BS: French Cars!!!

Subject: BS: French Cars!!!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 11 Jan 13 - 01:11 PM

Never mind those sodding little boxy British automobiles. Let's take a short trip across the Channel and have a look at THE most sophisticated and stylish cars in the history of the world: The cars of la Belle France!

Leading the pack, redolant with artistic panache and Gallic grandeur is....(drum roll)

The incomparable Citroen!!!!!!!!

De Gaulle was normally chauffered around in these cars, so you know they had to be only the very best.

Subject: RE: BS: French Cars!!!
From: Newport Boy
Date: 11 Jan 13 - 01:27 PM

Well - sophisticated and stylish?

Mine was red.

From my post in the British Cars thread:

The most fun was a Citroen 2CV in which I did 60,000 miles in 3 years. It worked well as a site vehicle in the earthworks stage of the M4 - kept up with the foreman's land rover. I can also vouch for Citroen's advertised "70mph maximum, 70mph cruising", if cruising is the right word. With 4 adults into a strong headwind on the M4, I held the throttle hard against the floor from Almondsbury to Heston Services on the M4 - 100 miles flat out. Downhill, it just reached 72, uphill it slowed to below 60. I can also confirm that the 2CV will go all round a roundabout on 3 wheels!

Subject: RE: BS: French Cars!!!
From: pdq
Date: 11 Jan 13 - 01:33 PM

If you want to know what Citroën used as a model...

                                                                     
                                                                                    Citroën (car)


                                                                                    leafhopper (Homoptera)

Subject: RE: BS: French Cars!!!
From: bobad
Date: 11 Jan 13 - 01:37 PM

As Tom and Ray Magliozzi (aka Click and Clack the Tappet brothers) of Car Talk fame are fond of saying when it comes to French made cars, "the French copy no one and no one copies the French."

Subject: RE: BS: French Cars!!!
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 11 Jan 13 - 01:39 PM

To ascertain the accuracy of your statement LH.. one has to consult "Car Which" which gives Peugot as being the most 'off the road for repairs' car.... citroen also has a poor record for being 'off the road' Renault is the least 'off the road' of the French automobiles. However I have to say that a few friends have owned Citroen 2CV's and enjoyed their motoring in them. Some boast of its carrying capacity when the roof is back....... Never owned one personally so cannot give a personal opinion.

Subject: RE: BS: French Cars!!!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 11 Jan 13 - 01:40 PM

Yes! Are they not gorgeous? The Citroen was certainly inspired by the leafhopper, but it further refined the basic concept, achieving that certain je ne sais quois which sets it apart from all other makes.

Subject: RE: BS: French Cars!!!
From: frogprince
Date: 11 Jan 13 - 01:46 PM

But I understand that those French cars can really take a licking...

Subject: RE: BS: French Cars!!!
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 11 Jan 13 - 02:01 PM

I' glad someone started this:-) My Renault 6 (Yes, 6, not 4 or 5) was a stunning piece of automotive engineering. Slight gust of wind would set it bouncing. The door used to fly open for no apparent reason and the gear stick that came out of the dashboard was attached to the gearstick that came out of the gearbox on the front axle by a piece of what looked like meccano! Made getting the right gear a bit like an arcade game :-)

DtG

Subject: RE: BS: French Cars!!!
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 11 Jan 13 - 02:59 PM

Citroen SM was always a dream car for me. However, the only Citroen I owned was an Ami 6 Estate. Basically an upmarket 2CV, but what a remarkable car it was.

Subject: RE: BS: French Cars!!!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 11 Jan 13 - 03:29 PM

It has a very neat design, probably one of the most aerodynamic cars of its time.

Subject: RE: BS: French Cars!!!
From: Ed T
Date: 11 Jan 13 - 03:34 PM

Did they have a sound that said "I fart in your general direction, you filthy English person".

Subject: RE: BS: French Cars!!!
From: gnomad
Date: 11 Jan 13 - 04:06 PM

I had a 2CV for a while in the early 80s. A good fun car and it did have a remarkable load-bearing capacity. The one time I had 4 adults and one child in it it was not that much slower (and handled better) than when lightly loaded.

