Sublime Citroëns from yesteryear meet the current crop: check out our new members' area for the full feature tracking the DNA of France's quirkiest car maker 🇫🇷
Citroën used to make the most ambitious, most modern, most innovative cars in the world. It’s now getting some of that spirit backThe world needs a Citroën right now. We need a bold car maker to set a new course for car engineering. Today’s numerous challenges, from carbon to congestion to cost, need the think-different audacity that once epitomised France’s greatest car maker.
Today Citroën is sadly a shadow of its former greatness. But at least, under Stellantis, it has rediscovered some of its mojo. The Ami is a fresh slant at urban EV driving. It’s small, light and has a commercial model as unusual as its style. The Oli concept similarly challenges the EV status quo. I have a particular soft spot for the car that begins our Citroën odyssey. I owned a 1953 Light 15 in the late ’80s and early ’90s. The Light 15 was part of the Traction Avant family, the last manifestation of the genius of André Citroën. He died a year after its launch, in 1935. André was an ambitious risk taker. Like Steve Jobs, he was an immigrant’s son, a visionary and a brilliant marketer. Unlike Jobs, he was also an engineer.
As you drive, you look out over a large Bakelite-rimmed steering wheel and a characterful painted metal dashboard, populated by lovely art deco Jaeger instrumentation. You also look out over a long and graceful bonnet, a chrome strip running down its centreline. Underneath is a four-cylinder 1.9-litre engine of a modest 54bhp.
Unlike the electric Tesla Model S that would subsequently revolutionise the car industry, the DS did not inspire car makers to follow its numerous technical advances. Instead, it merely gratified almost 1.5 million owners and will no doubt continue to stimulate car enthusiasts and designers for generations to come.
Directional stability is outstanding. So is all-round visibility, helped by the wrap-around windscreen, low beltline and slim pillars. Less impressive is the engine: by the ’70s the pushrod four-cylinder felt harsh and rough. In fact, the DS was originally intended to use a new flat-six, canned because of cost.
single-spoke wheel, as with the DS. The ‘spaceship’ design has spread to the futuristic interior. There is a rotating-drum speedo and rockers replace column stalks. All major controls are clustered around the steering wheel. Visibility is excellent. Rear sear room and comfort are also superb, although you don’t sit as armchair-upright as in a DS. It’s quieter and more refined than the DS, and sharper handling too.
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