Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite – Yours For $3975
Published: April 14th, 2012
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Manual. Diesel. Hatchback. French. If this doesn’t tick all the boxes, I don’t know what will.
Up for grabs near Albany, New York is a 1977 Citroen CX Prestige. Outfitted with a diesel engine, a 5-speed manual and the famous hydraulic suspension.
This CX is not one of the CXA auto cars. Instead, it appears to have been privately imported, after spending its life in Algeria where it was owned by the French Diplomat Corps. The car has 63,243 miles, suggesting an easy life in the dry climes of North Africa, though it has spent 8 years in the United States. For just $3975, it can be yours.
Link via Bringatrailer.com
More by Derek Kreindler
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Its an early series one Prestige with no air conditioner... a rare car.
Ah, this brings back memories. I've always admired the Citroen CX. No other car in Europe in those days offered such massive interior space and comfort (along with the Peugeot 505). Not even the mighty Germans with Mercedes could match these cars for interior space (and payload capacity). I drove only French cars in the '70s and '80s (mostly Renault company cars, but I privately owned a Peugeot 505 Break diesel) and I had some experiences with the CX, but not the diesels. I drove two CX Series I's with the 2.0 motor and they were not bad. The cars were heavy so performance was a bit on the slow side, but not underpowered in that sense. The steering response was surprisingly tight and "almost BMW-like". The CXs handled well for such a long and heavy car. Manual transmission was relatively smooth and had short throws, but the clutch was vague and light. Interior ergonomics were terrible but typical Citroenish in those days. Cabin build quality didn't look impressive but they were built to last. A unique thing about the CX was that the blinker stalks had to be manually put back into non-blinking mode after you signaled and turned into your direction. I remember that well because at first I thought there was something broken with them! But I later learned that this was normal on all CXs. The hydropneumatic suspension was actually quite reliable by the standards of the day. They were generally capable of reaching 200,000 km without issues before the LHM gas had to be replaced and if they were checked every 25,000/50,000 km and if the car was used on a daily basis. A CX that isn't used means a potentially problematic hydropneumatic suspension suspension. It was the same case with the Mercedes 450SEL 6.9. I have fond memories of the car. Back in '70s and '80s Europe this car was highly respected and sought after. They were considered very reliable and comfortable. Major downsides were expensive spare parts if something broke and had to be serviced, but the big Citroens were never cheap to own in that sense. They were also big cars for European standards of the time so they couldn't be parked in many garages or parking spots in cities!!