Citroen Spotting!

citroenxm · Post by **citroenxm** » 09 Aug 2010, 12:59

Went for a drive on Sunday in my neck of the woods, and stumbled across a couple of surprise's, the first Citroen was an XM 2.5 TD Hatch, S2 M regthe first non Citroen, was a Brown M reg Triumph 2000, but the second Citroen surprise was a Navy Blue SM LHD refuelling... that did suprise me.. The SM looked very tidy indeed.. didn't get chance to stop and talk unfortunally..

then the 3rd Citroen was a Blue BX Hatch! All in one day...

Should of taken the XM and felt at home..

OH, and on the way home, a W reg Xantia being towed with the Rear on the Floor....

Paul

Post by **Peter.N.** » 09 Aug 2010, 14:07

They must all be in north Wales Paul

Citroenmad · Post by **Citroenmad** » 09 Aug 2010, 16:47

Wow, thats quite a collection of cars to see, especially the SM, ive never seen one on the road apart from going to Citroen events. A rare sight. I did spot one in a disused garage a coupe of years ago in scotland though.

I took the Xm out for a drive this afternoon, the only Citroen i spotted was a late S1 Xantia in maroon with colour coded bumpers. Looked very smart. But apart from that, nothing of interest. It started pouring down so i headed home

Post by **CitroJim** » 09 Aug 2010, 17:27

Citroenmad wrote:Wow, thats quite a collection of cars to see, especially the SM, ive never seen one on the road apart from going to Citroen events.

I did once. going around a roundabout in Milton Keynes. Very near crashed the car in shock!

My girls were with me. I fairly shouted "Girls, girls! Look!!! an SM!!!!!!"

I see nothing of interest around here unless you consider a car with a 10 plate to be interesting

Seems every other car around this way is brand-new. No sign of a recession here it seems.

Saw a brand new car the other day (on the obligatory 10 plate) and I hadn't a clue what it was. I had to look it up on the web. Turned out it was a Perdita Mivi or some such object that comes from some obscure part of the far east and costs about 50 pence. Looks a bit like an old Kia Picanto and that says it all...

About as interesting, as most cars hereabouts are, as a dose of 'flu.

I hear the Isle of Wight is a paradise for the older car. There was a short piece about it in a recent Practical Classics

falling-out-with-my-car · Post by **falling-out-with-my-car** » 09 Aug 2010, 17:44

I think the only oldish citroen round here is my dads x-reg GSA plenty of other make old motors though, one of my neighbours has a Rover vitesse with a 6 cylinder lump in it and a Mk1 Jag, not to far from here is a granada diesel an old boxy shaped one, he has the bonnet up nearly every day.

Citroenmad · Post by **Citroenmad** » 09 Aug 2010, 17:48

Ah, the perodua Myvi hey, well thats certainly an interesting one ...

Its the same car as the Daihatsu Chrade, which was the first, then it became the Perodua Myvi and its also a Subaru Justy .... you didnt think it was that intersting did you Jim!

(whats really sad is i knew that, ive not looked it up

)

Anyway ....

Its always nice to see somehting a little out of the ordinary, and as good as some of these 10 reg cars are, they are everywhere. There are some very nice new cars and i see why people like having a new car as they do provide almost hassle free motoring, however i cant understand people who get a new car just to have the latest number on the registration. Maybe at some time in the future interests will change and people will enjoy seeing the cars of today in 30-40 years time. Im not sure ... will they even be around?

There is a lovely 1970s Jag XJ parked just up the road from me at the moment. A 6L in green, a very nice sight. No doubt someone parked to see the tall ships which are in town.

There is a DS and light 15 not too far from here which i see very rarely.

Some old cars can be very boring though, i think everyone has seen enough Minors and MGBs to last a lifetime!

Around here there are many new cars, most cars i would say are on the new style or reg (51 reg onwards) and a great deal of cars are under 3. Old cars are not often seen, even cars of 15 years or so are very rare sights. Maybe its to do with me living right on the coast, im not sure.

The only other Xm i see around here now is a T plate VSX which we used to own. There are 4-5 Xantias i see on a regular basis.

Post by **CitroJim** » 09 Aug 2010, 18:04

Thanks Chris, now that is interesting on the Myvi so maybe if it has Daihatsu genes (always thought Daihatsu was a Welsh car!) then it may be OK...

I lie terribly, there are some very interesting cars in my immediate vicinity here. Just three doors up is a concours Escort RS Turbo that lives with a equally tidy Glanza and then a few more doors up is a genuinely very concours Model T.

