In the desert, the large metal head of the singer Grace
Jones rises from the horizon. Twisting right, its mouth opens, and a car speeds
out across the sand, before screeching to a halt. We glimpse the driver, but
the car screeches away. We see the driver again: it is Jones herself. “Yeah,”
she sings. Once more, a tone higher, “Yeah!!” Higher still: “Yeahhh!!!” Under
the car, a caption appears: “Nouvelle CX2.” The car speeds back into the
mothership’s mouth, which twists back, hiccups – a hand covers the mouth from
the after-effects of eating the car – and the head moves back down.
When this advertisement appeared in 1986, the Citroën
CX had already been on sale for twelve years, and will be for another five, but
the refresh completed on the car was designed to reinforce its image as one of
the most distinctive and unique cars on the road, alongside the 2CV [link]. It was a company car, a
family car, a grand tourer, and the limousine for a number of heads of state,
from Jacques Chirac to Nikolai Ceausescu. Grace Jones was seen to be driving
it, but Grace Kelly also drove it in real life.
However, it was amazing anyone really got the change to buy
one, let alone drive it. In 1974, when the CX was going on sale, Citroën
were being rescued from bankruptcy: under the direction of the French
government, Peugeot started buying shares in the company, before taking full
control in 1976, creating PSA Peugeot Citroën. The cars would continue,
but later sharing of parts and design with Peugeot diluted what made Citroën
different for many years, until its recent resurgence with the C3, C4 Cactus,
and the DS line. The CX is considered to be the final “real Citroën.”
What makes it special? The CX replaced the DS, the
goddess-like (“déesse”) space-age saloon, itself on sale for twenty-years.
The CX updated the DS’s design with sleeker, lower lines, achieving a low drag
co-efficient (usually written as Cx), and influencing later cars
like the Rover SD1, Ford Sierra [link] and even the current Audi A5, which is
even the same length as the CX. It updated the hydragas suspension from the DS,
giving each wheel its own sub-frame to eliminate practically all bumps on the
road – the estate model was used to film horse racing, matching speed with a
stability of picture that matches what Steadicam would achieve later. This
suspension would later be licensed by Rolls-Royce to use on its own cars. Power
steering was also standard, but that was because two-thirds of the car’s weight
was over the front wheels.
Inside, the dashboard was more reminiscent of a spaceship,
presenting the driver with an array of buttons and levels, instead of the usual
dials and control stalks. The driver had control of raising and lowering the
suspension – there is little that is cooler than seeing a car rise up before it
drives away – but they also had to turn the indicator lights off after they
made their turn. These two abilities were enough to ban them from being sold in
the US, where they were required to be automatic. These regulations have
changed since, but at a time where you couldn’t even make the headlights
aerodynamic to fit flush with the lines of the car, the CX was restricted to
private imports.
Despite all the engineering packed into it, the bankruptcy
of Citroën
remained the key problem for the CX throughout its time on sale. The CX was
meant to have a rotary engine inside, instead of a regular piston engine, but
that project was cancelled before it could appear. The company was short of
cash, but it bought Maserati, and co-developed the SM coupé,
the lessons of which would be included in the CX – Maserati was sold in 1975,
after the Italian government stepped in to stop Citroën from liquidating the
company.

The last CX was made in 1991, and we can now look at it without
the problems that blighted its production. Fortunately, many other car makers
have too, influencing their designs to this day, and in projecting the image Citroën
strives to meet today. Having said that, my father once hired a Citroën C4
Cactus, and for all the touch-screen controls, having rear windows that could
wind down would have been nice.
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