After yesterday’s DS5 used by François Hollande, here’s a car that corresponds much more closely to most people’s notion of a presidential Citroën. This 1968 DS-based limousine by Chapron was commissioned under Charles de Gaulle but mainly used by his successor Georges Pompidou. Photo from a visit to Citroën’s Conservatoire in 2012.
They've got an SM which I don't normally like the look of but it's in a really nice blue.
https://www.ddclassics.com/used/cars/citroen/sm/automatic-3-litre-261
@serichards @craigmorgan @davidwilkins I have a sort of love/hate of the SM.
I love the hydropneumatic self-leveling suspension, the Diravi steering with “monobranche” wheel, the oval dashboard instrumentation, the brake “mushroom” pedal, the fact that it is a big 2 door GT tourer, the enclosed front lights with corner illumination.
The overall shape I find somewhat underwhelming, and as a Citroën enthusiast, this is very troubling.
@adrianco @ZeKik @serichards @davidwilkins makes perfect sense, there's still one or two specialists here in UK. I think sadly this is the fate of many of the more niche specialists, lack of new "apprenticed" workers/owners and small volumes are the death-knell for many, only the larger volume (ie. Porsche/Jaguar) or higher value (Ferrari/Lamb. etc) attract investment.
Lets celebrate and support the odd-ball specialists that are solo keeping some of the greatest old metal operational …
@craigmorgan @adrianco @serichards @davidwilkins probably varies by country. In France, they could be around for a while yet.
OEM manufacturer restomod is also becoming a bit of a thing, which might spread to other marques. The restored cars are very expensive though.
@adrianco @craigmorgan @serichards @davidwilkins Lon Price should find a young French mechanic who would love to immigrate to the 🇺🇸!
In the 🇺🇸, it certainly seems difficult to own a Citroën or a Peugeot.
It’s also hard for 🇺🇸 enthusiasts to understand the cars. They are never particularly powerful or fast, because the French registration tax has always discouraged those (the infamous “chevaux fiscaux” or “tax horsepower”, hence the 2CV).
@adrianco @craigmorgan @serichards @davidwilkins I sort of forgot that the Bugatti Veyron and Chiron are French owned W16’s built in Alsace.
Bugatti itself is still French AFAIK, although I would expect they don’t even sell half a dozen cars in the country per year.
Owned by parent company VAG until recently. Now a subsidiary of Porsche 🇩🇪 and Rimac of Croatia 🇭🇷.
David Wilkins
Craig Morgan
Suzy Richards
💐 🏖 🌺 𝕂𝕚𝕂𝕚
Adrian Cockcroft