OT.... what the hell is this fuggly thing?

They're cheap because they're awfully complex and difficult to repair, which means that they can get really expensive to run. So they're fairly cheap (around $15,000) but they can also become money pits.

They're definitely different, both in looks and under the skin. They use a hydraulic suspension, that works a lot like an airbag setup, but with fluid. The steering is 2 turns lock-to-lock with an odd, one-spoke oval steering wheel. Plus it had the complicated Maserati engine.

The French-Italian connection went both ways. Some of that weird Citroen engineering wound up in the beautiful Maserati Boras and Meraks:

 

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Fat Hack, there were 6 Renaults parked in front of the bathroom and you still kept on walking untill you got to the urinal?
Thats will power, man...

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Ha Ha Ha...LMAO!!!

Yeah...those cars were so crappy, they weren't even worth PISSING on!!

 

In that engine shot...

I dig how the engine compartment has a holder for the spare can of hydraulic/power steering fluid!

Leaks are implicit or something?



-J

 

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Aaaahhh Le Car... Makes me think of Dragnet. . I mean the one with Tom Hanks and Dan Akroyd.

Citroens were a cool design idea built badly. I am really not impressed by their designs currently either. They have a model called the Picasso and it is kind of an insult to the late artist. Huh Picasso and Von Dutch. Hhhhmmm somethings are better left untouched. (sorry, had too.)

I did a design presentation on the 2cv and it really had some cool features. The hydraulic suspension allowed a tire to be changed with out using jack.

neat huh?



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That was a Yugo. An unremarked glory.

 

French cars, Love 'em or hate 'em. I used to race a Renault Le Car in SCCA events. Would corner on the door handles. Fun to drive, scary to watch. Front drive cars lift the inside rear wheel off the ground in a hard corner. I could always tell when I needed to back off because I would lose traction on the inside front wheel an realize "I'm on TWO wheels!!!

 

Engine shot: I recognize the alternator and a couple green toilet floats. The rest is French to me...

The other thing we're supposed to be impressed with is German engineering. I had a Volkswagen Rabbit. The damned doors would freeze shut in the winter. The windows would stick at the first sign of frost. The guy who had it before me got so frustrated with the fuel injection that he yanked it off and replaced it with a weber carb. The carb would come apart due to the heating and cooling of dis-similar metals expanding & contracting at different rates. Even red loctite couldn't keep the screws in that friggin POS carb. The best part was when I got stranded in the desert 30 miles from town at 1 am on a rainy Sunday morning. Had to tow the car home. Couldn't figure it out in the dark. Running fine one second then engine shuts down with no warning. Found out later that the German engineers were so concerned with my safety that they built in a switch that shuts the engine down if it's time to check the EGR valve. Thank God, I might have accidently released an unburned hydrocarbon or two into the atmosphere. Instead, I got to take a nice 10 mile walk in the rain in the middle of the night after working a double shift before a car came by and gave me a ride into town. Then I missed the next day at work towing the car home and working on it until I found that little unmarked button on the firewall that lets the car run again. You can keep your european masterpieces.

Next year the Small Block Chevy engine will be 50 years old! It's still going strong. The Ford flathead V8 lasted from 1932 to 1953. Even longer overseas. The Model A flathead 4 that came out in 1928 with improved oiling and bearings was still taking thousands of GIs into combat in WWII Jeeps. I was still driving an origional 31 as my only driver 3 years ago and it's running fine for the guy I sold it to. THAT'S ENGINEERING! How many French or Italian engines fare that well. And how many of them can be rebuilt or even tuned by the average guy in his driveway. Most of them barely live longer than the loans to buy them.

 

Sailor, if you read my post again you will see that I am well aware that the SM had a Maserati Engine...
Having been a mechanic in Holland for a number of years, I got to work on British, Scandinavian, American, Italian, German and French cars.
After that, there is nothing you can say to convince me that French cars are not pieces of shit.
Thats why I said that the only part I liked about that car ( the SM ) was the Italian engine...

The French make great Wine and terrible Cars.
Maybe those 2 things are not unrelated...

 

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oh jeez 60s style, you need to change your tag line...

