08 April, 2011

Gallic bred

Spotted parked at work the other day. Like most petrolheads I like an older Citroën, particularly a CX cos we had one when I was a nipper; but just generally, they were distinctive, classy, most of all different. No other marque said vive la différence so consistently as Citroën. Weird-ass hydraulic suspension and brakes... cars that floated up when you started them up, umbrella handle gearshifts, single spoke steering wheels, steering lights, sharp styling the list just goes on and on.

That said whilst my first reaction to seeing this was WANT! it only took a seconds consideration to realise that a Citroën from the glory days in this condition should provoke only one reaction no matter how Bruce it looks: Run. Run like the fucking wind. A 2CV may very well be repairable by a farmer with a screwdriver, a CX on the other hand needs an owner with a Masters in plumbing and electronics. Still want though...




It's a shame that homogenisation in the car industry has seen most of Citroën's design flair submerged to such an extent that their products could be interchangeable with Peugeot, Renault, or god forbid Ford or Vauxhall these days.

French designer Ora-Ito has just designed a UFO inspired by the classic Citroën design language of the DS. I like it. It shows that there are certain distinct styling cues that are Citroën without having to fall back on a 'retro' car design, they should totally apply this to their cars.



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01 April, 2011

lovely work



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