Crapwagon Outtake: 2006 Citroen C6

Chris Tonn
by Chris Tonn

Ok, I’ll admit it. I’m a closet Francophile. Unfortunately, the nearest Citroen dealer is, at least, a forty hour drive-and-ferry ride from my Ohio homestead.

As much as I enjoy driving a small, taut-handling roadster, I must resign myself to the fact that I have a wife and two kids that will occupy the car as well. We are frequent long-haul roadtrippers, with at least four round trips of over ten hours over the last year as a family. A quiet, rapid, smooth-riding vehicle is in order. Who does calm and comfy like the French?

It seems, if I could be certain to handle the maintenance in my own overstuffed garage, that a modern Citroen, like this 20006 C6 on eBay, would be an ideal replacement for my minivan. A long, low hatchback with a vague resemblance to the legendary DS – even more like the later CX – this is a remarkably elegant cruiser. Twin-turbo V6 diesel, too? Oh, yeah.

How this came to be registered in the States is not clear. I can see it in Florida, which everyone knows will title a banana peel, but in New York? Perhaps this was owned by a diplomat. Anyhow, there are plenty of rational reasons why this would be a very bad idea. But if I were properly rational, I wouldn’t be a gearhead.

Chris Tonn
Chris Tonn

Some enthusiasts say they were born with gasoline in their veins. Chris Tonn, on the other hand, had rust flakes in his eyes nearly since birth. Living in salty Ohio and being hopelessly addicted to vintage British and Japanese steel will do that to you. His work has appeared in eBay Motors, Hagerty, The Truth About Cars, Reader's Digest, AutoGuide, Family Handyman, and Jalopnik. He is a member of the Midwest Automotive Media Association, and he's currently looking for the safety glasses he just set down somewhere.

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  • Jack Denver Jack Denver on May 08, 2015

    "It is part of a small collection of garaged cars and driven several times per month when the weather was clear and streets were clean (e.g., no snow, rain nor salt)." Those must have been long drives because the car has 76,000+ miles on it. That's about 9,000 miles/year and if the car was only driven "several" (say 3) times per month, each trip was around 200 miles. I call BS.

  • Mechaman Mechaman on May 09, 2015

    I was gonna say 'not bad' from the first pic. The others cured that disease. Really? $25 large? Son, you smokin' some real kush there.

  • Djn Djn on May 09, 2015

    I had an 87 CX GTI that I purchased with near zero miles. It had been federalized in Atlanta. We drove it for nearly 8 years. The only major failure was the ZF auto transmission (German!). Parts were the same as BMW and Saab of the same era.

  • Add Lightness Add Lightness on May 09, 2015

    The C6 in the flesh is simpley one of the most elegant cars ever. In France it is rare as it's solidly in the limo class, not your regular daily-driver-for-everyone class.

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