Rather less then concours and unlikely to turn a wheel again and just a little further up is a Ginetta and Lancia Delta HF Turbo slowly being consumed by Buddlihia and other nameless but rampant vegetation. A real crying shame.

There was a little classic car show at our Carnival last month and there was some lovely stuff gathered, mostly on the unusual side and all local. It's amazing what hides behind innocent looking suburban garage doors! Sadly no real classic Citroens hereabouts.

Chris, couldn't agree more about Minors and MGBs... I love to see the rarer and more unusual stuff; that's why I enjoyed the Heritage centre so much at the National.

Citroening · Post by **Citroening** » 09 Aug 2010, 18:25

Citroenmad wrote: MGBs to last a lifetime!

How about our MGB V8 'Lenham' then!

It's 1 of just 23 conversions by Lenham Sports Cars. They did not just want to perform another V8 engine conversion on a roadster but wanted to make it a proper 2+2 so performed the conversions on a GT model.

The MG B V8s have a very addictive noise!

Post by **CitroJim** » 09 Aug 2010, 18:29

Citroening wrote:
Citroenmad wrote: MGBs to last a lifetime!
How about our MGB V8 'Lenham' then!

Ahh, now that's something quite different

In my book it qualifies on the folowing:

It has a Vee engine, it's rare and it's interestingly different!

Thanks for posting that up, brilliant

Citroening · Post by **Citroening** » 09 Aug 2010, 18:32

No probs Jim...there's quite a lot of rare and interesting vehicles in the barn!

Citroenmad · Post by **Citroenmad** » 09 Aug 2010, 18:35

Well im not sure if the Myvi is really interesting ... however the fact that its probably well built and that they have Toyota engines probably makes them an ok little car, certainly should be reliable. And that is all a lot of people want from their cars.

A Model T Ford, well thats not something you ever see. I had a ride in a pickup version at a History museum, a bit like Beamish but down South somewhere. The driver was explaining to me what pedals did what, it does sound quite confusing.

We used to have a NSU living in our road, im not sure what model but it was quite a big sleek looking saloon. I was horrified a few months ago when walking the dogs past the house where it used to live to see a huge pile of maroon metal at the end of their drive. The NSU had been chopped up into almost unrecognisable small pieces awating the collection of the scrap man.

There is a very smart white TR6 lives in our road and a green minor. Just down the road is a MGB being taken over by shrubbery in a driveway. Thats about as interesting as it gets around here

Oddly enough, there are more Citroens near to where i live than any other car make. Our obsession must be rubbing off on the neighbours!

Well yes, a V8 MGB is slightly more interesting, its a lovely engine, though its looks dont do much for me. Can you not fit chrome bumpers

Citroening · Post by **Citroening** » 09 Aug 2010, 18:46

Citroenmad wrote:Well yes, a V8 MGB is slightly more interesting, its a lovely engine, though its looks dont do much for me. Can you not fit chrome bumpers

Admittedly Lenham should have converted it to Chrome bumpers...it is possible but C'est la Vie!

We've had about 4/5 V8s but I can only find these pics:

THELABMAN · Post by **THELABMAN** » 09 Aug 2010, 18:47

Where I stay in Newarthill there was a Citroen main dealer just down the road so Citroens where 10 a penny, mainly Xantia, ZX , Saxo and AX.

We had up to about a year ago 5 Xantia in our immediate area and a similar number in Motherwell now apart from one silver "W" plate HDI and my "T" Sensation 1.9 TD there is nothing in our area and I can't remember the last time I seen one in Motherwell.

falling-out-with-my-car · Post by **falling-out-with-my-car** » 09 Aug 2010, 19:56

thats odd my mate came up for a bit of a holiday a couple of years back and bought himself a new Perouda Myvi automatic. in gloss black it even had a walnut dash.

we were told by the dealer that it has a mitsibusushi engine in it assembled by toyota UK.

I test drove the 1.6 manual and to be honest I was quite impressed a nippy little motor even with four people in it. there arn't many new motors that will seat four six foot occupants easily.

I spent about half an hour underneath a new one in the showroom inspecting how it was put together the rear end looked a bit lite and god knows how you fit a towbar to one of these because it has no rear chassis as such.
overall very quick depreciation but cheap and cheerful, I want one of these two grand cars built by Tata but I suppose they will never be claimed safe enough for sale in europe, I would tow it behind my xantia.

addo · Post by **addo** » 10 Aug 2010, 00:07

You almost see more Dees in Sydney traffic than SMs!

Old cars are far more common here.

My fleet includes a 1963 International SWB truck and a mothballed '64 Spitfire in race trim, that I "babysit".