(first posted 9/5/2017) GTi, a Grand Tourer with fuel injection. A comfortable and luxurious automobile with sublime handling, perfectly capable of high speed and long-distance driving. It seems to me that the badge suits a classic big Citroën better than a lil’ VDub hatchback from the seventies.
I caught this Series 1 CX GTi in the periphery of a Grand Porsche Show (speaking of VDub). Big Citroëns immediately draw my attention. All of them; in chronological order the ID/DS, SM, CX, XM and C6. I’m sure this applies to many of us.
FWD, naturally, with a long front overhang and short rear overhang. The CX GTi was introduced in 1977.
One wiper wipes it all.
Needless to mention it has Citroën’s hydropneumatic suspension.
Furthermore IFS and IRS, with a front and rear stabilizer. Ventilated disc brakes at the front, solid disc brakes at the rear. Comfort and handling, you know.
Even a blind man can tell that this is a Citroën interior. The Series 1 GTi was only available with a 5-speed manual transmission.
The transverse 4-cylinder engine with a displacement of 2,347 cc is equipped with a Bosch L-Jetronic fuel injection system.
The 128 DIN-hp engine gets the 4-door sedan to a top speed of just about 190 km/h (119 mph). So now we’ve got great comfort, superb handling and speed. GTi badge fully approved. Then again, we might as well call each and every fuel injected big Citroën a GTi, the diesels included.
The 2005-2012 Citroën C6 was the last low-riding Citroën executive car (E-segment) with hydropneumatic suspension. Granted, the more recent D-segment Citroën C5 was also available with the flying carpet ride, but that model just looks too Audi-ish (speaking of VDub).
(Interior and engine images: courtesy of Alphons Ruyl Classic Cars)
Related reading:
Car Show Classic: 1985 Citroën CX 25 GTi Series 2
Cohort Classic: 1981 Citroën CX Pallas D
Vintage New Car Preview: Citroën CX – The New Big Citroën
In the pre-digital days, the early eigthies flocks of CX Tissier Turbo Diesels would haunt the European highways at night drving at ridiculous fast speeds of over 100 MPH to deliver newspapers that arrived at a night flight at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris.
There was nothing like a CX Turbo Diesel back then, they tried Mercedes, they tried Chevy vans but nothing could beat the CX’es.
I remember trying to chase one, half way from Belgium into Holland, I drove a Volvo 240 6 cylinder Diesel station wagon, from my boss, but I could only keep up with the CX when he had to slow down for other vehicles.
These things really came from a different planet and drove 35 years ago better then many modern car does today
GTi, a Grand Tourer with fuel injection. A comfortable and luxurious automobile with sublime handling, perfectly capable of high speed and long-distance driving. It seems to me that the badge suits a classic big Citroën better than a lil’ VDub hatchback from the seventies.
Spot on!
The catch is a 240 mile range. Still, a very lovely car. I’d prefer the 2.0 litre and accept the lower speed. My XM isn’t that fast but can go 600 miles on a tank.
My C5 2.2 diesel has a higher top speed and will do 600miles to a tank though not both at the same time the hydra-active3 gives an amazing ride, the C6 uses the same technology and powertrains.
I lusted over this when it came out in 1977. It represented everything I held in high regard. This was peak car for me at the time. What a contrast to what was coming out of Detroit in 1977.
That statement probably describes my philosophy on automobiles better than I could.
This car is one of the reasons why I loathe broughams so pathologically. If there was ever a car too good for American drivers, this is (at least) one of them.
CX Pallas could almost pass for being a CX Brougham:
That image is the long wheelbase Prestige, Europe’s broughamiest car apart from the Ford Granada 2.8 Ghia X.
These Citroens were gorgeous cars. At the turn of the ’90s, I saw a couple of “federalized” CXs running around here in Miami, much like the pictured car. Note the lights and the bumpers. These weren’t official Citroen imports, and from what I understand, the company wanted nothing to do with these cars. I can only imagine servicing to be a nightmare.
Is this the last 4 door to have a single rear window that would go down completely?
Beautiful cars, with an instantly recognizable shape (like a bigger GS, but with its own character). I’ve never even seen one “in the metal” over here but I had a 1/64 scale Yatming model of one as a kid, and the love has stayed with me.
.The last great and uncompromised Citroen.
The CX always looked big to me in pictures but I was surprised how compact it was when I actually saw one; it was about the same length and width as a current Toyota Corolla. I’ve always wanted to drive one and take control of the self-centering steering, experience the magic carpet ride, and see the increasing speed on the bobbin speedometer.
Overall length according to the French Wikipedia CX site:
-Berline (as in the article): 4660 mm – 183.5″
-Prestige and Limousine: 4907 mm – 193.2″
-Break (wagon): 4922 mm – 193.8″
Sorry DS, but the CX has to be my favourite Citroen.
There was a CX GTI in our neighbourhood when I was a kid, it looked anything but the norm. Wide, long and low.
Citroën really had a fetish for one-spoke steering wheels. Probably for instrument-panel visibility or something like that.
It was a safety steering wheel designed to give, in accidents. I drove a new DS-21 Pallas for a year in 1968, and often drove a friends 2 SM’s and CX GTi, they were all favorites.
