RE: SOTW: Citroen CX Familiale
Discussion
NLB said:
OK, I have to take the MGJohn/BG/300bhp et al “defending the Montego turbo” role here....
Most of you who say these are awful have never owned or driven, or quite likely, even seen one. I owned one of these (actually the chrome bumper/drum speedo 2400 version – Y registration, so 1981/2-ish I suppose), bought for shed money in the mid-1990s (most people didn’t get them then, either) simply because I needed a large, cheap estate car to haul around bits of my boat. It served me very well, and lead me to own a CX25 GTi Turbo 2 a few years later (which was fabulous..), and planted sufficient love of odd French cars that I now own an Alpine GTA (which is utterly different in every way apart from odd-French-ness, but still great).
First, the indisputable facts about CX Safaris... The internal space is colossal – made my V70 feel like a Smart (OK, I am exaggerating a bit, but it is very spacious indeed); it is a fantastic load carrier: I used to put huge oak beams, cast-iron winches, etc., into the back of mine until it was virtually full (suspension lowered to aid loading of course), start it up, and with a slight hiss it would come up to normal height, and crucially, drive perfectly normally with a vast load on. Further, they are very comfortable indeed, with soft but well shaped seats, and a ride the quality of which you don’t get if you have not experienced it. Not for nothing did Rolls Royce adopt the Citroen Hydropneumatic system. Also indisputable is that they look, at least, different. I agree that the later plastic bumper ones are less elegant than the chrome bumper ones, and that the Safaris are not nearly as sleek as the saloons, but they can’t be accused of being just another box-shaped thing.
Then, it gets a bit more subjective. My 2400 needed a new air filter and plugs, I seem to recall, and heater blower didn’t work until my father spent half an hour fiddling with it. Otherwise, it ran faultlessly for 4 years at least (I forget exactly), hauling huge chunks of boat and a partially dismantled Moto Guzzi 1000SP motorbike among other things, doing lots of miles (my daily commute alone was 120 miles then...), and routinely cruising at (harrumph) mph. It was also genuinely enjoyable to drive – not in any way a “sporting” car, of course, but compared to most barges of its era (an early 1970s design remember), and even to lots of more recent big beasts, it was nimble, grippy, and had stupendous brakes. When one got used to the roll, the lack of steering feel, and adjusted to its ways, it could really be hustled. I loved it... I could go on for hours, but I will save further defence to responses to the inevitable onslaught.
Oh, and I even have £750. Eeek.
PS: The non-estate CXs, looked like hatches, but weren’t. All saloons.
PPS: None of my “unreliable” French cars have ever cost me nearly as much as one of my Volvos...
the old man went to the factory in france and picked up his cx2200 in '75. it was gold with beige interior. it was used for the annual 3 month hol in cap d'agde in south of france. Most of you who say these are awful have never owned or driven, or quite likely, even seen one. I owned one of these (actually the chrome bumper/drum speedo 2400 version – Y registration, so 1981/2-ish I suppose), bought for shed money in the mid-1990s (most people didn’t get them then, either) simply because I needed a large, cheap estate car to haul around bits of my boat. It served me very well, and lead me to own a CX25 GTi Turbo 2 a few years later (which was fabulous..), and planted sufficient love of odd French cars that I now own an Alpine GTA (which is utterly different in every way apart from odd-French-ness, but still great).
First, the indisputable facts about CX Safaris... The internal space is colossal – made my V70 feel like a Smart (OK, I am exaggerating a bit, but it is very spacious indeed); it is a fantastic load carrier: I used to put huge oak beams, cast-iron winches, etc., into the back of mine until it was virtually full (suspension lowered to aid loading of course), start it up, and with a slight hiss it would come up to normal height, and crucially, drive perfectly normally with a vast load on. Further, they are very comfortable indeed, with soft but well shaped seats, and a ride the quality of which you don’t get if you have not experienced it. Not for nothing did Rolls Royce adopt the Citroen Hydropneumatic system. Also indisputable is that they look, at least, different. I agree that the later plastic bumper ones are less elegant than the chrome bumper ones, and that the Safaris are not nearly as sleek as the saloons, but they can’t be accused of being just another box-shaped thing.
Then, it gets a bit more subjective. My 2400 needed a new air filter and plugs, I seem to recall, and heater blower didn’t work until my father spent half an hour fiddling with it. Otherwise, it ran faultlessly for 4 years at least (I forget exactly), hauling huge chunks of boat and a partially dismantled Moto Guzzi 1000SP motorbike among other things, doing lots of miles (my daily commute alone was 120 miles then...), and routinely cruising at (harrumph) mph. It was also genuinely enjoyable to drive – not in any way a “sporting” car, of course, but compared to most barges of its era (an early 1970s design remember), and even to lots of more recent big beasts, it was nimble, grippy, and had stupendous brakes. When one got used to the roll, the lack of steering feel, and adjusted to its ways, it could really be hustled. I loved it... I could go on for hours, but I will save further defence to responses to the inevitable onslaught.
