy green motors on show. This is low-emission movie making with a very light tyre print.”
With a choice of nippy 1.0i petrol or 1.4HDi engines, the C1 boasts ultra-low CO2 emissions of just 109 g/km and is one of the most economical cars on the road, with up to 68.9 miles per gallon for the diesel and 61.4mpg for the petrol.
The C1 will take pride of place at the car show alongside Citroën’s C2 VTS HDi and the Grand C4 Picasso – two more models that demonstrate the company’s commitment to producing stylish and practical vehicles that deliver excellent fuel economy as well as solid green credentials.
The C2 VTS HDi proves that cars can be both high performers and ecological, with the diesel’s punchy 1.6HDi engine offering a frugal 64 mpg and low CO2 emissions of 119g/km.
Citroën’s multi award-winning Grand C4 Picasso demonstrates that a large family car can also be a clean one. The spacious seven-seater’s ultra efficient 1.6HDi DPFS engine emits just 150g/km of CO2 and with its intelligent Electronic Gearbox System (EGS), fuel economy is optimised at 49.6mpg.
ENDS
May 16, 2008
Notes to editors:
- Eden Project Limited is owned by the Eden Trust, which is a fully registered UK Charity (No. 1093070).
- Eden is home to the two biggest greenhouses in the world – the Rainforest Biome and Mediterranean Biome.
- Around 1.2 million visitors come to Eden per year and it has generated £800 million for the local economy.
- So far capital funding of £135 million to develop Eden has been raised from a combination of £58 million from the Millennium Commission Lottery Fund, £50 million in regional grants from the South West Regional Development Agency and Objective One European Regional Development Fund, and £27 million in the form of loans, lease finance and Eden's own revenue generation.
- Immediate information may be obtained from our website: www.edenproject.com.
- The main operating subsidiary of Group Lotus plc is Lotus Cars Ltd, which has two operating divisions - Lotus Engineering and Lotus Cars. Lotus Engineering is an internationally recognised automotive engineering consultancy based in Norfolk, UK. Global facilities include those in Michigan (USA), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), China and offices in Germany and Japan, with rapid expansion in new territories such as South East Asia and the Gulf States.
- Lotus Engineering provides comprehensive and versatile consultancy services to many of the world's OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers, offering a full engineering service from initial concept and project design through development and integration of the complete vehicle to meet all worldwide markets and customers to full production. This includes third party 'niche vehicle' engineering and manufacture worldwide.
- Lotus Cars builds world class, prestige, high performance sports cars for sale in 37 countries. These include the iconic Lotus Elise, and the Exige and Europa. Lotus is a global high-tech company, expanding rapidly and committed to driving forward technology for both Lotus Cars and its Engineering clients, spearheading research into such areas as hybrids, electric vehicles and renewable fuels.
For more information, please contact:
David Rowe
Head of Media Relations
The Eden Project
01726 811901
mobile: 0781 304 1923
email: drowe@edenproject.com
Duncan Bowker
Public Relations Manager
The Co-operative Financial Services
0161 827 5617
mobile: 07810 756 137
e-mail: duncan.bowker@co-operative.co.uk