One of my favorite cars of all time – still looks like a spaceship to this day. This one is immaculately kept.
Thanks, Johannes. Is that a factory cast road wheel on the car ? Impressive “shoes” for such a great automobile.
I lost track of Citroen for a while after the initial love affair with the ID/DS. At what point did the company switch from longitudinal to transverse engine placement ?
Citroen’s motto could surely have been “We go our own way” — “Nous poursuivons nos propres chemins” ?
Those are the factory CX GTi rims. Off the top of my head the CX was the first Citroën with a transverse engine placement.
Sorry Johannes but the Citroen GZ Birotor was the first transverse engine placement for Citroen. This was in 1973,even though the GS had the longitudinal fitted Flat Four engine ,whereas, for reasons best known to Citroen the GZ had its transverse Wankel engine.
a beautiful l car in all aspects.
Beautiful cars theres a turbo diesel version roaming local roads.
Dad had one a few years after he sold the DS. It was his last car before he died in 1982, so for me, as another admirer of all large Citroen saloons, the CX will always be special (no Citroen pun intended).
Truly one of the great cars of the 1970s, let down only by the old engines in the first series.
The later V6 covered just about every thing anyone could want. Excepting durability, arguably the best in class in Europe for many, many years.
There was a “later V6” alright…in the XM, not in the CX. Inline-4 cylinders only, max. 2.5 liter displacement (both gasoline and diesel).
CC effect – A few days ago I saw the first CX I’ve seen in years – a pristine, white late 80s GTi which hounded me and weaved onto the wrong side of the road looking to pass. (OK, I was driving a Sprinter, but I still found it impressive)
Count me as another admirer. I love the (rust prone) Series I just a bit more than the developed Series II for the instruments and that ashtray.
I’ve driven an early CX 2200 4 speed owned by a colleague. Heavy, slow from rest and isolated from the road. Once rolling they only need be slowed for traffic, the roll is fun. The indicator switch on the binnacle is no problem. Radio/cassette was mounted vertically between the front seats, that was silly but I’d live with it.Strongly self centering steering was brilliant.
This car was in great condition and a joy to drive. Sadly the vinyl covered foam mouldings were no match for the Australian sun and most look pretty decrepit regardless of mechanical condition.
The drive trains should have been further developed and they should still be in production. Less that SII black out trim, of course.
+1 to all that, except my drive was too brief to ever come to terms with that steering.
Me wants. Maybe someday when I hit the Powerball lottery.Until then, I`ll just dream.
I never understood Citroens. For that matter I never understood French cars in general.
Until I saw my first CX. Still didn’t get them… just wanted one real bad!?
Ah, well even when you own French cars, you won’t understand them. Or get them…to start, for example.
And the day you throw it away, you’ll still want it.
They play with your head, the French. They gave the world (incomprehensible) post-modernism, y’know.
On a bad day, my current French motor expresses post-reliability an’ all.
I never understood Citroens, just fell deeply in love with them. When Francis Ford Coppola was filming the Tucker movie, I was on set for several weeks (very close friends own a Tucker) Each day Coppola was brought to the set in a stretch Citroen limo, it was stunning.
What is it about them that is “hard to understand”? That’s not a rhetorical question – I would like to know why people think the cars are incomprehensible. I understand American cars even if the guiding principles aren’t always ones I’d go for. The French want economy, space, ride comfort and light, linear controls. They also like originality or innovation sometimes and sometimes favour tradition hence Citroen and Peugeot being so different but achieving similar ends.
I love almost everything about this car, but it’s right up there with the ’78 Cutlass Aeroback in the “you’re kidding me, this isn’t a hatchback?” department.
I saw one or two of these in the US back in the day, one parked I looked at closeup, and of course was transfixed. But only a couple of years ago I saw the successor, an XM, innocently parked among the supermini Peugeots and Dacias and Skodas on the street in Cambridge. Bertone styled in the more origami 90’s style, but even more awesome and an actual hatchback and with many improvements over the CX.
I’d love to have one. Or more practically if I lived there, a C6.
*sigh*
I bought another large Citroen recently it is an upgrade of my previous car also a C5, the new one is the last of the MK2 version but with the larger 2.2 turbo diesel engine and 6 speed auto, my first automatic trans in 15 years, this car appeared for sale while I was doing regular maintenance on my previous C5 it had done 408,000kms when this 137,000km car replaced it, and was still going strong, I could have bought a C6 for similar money but whats the point, they are the same car under the skin, yes there was a 2.2 twin turbo C6 though the 2.7 twinturbo diesel V6 is far more common, they all have a twin scroll turbo rather than sequential turbos, lag simply does not exist, 370nm of torque is there from 1350rpm and just stays untill you stop accelerating, the difference between a legal here 100kmh and an illegal 160kmh is just the speed of the scenery the car still steers the same and rides the same, the sublime ride and handling remains no matter the road surface a very relaxing car to drive better than anything else on the market. The idea of downgrading to another brand of car never occurred to me
They are so attractive. Excellent cars. The 2400 or 2500 injection was fast for its day, still fast enough now. I miss my 2400 IE automatic, still secretly looking for a good example.
Turn up the Steppenwolf and put the pedal to the metal.