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thanks Gracie,

'shoulda used spellcheck

Paul

 

Metalshapes, check out the World Rally Championship, probably the toughest testingground for any manufacturer, the Frogs are doing pretty well in there, and while I'm no fan of Euro cars WRC is awsome, for some reason rally has never been bin in the U.S.
As for the earlier Flathead comments Henry was too stuborn to see the writing on the wall as per usual, you want longevity/reliability/rebuildability etc check out the VW Boxer.....

 

55Olds,yes they are doing well there,
They also built some impressive Group B cars some time ago and Matra Le Mans cars were awsome too.
but comparing those to a Citroen is like comparing a Raynard or a Lola to a Morris.
There was one exellent French brand of cars and that was Bugatti.
Ettore Bugatti truly was an artist and one hell of a designer.
He also was Italian....

 

Yeah, let's see, VW boxer engineered in the late 30's, just went out of production in 2003, been used in everything from military vehicles, industrial use, airplanes, etc.

 

If in doubt check out http://www.wrc.com/en_GB/default.htm
?? why the hell am I defending the French !! after all they have done for us........

 

I usta work for a guy who bought one of those Citroen SMs new. He rotated driving it between it and his new Excalibur and his Bentley.
That was just to show what kind of person bought them new here in Hollyweird/New Babylon California.

 

AH Yugo, Le Car.. Not much of a difference. Sorry, hope I am not stepping on toes of any big Yugo fans.. I guess it had been awhile since I have seen that movie.

Big, Dumb, Stupid looking...

 

Katzenhammer; the 2CV is about the only Citroen (apart from Visa and AX) that doesnt have hydraulics, so Im a little curious on that design presentation...

 

Ha ha ha !! ah shit Sailor, I am striking out on every post except the Charlie Brown joke on this topic!! Hmm I thought it was the 2cv. It has been awhile since high school. Ah well okay it may have been the one that followed. I Have a pic of it and now that I look at it I can see that it ain't no 2cv.. Ooops my bad. I knew I shouldn't have smoked that crack.

People do not listen to my knowledge of Citroens, Le Cars, Dragnet, and Yugos!!!!

 

It sure aint. Thats a DS / ID. I dig those too..

That little bolt over on the rearquarter near the taillights removes the whole damn rearquarter btw. No fenderskirts here..

 

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I usta work for a guy who bought one of those Citroen SMs new. He rotated driving it between it and his new Excalibur and his Bentley.

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Now Excaliburs are really fugly!

 

I knew Sailor would be jumping on this tread!
And Sailor, I guess you know that Gene Winfield did build a Citroen based car: The Reactor. On a ID-19 chassis with Corvair power and an one-off aluminum body...

 

French cars... No thanks..!

 

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Now Excaliburs are really fugly!

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First generation with cycle fenders and not those way too ostentatious fenders and running boards, side mounts and back seat were kinda cool. but the market group that had the money to buy a"factory hotrod" Studebaker-chassis roadster wanted all the bells and glitter.
Too bad.
It started out fairly clean and mean.

 

DrJ: If Compared to the car it cloned, the Mercedes SSK, the Brooks Stevens designed Excalibur dont make it good...
But without the comparasion the Ser I is neat car, much better than many later "copy cars"!


Excalibur Series I
Mercedes SSK

 

Talking about odd-jobs...
How about Vigil Exners spin off for a reborn Mercer?
Looks like a much customized early Valiant (Exner designed).



Head lights flip out...

 

Calling this car "fuggly" is short-sighted.

As a kid, I assumed all cars in the future would look similar.

Except I thought they would be hovercars.

 

OK, can somebody post a pic of a Volkswagen powered Bugatti kit car to make this thread complete?

 

Gene Winfields Reactor.

 

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Gene Winfields Reactor.

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It's on a Citroen chassis with a Corvair engine, and he ws driving it around the streets of Long Beach when he was here to do that Chevy custom with Hines and Dean for Monster Garage.

 

Excuse me DrJ!! What does Citroen translate to in english??

Better?

 

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what does Citroen mean in english??

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Same thing it does in French...

 

Citroen means Lemon in Dutch...
Thats not a joke, Look it up...