A show for French cars only, held on a sunny September Sunday at a perfect location. You just know beforehand you’ll have a good time. The 2018 edition of La Fête des Automobiles, focusing on yesteryear’s top models of the French automakers, was absolutely the highlight of all classic car events I visited this year. Besides the high-end Renaults, Peugeots and Citroëns, there was much more to explore.
Starting the tour with a 2001 Citroën Xantia V6 break. In 1993, the Xantia replaced the BX. This D-segment wagon is powered by a 3.0 liter V6 gasoline engine and has Citroën’s Hydractive II hydropneumatic suspension.
2009 Citroën C6 3.0 V6. The 2005-2012 C6 was the brand’s last executive low rider glider. Not the last Citroën with (Hydractive III) hydropneumatic suspension though, as it was available on the D-segment Citroën C5 till last year.
1978 Peugeot 604 V6 SL. The power unit in the 604 sedan was a PRV V6 or -from 1979 onwards- a 2.5 liter 4-cylinder turbodiesel.
1986 Citroën CX 25 TRD Turbo with PSA’s 2.5 liter turbodiesel.
1986 Renault 25 V6 Limousine. It’s powered by a fuel injected 2.7 liter PRV engine. The Limousine has a 22.7 cm longer wheelbase than the standard Renault 25, coachbuilder Heuliez built 832 of them.
The Renault 25 was introduced in 1984 and is slightly more aerodynamic than the 1982 Audi 100 (5000).
1983 Peugeot 505 Familiale GR with a 2.0 liter gasoline engine. The Familiale is a 3-row break/wagon.
1979 Citroën CX 2400 GTi.
1982 Talbot Tagora GLS 2.2. A rare bird then, a needle in a haystack now.
1984 Talbot-Matra Rancho, a compact CUV avant la lettre and a descendant of the Simca 1100.
2000 Citroën XM 3.0 V6. Unlike its DS and CX predecessors and C6 successor, the 1989-2000 XM is a hatchback.
1988 Peugeot 505 STD Turbo (2.5 liter turbodiesel). The 505 was Peugeot’s last RWD car model.
1997 Peugeot 605 ST 2.0 Turbo (gasoline).
1981 Renault 30 TX (PRV V6 engine with Bosch K-Jetronic fuel injection). The 20/30-series was Renault’s new top model in 1975.
1999 Citroën XM break with a 2.0 liter gasoline engine.
2007 Peugeot 607, powered by a 2.2 liter gasoline engine. The 1999-2010 607 was Peugeot’s last true executive (E-segment) sedan.
1965 Simca 1500 GL. I vividly remember the later 1301/1501 models, these were popular family cars in the Netherlands back then.
1979 Citroën CX 2400 GTi. If you want to stand out in a field of big French cars, then this is the car to have. Orange just can not get more orange.
2007 Citroën C6 2.7 V6 HDi.
1985 Peugeot 505 GL.
1994 Renault Safrane RXE 3.0 V6. The Safrane is a hatch-/liftback, just like its predecessors, the Renault 20/30 and 25.
2000 Citroën XM 3.0 V6.
Back in 1955 a spacecraft landed on Planet Earth, more specifically in Paris. It was called the Citroën DS. This fine example is a 1972 DS 23.
1985 Citroën CX 25 GTi Turbo. What a shape and stance, the Goddess of Sleekness.
A Belgian visitor brought his mid-eighties Peugeot 505 SRD Turbo to the show. It was in a splendid condition, inside and outside; as if it had just left the showroom floor.
1977 Peugeot 504 TI, under its hood a 2.0 liter engine with a Kugelfischer mechanical fuel injection system. The 504 was introduced exactly 50 years ago, this undisputed legend of an automobile was made and sold all over the globe. The last ones were built in Nigeria, late 2005.
1983 Peugeot 305 SR Diesel. The 305 was offered from 1977 to 1988 and was available as a berline, break and fourgonnette. Respectively a sedan, wagon and panel van.
