Zabrus is a concept car by the Italian design house Bertone, shown at the Turin Motor Show in 1986. It was built on the mechanical basis of the Citroën BX 4TC, the widened, four-wheel-drive version of the BX that Citroën had developed for Group B international rallying, an effort that ultimately failed, after which the homologation series built for that purpose was later scrapped. The standard BX saloon itself, launched in autumn 1982, had also been styled by Bertone, and its strong sales performance in markets such as Italy encouraged Bertone to revisit the theme with a design offering greater freedom of expression.
Bertone conceived the Zabrus as a sporting estate, or coupé-estate, in the tradition of cars such as the Reliant Scimitar GTE and Volvo 1800 ES, blending the compact, low-slung profile of a two-seat sports car with genuine four-seat, four-door practicality. Its body was marked by deep horizontal creases along the flanks, a wedge-shaped profile echoed by side windows that narrowed toward the rear, and a rounded tail with concealed rear lights. The car took its name from a strong-flying beetle of the Carabidae family found across Europe and Asia Minor.
The doors opened forward and upward in the scissor-door style Bertone had introduced on its 1968 Carabo concept and later put into production on the 1971 Lamborghini Countach, saving space when parking but requiring extra overhead clearance. Front seats swivelled outward for easier entry, and an infrared sensor system, interrupted by the driver's head, automatically adjusted the driver's seat to the optimal height. The single-spoke steering wheel followed Citroën convention, and the dashboard grouped its readouts into three removable computer modules: digital driving data to the left of the steering column, graphic function displays in the centre, and a navigation memory unit ahead of the passenger, using map data stored on removable discs alongside a Pioneer audio system with an early CD player. Seats were trimmed in exotic leather, and the headliner featured a mosaic leatherwork created by the furrier Gianfranco Togno. The tailgate was split into two sections, with a lower panel that folded down to extend the load floor and an upper glass section that slid forward together with the rear glass roof panel. Special wheels carried Michelin TRX tyres sized 245/45/215.
Mechanically the Zabrus used the BX 4TC's turbocharged and supercharged 2141cc four-cylinder engine, producing 200 PS at 5250 rpm and 294 Nm of torque at 2750 rpm, driving all four wheels. It measured 4300mm long, 1880mm wide and 1370mm high, on a 2610mm wheelbase with a track of 1550mm.
