Citroens around France

[Citroenmad]

I had a holiday over in France for two weeks, two weeks ago.

One thing i love doing on french holidays is spotting all of the rarer Citroens. So i thought id include a few pictures of the more interesting ones i came across on my travels.

We will start with the Activas, of which i saw many, but i was mainly drooling over the HDis, id love an Activa HDi as my daily driver.

I assume this was a 2.0T as it didnt have any engine badges, only Activa


This was a HDi Activa



I also saw a very nice HDi Activa in the dark grey colour, stunning condition too, but i didnt have my camera on me.

Really like this colour in the Xantias, shame we didnt get it.


There are still loads of Xms in France, which is nice to see, here are just a couple.

This one had over 350,000 kilometres


This was a very nice 2.5TD S2 ...

Just a shame about its front strut!


We came across a few old garages, one of which specialised in repairing 2cvs, although repairs might not be the right word as many of them were slowly sinking into the ground and crumbling away. They had this BX Sport in, dont think we got these in the UK?

BX 4X4

And this was for sale:


This was very nice and rare. I had just popped out to the supermarket and spotted it, so I raced back to the house and got back with the camera before it went. Very nice:


Very very few Ami6 cars on the roads but we did see a couple, mainly ones which had sat around for years:

But there were two we saw which were road going, a very nice saloon:

And this perfect estate, which we followed out of Rochfort:


We stopped in at LeMans on the return trip:


I had never seen one of these before, well only in pictures, a very rare prototype with the wankel engine and hydraulics:


Of course it wouldnt be complete without a picture of my car, would it:


There were a few Cxs about, but very very few, i saw quite a few Dss in fields and gardens being lost to the surroundings but only one road going one. There were quite a few C6s actually, always nice to see 8)

Its amasing to see the cars which have been left for years, they look dirty and have sunk into the ground but have very very little rust, if that was this counrty i doubt much would be left of them. This is probably a big reason why there are still so many 2cvs, Meharis, Renault 4s (there are so so so many of those, also another car i really like to look at), Renault 6s etc around over there, because they dont rust away like cars do over here.

Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Chris.

[andmcit]

Great pics Chris! That's a very early GS - did you find out the price!@!?

Don't be afraid to post more - I love seeing them and the French countryside
and sunshine...

damn I really want to go driving there!! Like NOW.

Andrew

[CitroJim]

Oh wow Thanks Chris, a real treat for all us lovers of the double chevron.

I agree, shame we only ever had the 2.0TCT Activa here The 2.1TD and HDi versions would have sold like hot cakes...


That was a very unusual booted 2CV...

[myglaren]

Interesting parking solution

I trust the holiday was enjoyable. Nice pics anyway.
How did the C5 perform?

[andmcit]

If I could get all mine stacked like that, I'd get a whole lot more in dry
storage; I've got the height too!!

Andrew

[Citroenmad]

I was in two minds weather i should post any, glad i have

The GS looked a bit worse for wear but again no rot. I didnt get the price, unfortunately it was that time of day in France where everyone dissapears for the height of the heat and just the tourists are left scorching

Its only the second time ive driven there myself, its an expereince until you get used to it and start driving like the french do! Doing good motorway speeds down the outside lane of their 130kph motorways with a frenchman in a clio about a metre from the back bumper with flashing lights takes some ignoring at first It would seem everything in France goes at a snails pace, everything other than how people drive that is. Really enjoyable holiday, i wish i was still there. Mind, id miss out that bit around Paris - never again!

Ill post some more pictures up if you wish Andrew

Jim, i cant actually remember seeing any S1 Activas, all were S2 cars. I kept saying it like to import a HDi, but im not sure if i could live with the steering wheel on the wrong side...

It was a very rare option i think, the boot seemed to have quite a bit of bodge in it - probably as a result of a parking knock, bumpers are just that over there and they seem to be used often The front tyre looked as old as the car too, you can just a say make out the huge hole in the tread in that picture.

Excellent place, ive been there many times but i wouldnt mind moving there.

[Citroenmad]

Interesting parking solution

I trust the holiday was enjoyable. Nice pics anyway.
How did the C5 perform?

That was the actual car/exhibit from the motorshow in 1964 if i remember rightly. It has no wheels just a solid smooth floor, it does still have its interior though.

The C5 was faultless, I did 3000 miles over the 16 days holiday, very effortless and economical - i think it averaged about 44MPG. Not bas as most of the time the cruise was set to 80 on the way to and from and then a lot of pottering about the small villages. If you notice it has the estates wheels on, as my michies would probably have been bald by the time we got home.

We went on via the euro tunnel but came back by the overnight ferry. I much prefer the tunnel but it would have been quite a bit further to drive to end up where we wanted.

We stopped in at the Brooklands museum and Mercedes world which is next door, on the journey home. We Also stopped in at friends and family in france and the UK on the trip, so yes, all in it was a very good holiday thanks

[lexi]

Very nice. Ami is so cool. Good when the car performs well on a trip like that.

[Xantic]

Great photos, I was also in France this week for a brief visit but never saw anything good to take photos of..

Post some more if you have them. Glad you had a good holiday.

Russ..

[Citroenmad]

Here are a few more car pictures, nice to see people appreciating them







There are many of these R4s around, more than 2Cvs id say. We had one until two years ago, a very nice earlier car with a very rare sunroof option, ours had a huge foldback soft top, just like a 2cv. This one was one of the best we saw:


I have loads of pictures, but thats all for tonight

Chris.

[citroenesque]

Brilliant. It what makes visiting this forum worthwhile; Thanks for sharing the pics (and memories) with us.

Rather obliquely, I like the Citroen bunting in the pic with the 2CV and Ami

[Ross_K]

Wow. that BX could do with a T-Cut.

Nice photos, can't wait to see some more...

Oh yeah, that shade of blue you like on the Xantia is Bleu Lucia.

[red_dwarfers]

Fantastic pictures

[Featch]

I was in two minds weather i should post any, glad i have

Too right..!!! Brilliant atmospheric French scenes. So brilliant even my wife was impressed. They've taken me right back to my days of living in the Vendée.

Driving in France is quite an experience, especially the Périphérique on a motorbike in the snow .

So. Any more then? Keep them coming!

Andy

[myglaren]

I was in two minds weather i should post any, glad i have

Too right..!!! Brilliant atmospheric French scenes. So brilliant even my wife was impressed. They've taken me right back to my days of living in the Vendée.

Driving in France is quite an experience, especially the Périphérique on a motorbike in the snow .

So. Any more then? Keep them coming!

Andy

Périphérique - what a lovely word, so descriptive and so much prettier than ring road.

ETA: the Ghostriders run on the Périphérique (part 1)
Part 2
Nutter!