For a mere 602cc the engine did a pretty good job, though nobody could call it fast, and cross winds made steering more like a sailing dinghy than a car.

It was a good car for festivals: decent ground clearance and low gearing made it better than many for wet, uneven grass, and you could easily take out a seat or two to use in the tent. Leaving the back seats out gave quite a practical small van, capable of carrying a modest piece of furniture, or big enough to sleep in if required.

Subject: RE: BS: French Cars!!!
From: Bobert
Date: 11 Jan 13 - 06:30 PM

The worlds worst cars have one thing in common... They were born in some French guy's head...

The Peugeot, i.e. PigRot, has to be the 2nd worst car ever behind the Yugo... The Renault Delphine was junk right off the end of the assemble line...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: French Cars!!!
From: GUEST,Jack Sprocket
Date: 11 Jan 13 - 07:09 PM

Dauphine mon ami. Quatre etait une autre histoire.

But the Citroen Ami - oolalala wee wee...

They did a version of this with a Wankel engine, that maxed out at 150mph, if you were lucky enough to survive.

Subject: RE: BS: French Cars!!!
From: kendall
Date: 11 Jan 13 - 07:25 PM

That fancy one at the top of the page, I rode in a friends car and it rode with the best Didn't Jaguar make one that looked similar? That film, Harold & Maude, Harold had one that he turned into a hearse.

Subject: RE: BS: French Cars!!!
From: pdq
Date: 11 Jan 13 - 07:47 PM

This is so ugly, I can't see where the makers put their name on it...

                                                                                    but you only need to but three tires

Subject: RE: BS: French Cars!!!
From: Bobert
Date: 11 Jan 13 - 07:54 PM

Wait!!!

There is another P.O.S. car I think was French... The Borgworg...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: French Cars!!!
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 11 Jan 13 - 08:58 PM

There aren't really any 'boxy English automobiles" these days. About the only cars put together in England tend to be clever little Japanese models (aside from stuff like Rolls-Royces).

But I drive a Citroen, and the previous car I bought, a long time ago, was a Renault.   I agree about preferring French cars.

Subject: RE: BS: French Cars!!!
From: EBarnacle
Date: 11 Jan 13 - 10:37 PM

I was possessed by two Citroens in the '70s. One was a silver DS21, the other was a lime green ID 19. Both were excellent cars, capable of high speeds with a full load of passengers aboard. They were quintessential GT cars, in the original sense, capable of touring in style and being classy at the same time. They both gave 25 mpg with that same full load aboard. Would that I had them again.

Both vehicles were a result of my selling Cits and SAABs at my local dealership. Top Cit salesman in the US for '71 and 72.

Subject: RE: BS: French Cars!!!
From: GUEST,Jon Dudley
Date: 12 Jan 13 - 02:36 AM

Despite being a devoteee (via their podcasts) of Click and Clack the tappet brothers, I fear that in their amusing quote about nobody copying the French automobile, they are somewhat wide of the mark. Citroen, with their pioneering adoption of front wheel drive and Peugeot's engine design from pre WW1 days are but two examples. The French, because of their pioneering work in aviation were also early to realise the importance of streamlining in automobiles. I would dearly love both a Citroen DS and a 2cv, and up until recently ran a 1950 'Traction'...they're designed to be thrashed up and down the autoroutes of France and from my experience, despite being 'characterful' they perform the task admirably. We Brits, in the form of the Riley motor car company, had to call in a Citroen engineer to sort out the suspension of the post-war RME models!

Subject: RE: BS: French Cars!!!
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 12 Jan 13 - 03:35 AM

Bobert.. the Borgward was Carl Borgwards' creation... German!.... and it was actually quite a good looking car... especially the estate.

Subject: RE: BS: French Cars!!!
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 12 Jan 13 - 04:17 AM

Yup German

Subject: RE: BS: French Cars!!!
From: Newport Boy
Date: 12 Jan 13 - 06:33 AM

I had one encounter with a Borgward Isabella. Anne & I cycled to Germany in 1957. Shortly after crossing the border from The Netherlands, we were forced to the side of the road by a local bus. I misjudged the surface and steered into 3" of loose gravel. We came off and the front wheel of our tandem was bent into an 'L'. After a while, an Isabella stopped and the British couple (from the UK base at Munchen-Gladbach) transported us to their house, cleaned us up, fed us and found a repairer for the tandem.