Oh, and I even have £750. Eeek.
PS: The non-estate CXs, looked like hatches, but weren’t. All saloons.
PPS: None of my “unreliable” French cars have ever cost me nearly as much as one of my Volvos...
it was a real beauty then - pretty avant garde.
the cx moniker was used by citroen due to it's very low cx factor - ability to slip through the air 0.32 i think it was.
highlights were watching it drive off on 3 wheels when we had a puncture (rear natch) and, with the ride on high, driving through the sand dunes to park on the beach. the renaults and mercs floundered.
no power steering though.... well, by the time i was driving it around it didn't have any.
S3_Graham said:
Garlick said:
Stunning. How can anyone not like these cars?
Just think of the old 5 or 7 or even an old SEC you could get for the money which would float my boat a huge amount more 
Bar the Ghostbusters ref, i just dont get it!Still, a very quirky car, and a good SOTW candidate.
Wouldn;t have one - but respect it's appeal and charm.
S3_Graham said:
Just think of the old 5 or 7 or even an old SEC you could get for the money which would float my boat a huge amount more...
and ellisd82 said:
not my cup of tea TBH...poor SOTW.
This would have been a better choice. http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2200216.htm
I think PH needs a 'blinkers' smiley - made up of a horse (or perhaps a sheep) with a BM 'propeller' over one eye and a Merc star over the other.This would have been a better choice. http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2200216.htm
Edited by r11co on Friday 29th October 11:35
r11co said:
S3_Graham said:
Just think of the old 5 or 7 or even an old SEC you could get for the money which would float my boat a huge amount more...
I think PH needs a 'blinkers' smiley - made up of a horse (or perhaps a sheep) with a BM 'propeller' over one eye and a Merc star over the other.I can't think of one SOTW where someone doesn't say "but you could buy a BMW EXX/Merc WXXX for that". And, of course, when SOTW was an E36 328, that was crucified too...
r11co said:
S3_Graham said:
Just think of the old 5 or 7 or even an old SEC you could get for the money which would float my boat a huge amount more...
I think PH needs a 'blinkers' smiley - made up of a horse (or perhaps a sheep) with a BM 'propeller' over one eye and a Merc star over the other.
NiceCupOfTea said:
I once saw him in Otford as well. An old British racing driver is burried there to.Andy
NLB said:
I can't think of one SOTW where someone doesn't say "but you could buy a BMW EXX/Merc WXXX for that". And, of course, when SOTW was an E36 328, that was crucified too...
.(328i is going very well, by the way - homepage update soon)
zakelwe said:
I drove one of these once.
Got about 50 yards, just brushed the brake pedal and was catapulted head first through the windscreen.
Andy
That happens to everyone, first time you drive one, but its funny how quickly you get used to it. (More of a "button" than a pedal though)Got about 50 yards, just brushed the brake pedal and was catapulted head first through the windscreen.
Andy
Nice quirky car.It is both worrying and reassuring how few people are capable of independent thought. The Citroen CX obviously is one of the all-time-great motor cars, especially in Familiale or Safari guise. The whole point about it is that it is not "a 5 or 7 series or old SEC", as one poster urged upon us, nor would it ever want to be. It is proof positive that to be different sometimes is to be better. If you don't understand and desire the CX, it is because you are a sheep.
And no car has yet ridden better.
DrGP said:
I much prefer the hatch...
It was a saloon.And no car has yet ridden better.
My dad had one of these when my 3 siblings and I were growing up. It was a great car. Except for the time the hatch boot fell off when the boot was being opened...
I particularly remember sitting in the third-row of seats, using the wheelarch as a hill to run my matchbox cars over, and I remember dad thrilling us all by raising and lowering the ride height. Oh - and the dreadful seat patterns, which looked dated even then!
It was an awesome car though...
It was replaced with a Renault 21 Savannah, which was quite bizarrely fast. Really, dad still mentions it to this day, that Renault seemed to have a lot of hidden horses. Or a vastly mis-reading speedo...
I particularly remember sitting in the third-row of seats, using the wheelarch as a hill to run my matchbox cars over, and I remember dad thrilling us all by raising and lowering the ride height. Oh - and the dreadful seat patterns, which looked dated even then!
It was an awesome car though...
It was replaced with a Renault 21 Savannah, which was quite bizarrely fast. Really, dad still mentions it to this day, that Renault seemed to have a lot of hidden horses. Or a vastly mis-reading speedo...
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff