Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite – Yours For $3975

by Derek Kreindler

Published: April 14th, 2012

liberte egalite fraternite yours for 3975

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

#Citroen #CitroenCx #ClassicCar #Diesel #FrenchCars #OldCar

Derek Kreindler

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2 of 55 comments

Ekaftan on Apr 19, 2012

Its an early series one Prestige with no air conditioner... a rare car.

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Svenmeier on Apr 22, 2012

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!!

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Recent Comments

Lou_BC Hard pass
TheEndlessEnigma These cars were bought and hooned. This is a bomb waiting to go off in an owner's driveway.
Kwik_Shift_Pro4X Thankfully I don't have to deal with GDI issues in my Frontier. These cleaners should do well for me if I win.
Theflyersfan Serious answer time...Honda used to stand for excellence in auto engineering. Their first main claim to fame was the CVCC (we don't need a catalytic converter!) engine and it sent from there. Their suspensions, their VTEC engines, slick manual transmissions, even a stowing minivan seat, all theirs. But I think they've been coasting a bit lately. Yes, the Civic Type-R has a powerful small engine, but the Honda of old would have found a way to get more revs out of it and make it feel like an i-VTEC engine of old instead of any old turbo engine that can be found in a multitude of performance small cars. Their 1.5L turbo-4...well...have they ever figured out the oil dilution problems? Very un-Honda-like. Paint issues that still linger. Cheaper feeling interior trim. All things that fly in the face of what Honda once was. The only thing that they seem to have kept have been the sales staff that treat you with utter contempt for daring to walk into their inner sanctum and wanting a deal on something that isn't a bare-bones CR-V. So Honda, beat the rest of your Japanese and Korean rivals, and plug-in hybridize everything. If you want a relatively (in an engineering way) easy way to get ahead of the curve, raise the CAFE score, and have a major point to advertise, and be able to sell to those who can't plug in easily, sell them on something that will get, for example, 35% better mileage, plug in when you get a chance, and drives like a Honda. Bring back some of the engineering skills that Honda once stood for. And then start introducing a portfolio of EVs once people are more comfortable with the idea of plugging in. People seeing that they can easily use an EV for their daily errands with the gas engine never starting will eventually sell them on a future EV because that range anxiety will be lessened. The all EV leap is still a bridge too far, especially as recent sales numbers have shown. Baby steps. That's how you win people over.
Theflyersfan If this saves (or delays) an expensive carbon brushing off of the valves down the road, I'll take a case. I understand that can be a very expensive bit of scheduled maintenance.