The 'transported' was the interesting bit. The tandem, complete with ex-army canvas panniers, was lifted rear-first into the boot of the Isabella and sat there quite comfortably. The Isabella was described as a medium family car, but I can't think of any British car of the period with a boot that could have done that.

Phil

Subject: RE: BS: French Cars!!!
From: Don(Wyziwyg)T
Date: 12 Jan 13 - 08:55 AM

The first minicabs in the UK were the London based "shilling-a-mile" Renault Dauphines.

I was driving a nine month old example, when my right heel went through the floor (which had rusted to metal lace) as I braked. I was halfway round Hammersmith Broadway in four lanes of rush hour traffic, with my foot firmly on the brake and very firmly attached to the floor.

A none too friendly cop removed my foot (which I couldn't reach) from the shoe and we pushed it to the edge of the kerb, whence it proceeded on the back of a truck to the scrap yard.

I came to the conclusion that they were able to run at a shilling a mile because the passengers, with their feet through the floor, were walking to their destination.

Don T.

Subject: RE: BS: French Cars!!!
From: Rapparee
Date: 12 Jan 13 - 09:36 AM

The headlights of the Citroen were dim yellow puddles as they cut through the Parisian fog. I checked for the hundredth time and yes, the silenced Browning was secure in the shoulder holster. We passed one or two pederstrians, black shadows to the side. "I've never come this was before," she said.

"It's the cobblestones," I replied.

Subject: RE: BS: French Cars!!!
From: Edthefolkie
Date: 12 Jan 13 - 12:19 PM

André Citroën at least was a real entepreneur and very aware of developments outside France - which is why his company prospered, at least at first.

He went over to the USA several times and met Henry Ford, and licensed Budd technology - the Citroën B10 was the first all metal car in Europe. All this cost money though, and his penchant for gambling and the development costs of the Traction Avant caused his financial (and personal) downfall. Michelin took the company over and André died, some say of a broken heart.

Thank heavens Michelin persisted with the Traction, and later with the immortal 2CV, it derivatives, and the equally immortal Déesse. Buy a new er, "DS" these days however and it ain't quite comme il faut!

Subject: RE: BS: French Cars!!!
From: Edthefolkie
Date: 12 Jan 13 - 12:25 PM

Oops, I CAN spell entrepeneur, comme ça!

Subject: RE: BS: French Cars!!!
From: Edthefolkie
Date: 12 Jan 13 - 12:26 PM

ENTREPRENEUR, idiot! I need a French keyboard.

Subject: RE: BS: French Cars!!!
From: GUEST,Jack Sprocket
Date: 12 Jan 13 - 05:09 PM

Is it true that the French have no word for "savoir faire"?

Subject: RE: BS: French Cars!!!
From: LadyJean
Date: 12 Jan 13 - 10:48 PM

My parents owned two Citroens when I was growing up, back in the sixties. On the plus side they could handle the hills here in Western Pennsylvania as now American car could in those days. On the minus side, they broke down at the drop of a hat, and were a real pain to get fixed. I think our Citroens are one of the reasons I grew up to be a good walker.

The garage Mom took them to was presided over by a mechanic called El Video. I never met him, but I love the name. Of course Mom might have misheard it.

Subject: RE: BS: French Cars!!!
From: EBarnacle
Date: 12 Jan 13 - 11:16 PM

There were publicity shots of Citroens running on three wheels but I believe I am the only one who did it on a superhighway.

Once, I borrowed a very tired ID 19 from the dealership for a trip to Maine. It had no heater. Fortunately, I picked up a hitchhiker on a Christmas pass from his base down South. He had some white lightnin' with him which we mixed with Coke to keep warm on the run. I really was sad to leave him in Portland.

During the week, I had a flat and changed the tire. On the way home, I had another flat at the intersection of Rte 95 and Rte 91. I pulled to the side and realized I had no spare left. I removed the blown right rear tire and wheel and motored home very carefully.

I love mid-engined cars.