ACTIVA Owner didn't even look !

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Mandrake
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Joined: 10 Apr 2005, 17:23
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Post by Mandrake »

I think its a sign of the times more than anything. Here in New Zealand (where Citroen's are/were relatively rare) it used to be common practice for Citroen owners to wave or flash lights as they passed, I remember it well, we used to get it all the time in our GS from any other Citroen owner.

Then some time around the early 90's this behaviour declined, and these days I never see another Citroen owner wave at me even if I drive my Dad's CX, let alone my Xantia. :?

I think the reason is quite simple - if you owned a Citroen before the mid 80's or so, you had to be an enthusiast. You really did need to be an enthusiast to buy a DS/GS/CX, and even if you werent to begin with, owning one of them often turned you into an enthusiast.

Also they were visually very distinctive and you were left in no doubt whether the car approaching you was a Citroen or not.

However the BX/XM/Xantia made Citroen's a lot more "accessible" for those that otherwise wouldn't have bought Citroen's, so now you have lots and lots of people driving Xantia's etc around that don't see them any differently to any other car, and aren't enthusiasts. It's just an A to B machine to them. Thus, no recognition between Citroen drivers.

It's not helped by the fact that the BX/Xantia/XM have very "conventional" styling, and therefore don't stand out as much. Unless I'm looking closely I often dont notice an oncoming car is a Xantia until its already passed me - and I own a Xantia !

Don't get me wrong, I like the styling of the Xantia a lot, however I recognise that it's not recognisable as a Citroen to most of the population, and could be mistaken for many other cars at a glance... (Mazda Astina anyone ?.....) and any time I see an oncoming BX I can't help thinking "Ford Telstar" 8)

So I put down the lack of acknowledgement between Citroen drivers to be due simply to the BX/XM/Xantia (well ok, perhaps not the XM) introducing a lot of non-enthusiasts to the Marquee.

Is it a bad thing ? For nostalgia purposes yes, but on the other hand if there werent a lot of new buyers of Citroen's then the Marquee itself would have probably not have survived the 80's and 90's if they'd stayed as they were, and as much as I dislike the BX (styling, build quality, McPherson struts etc) I realise that it may have singlehandedly saved Citroen from going under....

Regards,
Simon
Simon

1997 Xantia S1 3.0 V6 Auto Exclusive in Silex Grey
2016 Nissan Leaf Tekna 30kWh in White

2011 Peugeot Ion Full Electric in Silver
1977 G Special 1129cc LHD
1978 CX 2400
1997 Xantia S1 2.0i Auto VSX
1998 Xantia S2 3.0 V6 Auto Exclusive
adamskibx
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Post by adamskibx »

Ive been waved at by fellow BX owners sometimes and obviously by 99% of 2cv drivers when I had my Dyane which was funny. I think its just one of those very English things- Classic car drivers tend to wave at people with similar cars to compliment their good taste and reasure their own. Ive heard that NSU Ro80 drivers hold up a certain number of fingers to say how many engines they have got through:-)
BX GT (non functioning)
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