Car Spotting: Other Citroens I Have Known and Loved

My most recent post dealt with Citroen 2CVs that I have owned or known. This post will reference all the other Citroen models that have played a role in our lives. As I think back, only a few come to mind -- but as I look at my photo archives -- well, there are more than I thought. Here they are in roughly chronological order.

1970 DS Estate / Break / Station Wagon

Citroen had a peculiarly French approach to the station wagon -- not seeing it as the sedan with a higher rear end, but as a genuinely robust passenger and load carrying vehicle -- the "Family Truckster" of its nation and day. That meant a longer wheelbase, stouter suspension, fold-down seats in the rear, cargo rack on the roof, etc. Of course I had to have one.

This car was purchased shortly after we got our Mehari, thus it was our 2nd Citroen. We had attended a wedding and were on the way to the reception when I saw this car for sale on the roadside. We pulled over, checked it out, I gave the owner a $20 bill to hold it, and we went on to the party. On our way home we stopped again and made the deal.

It has so much that I like - a clean appearance and rugged utilitarian approach: white paint, gray vinyl seats, rubber mats in the back, stout roof rack, self-leveling suspension, semi-automatic 4-spd transmission, enormous brakes, etc.

Citroen had a strange body construction with unibody structure and bolt-on fenders designed for easy removal. The back fenders came off with one bolt.

The front fenders took a bit more work, but not much. This made a DS slightly more convenient to work on than you might expect.

But not THAT easy. This is not my engine, but it's identical to mine. Note that the engine itself is buried under the hydraulics, filter, ducting, spare tire and other stuff.

We drove the car many thousands of miles for about 10 years, but a constant exhaust ticking and some other minor flaws led me to sell it. The 85-year-old guy who bought the car insisted he would use it for prospecting in the desert. I didn't think that was too wise -- but then I had done lots of desert roaming myself.

Here's our friend Adam with his DS Break, which had a red interior but otherwise very similar to mine.

Citroen BX TZD + BX TZD + BX TZD

When we moved to England in 1992, I needed a company car. Our long-time desire to have a current Citroen (not offered in the USA since 1974) led me to purchase a BX Diesel, which offered lots of passenger space and convenient access to a wagon-like trunk area, along with great fuel economy and the comfort of the unique Citroen hydropneumatic suspension.

What I didn't know was that Citroen GB had gotten a batch of cars with defective suspension height controllers. Mine was one of them. It took several months to sort out the problem - the car would not rise to driving height when cold.

During this period we needed to make a trip to France for business. Citroen GB provided a loaner, which was this blue car that I am washing after our trip:

Both these cars were identical mechanically (except the blue one worked!)

The warranty people gave up on our red car and found a permanent replacement for us, in black. Only a few months later the was problem resolved, but they sold the red car to someone else. We used this black car to roam all over England.

Bed and breakfasts were our usual overnight accomodations.

We did a bit of hiking and camping too,

most often with 2CVGB, the car club dedicated to 2CVs but welcoming all Citroens.

Here we are with Barbara and Nita Sanborn, and a gal from my office in San Diego, who had all come to visit the UK and ended up with us at the same time. No problem with a BX!

Sadly, this car was involved in 2 minor accidents. The first was when it ran itself into a stone wall, breaking the headlight. Honestly it was a total mystery how it could have happened! The mystery was resolved much later when Citroen issued a recall notice saying the parking brake had a flaw which they would fix. Too late for my headlight.

The second accident was mostly my fault - a motorcyclist took off from a stop sign to slot into a gap in traffic. I followed him as there was plenty of room. But then he slammed on his brakes and I ran into him from behind/side. He wasn't injured; his bike was mostly okay; my car was hurt almost as badly as my "driver self-confidence"!

BX showing its stuff, as a bread van for campsite replenishment.

Citroen Visa GT

Immediately after we moved over to Weybridge, my wife endured a month or two of sitting around. Finally she got herself organized with a few jobs to stay busy while I was at work. We needed more transportation options, and the Slough 2CV wasn't an everyday driver. So, being typical Americans, we got another vehicle.

This Citroen Visa GT was said to be the development car for Citroen GB when they were tarting up the Visa to get more young buyers. Certainly the bright red paint, spoilers and engine mods were suitable for the times.