Frankly, the last true Citroën (and I know this is going to sound a bit snooty) was the Xantia Activa. The C6 was supposed to truly harken back to the Citroën of old, but it fell short on so many levels: only hydro-pneumatic suspension (brakes and steering were conventional), too little leg room in the back, no frontier engineering, etc.
While the Xantia itself wasn't any particular standout in Citroën's history, its Activa variant felt like the Citroën engineers had finally broken through the Peugeot penny-pinchers. At least one last time. Citroën used to be about pushing unconventional engineering (like front-wheel drive (Traction-Avant), unibody (ditto), hydro-pneumatic suspension (DS), self-adjusting headlights (SM), active self-adjusting steering (CX), anti-roll (Activa)); the Metropolis - by contrast - just seems like a styling exercise with some conventional (though uncommon at the time) engineering.
Citroën used to push the frontiers of car manufacturing, but haven't done that since the 1990s.
Disclaimer: I own two classic Citroëns, so I'm likely a bit biased.
6 comments
[ 2.5 ms ] story [ 20.4 ms ] threadWhile the Xantia itself wasn't any particular standout in Citroën's history, its Activa variant felt like the Citroën engineers had finally broken through the Peugeot penny-pinchers. At least one last time. Citroën used to be about pushing unconventional engineering (like front-wheel drive (Traction-Avant), unibody (ditto), hydro-pneumatic suspension (DS), self-adjusting headlights (SM), active self-adjusting steering (CX), anti-roll (Activa)); the Metropolis - by contrast - just seems like a styling exercise with some conventional (though uncommon at the time) engineering.
Citroën used to push the frontiers of car manufacturing, but haven't done that since the 1990s.
Disclaimer: I own two classic Citroëns, so I'm likely a bit biased.