Speaking of a panel van, here’s a 1985 Citroën Acadiane with an appropriate (left cargo door) window sticker…
1975 Citroën CX 2000.
1968 Peugeot 404 with a neat pair of front fog lamps.
A tough looking family guy, this 1991 Peugeot 505 Familiale SX Injection.
Part One goes out with a bang, here’s a 1994 Renault Safrane (3.0 V6) Biturbo. Renault joined forces with German tuning houses Hartge and Irmscher, the end result was an all wheel drive Autobahn burner with a maximum power output of 262 DIN-hp and a top speed of 252 km/h. Note the 5-speed manual transmission.
Viva le differance! These are so strange to American eyes. Other than the Peugeots (through the 505 anyhow) which we saw rarely and the Citroen Goddess which was rarer still, the others have been seen on these shores in numbers close to zero.
Of the newer stuff I find that Citroen C6 intriguing.
The 505 wagon has always been a favorite of mine.
So wonderful! If only I could get my hands on these cars, this is basically what my fleet would look like. I’d use a C6 or Safrane on rainy days and cycle through the others whenever possible.
The Xantia is interesting: such a big engine and fancy suspension crammed into a compact (by US standards) car. I think our closest equivalent today is the Ford Fusion Sport with its big turbo V6 and MagneRide suspension.
It really warms my heart to see the love that French cars receive in the Netherlands. Dutch suppliers have been a big help in keeping my Citroens running here in the US. I’m sure that the parts could be found in France, too, but the Dutch seem to be more enthusiastic about exports. And I certainly appreciate their flawless English!
Are the R25’s rear doors longer than those of an Eagle Premier/Dodge Monaco?
On the one hand, substituting Chrysler’s own V6 for the PRV was the best thing that ever happened to that platform, but on the other the original R25’s unalloyed ’80s French technoquirk is great to behold.
Yes, because this is one shown is an extended wheelbase version. They’re significantly longer. But not the regular version.
My favorites:
Citroen CX
Peugeot 505 wagon
Talbot-Matra Rancho
Peugeot dashboards from that time (see also the 1983 505 Break picured here) were made of some strange kind of hard plastic that autodegraded after some years. It would first get whitish discolorations and in a later stage it would dry out and flake off.
Mmm, delicious entree, Mr Dutch. Nicely served too.
It’s rather remarkable but every one of these cars was sold in Australia, if sometimes in only double-digit numbers (for eg, 100 C6’s only). Indeed, the 404’s, 504’s and 505’s were actually made here, in a factory with Renaults, if you can credit it.
That’s a beauty of a 404 there, my choice only because I want to drive my old car again. My 504 and 505’s were very good cars, and the 505 to my eyes very elegant, but they fell short of that unified, solid, all-of-a-piece silkiness that characterises a good 404. It is a car that drives so much better than it looks.
How wonderful does that trimless CX 2000 look? I’m sure the second series was a better vehicle in that it had some actual performance – I drove an early 2200 and it was not a quick car – but the Attack of The Cladding was unseemly.
And the Simca is a surprise. I’ve never noticed till your photos here what classy looker they are.
Looking forward to the next courses, Msr.
Coming soon: Attack of The Cladding 2: The Cheapening!
Even the XM wagon, sorry, break? I think I’ve seen a total of one XM. It was in Canberra, which I think is Francophile central and the last place I saw a Renault 18 in the metal.
+1 on the trim-less ’75 CX — the way it ought to be.
Also +1 on the Simca, which is now a rare sight in France, especially this early model with the round taillights.
But I’ve got a thing for orphans and damaged goods, so I may have to pick the Tagora out of this lot.
Excellent as always, Johannes D.!
“I’ts rather remarkable but every one of these cars was sold in Australia”
Hmm. Not sure about that.
Renault 25 (the Limousine edition)
Talbot Tagora
Talbot-Matra Rancho
Renault 30 (we got the 4 cylinder 20 only)
Renault Safrane
Citroën Acadiane
Peugeot 305
Simca 1500
Citroën CX 25 (the GTi Turbo version)
Citroën XM break (not 100% sure but I don’t thin we got the wagon version)
I have a habit, amounting to a tic, of leaving out the all-important qualifier when writing, sometimes an entire paragraph. It’s happened here before. Thus “NEARLY all” went missing.
I’ve seen an XM wagon, Renault 30 and a CX Turbo, but none were officially sold here new.
Ah, forbidden fruit for most Americans…
I would love to have been at the show, thank you for sharing the photos. We never got most of these over here. I don’t know if I am being contrarian in liking them, or if I just don’t know better in liking the French cars, as I have almost no experience with them. But I would love to drive one, especially a DS or a C6. Perhaps, if they actually do relaunch sales in the USA, I might just get to own something from PSA or Renault. I was one that took a chance on the new Fiat 500, and I have been happy with it, so the chances are the French cars would make me happy as well.
Almost too much. Like a French seven course meal; very rich.
The 404 is of course a gem. I like its ventilated wheels and small hubcaps better than the full wheel covers we got in the US until 1970, when they switched to them here too.
I hope you have a nice 406 coupe saved for part two somewhere Johannes. A close friend of mine had bought one with a V6 in gorgeous red for his early mid life crisis. It got stolen a year later but I managed to drive it a few times and had many rides. Good times.
That 505 STD is funny. A french STD sounds like it would be fun when you get it and then the joy will wear off pretty quickly – much like 505 ownership in Denmark. They were relatively common here in the eighties and now I cannot remember when I last saw one.
Are those W124 wheels on that CX you call the goddess of sleekness? They sure look like it.
I really like all of these. I could see myself driving a C6 despite the dasvboard letdown relative to the exterior. V6 turbo diesel and hydropneumatic suspension…
The wheels are from an Alfa 164. One of the few that can be easily swapped onto a CX
There it is. Thank you.
That blue 1972 DS23 with headlamp washers and wipers must be a Scandinavian edition. I haven’t seen a DS21/DS23 with headlamp washers and wipers in person in Germany or elswehre.
I’ve never seen or even heard of headlamp wipers on a DS – perhaps they were an aftermarket accessory?
Unlike other Citroën from the same time, the XM is aesthetically well balanced and well proportioned like an 80’s Germany car, but having the irreverence of the 80’s British cars. It’s like BMW designed it for Rover or Aston Martin.
Must. Have. Orange. CX. Now.
All were great old school sedans. Very nice times…
Great selection Johannes, thank you! My fave is the ’85 CX GTi, sublimely sleek and simply superb. Failing that I’d grab the Tagora, the only car to make an early Volvo 760 look curvaceous. The orange CX is unbelievably cool, but I fear I’d be blinded every time I walked into the garage…
“the only car to make an early Volvo 760 look curvaceous”
LOL!
The CX and GS are my favorite Citroens. I also would love to mess with people’s heads in the US by driving the original 3 row crossover, a Peugeot 505 Famiale with a Dangel 4×4 conversion
Nice cars, but dont go driving any of them, its quite addictive.
I’m gonna need more pictures of that DS convertible parked across the street
You’ve certainly caught some unicorns there! Some observations:
A V6 Xantia break must take some finding, fuelling and some looking after!
Love that phone in the Renault 25 Limousine – takes me back a long way!
That Talbot Tagora seems to have SX wheels
The Simca 1500 looks a lovely, clean and straight car, and rare now
But, for now the keys to the orange CX and the Dyane van would be ideal!
And there’s more? Here’s hoping!
Working on it, Roger, working on it…
Looking forward to part 2! Almost bought a used Peugeot 504 gas 5-speed wagon in 1989. Drove very well, properly maintained with receipts, but even then I was concerned about parts and service. Peugeot departed North America in 1991. Bought a 1985 Audi 5000 Avant 5 speed instead, very reliable.
While I find the Peugeot 504’s downturned trailing edge of trunk somewhat awkward looking, the slightly raised back roof section of the wagon, and overall profile, is just perfect. Most of the few currently available wagons do the opposite, pinching down the back section, reducing its usefullness.
https://goo.gl/images/aLcpBc
https://goo.gl/images/HmRK7j