{"id":9192,"date":"2021-01-08T14:01:30","date_gmt":"2021-01-08T13:01:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/?p=9192"},"modified":"2021-01-08T14:01:30","modified_gmt":"2021-01-08T13:01:30","slug":"citroen-innovations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/2021\/01\/08\/citroen-innovations\/","title":{"rendered":"The CAR Top 10: great Citroen innovations"},"content":{"rendered":"

For fans of Citroen<\/a>, this event looks like heaven. It\u2019s where a huge number of European car clubs converge to show their best cars, while specialists in the idiosyncratic French marque come along to sell their wares in a packed exhibition hall.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re looking for a rare component to keep your classic Citroen on the road, this is the place to come. The company has never been very good at maintaining parts supplies of its own cars over the years, but thanks to the efforts of enterprising and enthusiastic specialists, a lifeline has been kept open.<\/p>\n

Join us on a whizz-around of the 2018 Citromobile.<\/p>\n

\"Citroen<\/p>\n

There were cars for sale at Citromobile, too \u2013 most at very reasonable prices \u2013 and for a fan, it\u2019s difficult talking yourself out of putting your hand in your pocket with a half-baked plan to drag a hopeless heap home.<\/p>\n

But the show\u2019s jewel in the crown is the car park. Here you\u2019ll see all types of Citroen \u2013 from pre-war Traction Avant to the latest C3 Aircross<\/a> \u2013 all treated as welcome guests, driven in from all over Europe. Owners field questions about the cars they\u2019ve driven to the event, and then spend the rest of the time drooling over other peoples\u2019 cars.<\/p>\n

But rather than deliver a standard show report, we thought we\u2019d instead use the opportunity to highlight 10 of the most interesting and significant innovations from Citroen during its 99-year history, illustrated by some of the finest cars of the show. Enjoy the gallery.<\/p>\n

1) 1934 Citroen Light 15 \u2018Traction Avant\u2019<\/h2>\n

\"Citroen<\/p>\n

Innovations: Front-wheel drive, unibody construction<\/strong><\/p>\n

For people of a certain age, these will be forever known as the \u2018Maigret car\u2019, but the Citroen Light 15 was a technical tour de force<\/em> when launched. It was low-slung in stance, thanks to being of unibody construction (rather than the more typical separate chassis of its rivals), and had front-wheel drive. It wasn\u2019t the first car to feature this by a long chalk, but it certainly popularised FWD decades before many rivals cottoned on.<\/p>\n

2) 1947 Citroen H Van<\/h2>\n

\"Citroen<\/p>\n

Innovations: Van with unibody construction and FWD<\/strong><\/p>\n

It might be the doyen of coffee vendors and makers of artisan snacks these days, but it\u2019s easy to forget that the Citroen H Van was actually a ground-breaking commercial vehicle when launched. Like the Light 15 that it was loosely based upon, the imaginatively-styled H Van featured front-wheel drive and a unibody construction. The net effect of this was to give this compact van a larger load space than all of its rivals.<\/p>\n

3) 1955 Citroen DS<\/h2>\n

\"Citroen<\/p>\n

Innovations: cutting-edge aerodynamics, swivelling headlights, magic carpet ride<\/strong><\/p>\n

Where to start with the DS? Here\u2019s a car that revolutionised the French middle-classes by giving them a car that rode like a presidential limousine, and gave them just as much legroom. Interconnected Hydropneumatic suspension meant a level and astoundingly comfortable ride at all times, but the car\u2019s piece de resistance was its highly aerodynamic lines as penned by Flaminio Bertoni \u2013 its drag coefficient of 0.355 still cuts it today.<\/p>\n

4) 1968 Citroen Mehari<\/h2>\n

\"Citroen<\/p>\n

Innovations: the original front-wheel drive SUV, hose-clean inside and out<\/strong><\/p>\n

Most people would award the Matra-Rancho with this dubious honour, but the Citroen Mehari was launched in 1968, and proved to be a substantial success for the company. Based on the 2CV, with interconnected suspension, and sporting a doorless ABS plastic body, the Mehari was cheap to run, fun to drive, and ideally should never have left the South of France.<\/p>\n

5) 1970 Citroen SM<\/h2>\n

\"Citroen<\/p>\n

Innovations:\u00a0speed-sensitive power steering, six headlights, amazing aero<\/strong><\/p>\n

Where to start with the SM? Powered by a quad-cam V6 built and designed by Maserati, this ground tourer had the same maximum speed as a Jensen Interceptor using the power. Great aerodynamics were the reason for this. In many ways, this car was the template for all modern GTs, featuring speed-sensitive power steering, swivelling headlamps, self-levelling suspension, and the ability to run all day at more than 100mph.<\/p>\n

6) 1973 Citroen GS Birotor<\/h2>\n

\"Citroen<\/p>\n

Innovations: small car, rotary power, a first in manufacturer buy-backs<\/strong><\/p>\n

Okay, so this one failed spectacularly with just 847 made, but this rotary-powered curiosity had a number of interesting technical dead-ends. It shared a Comotor rotary engine with the NSU Ro80, and made the most of a Hydropneumatic suspension system that proved it could work just as well for small cars. Citroen attempted to buy back all of the cars sold, but a few survived to this day, serving to remind us why rotary engines aren\u2019t good in the middle of an energy crisis.<\/p>\n

7) 1982 Citroen BX<\/h2>\n

\"Citroen<\/p>\n

Innovations: extensive use of plastic panels, high-performance diesels, actual reliability<\/strong><\/p>\n

The lightweight Citroen BX was launched under the Eiffel tower on the same week as the Ford Sierra, and went on to become one of the company\u2019s biggest-selling cars. Sold in the UK as the \u2018car that hates garages\u2019, the BX intelligently used Peugeot running gear combined with Hydropneumatic suspension to create a supremely comfortable family car. Its origami styling was once hailed by Audi\u2019s then-design chief as incompetently styled\u2026<\/p>\n

8) 1989 Citroen XM<\/h2>\n

\"Citroen<\/p>\n

Innovations:\u00a0up to 14 windows, computer-controlled suspension<\/strong><\/p>\n

The XM replaced the CX and DS before it, and was named and styled to evoke memories of the gloriously unsuccessful SM. (Glass) sunroof-equipped cars were also available with an additional window behind the back seat, which kept the passengers snug even when the tailgate was opened. It gained computer control for its Hydropneumatic suspension for the first time, stiffening up in corners, and also at rest to stop the car dropping when passengers get in.<\/p>\n

9) 1993 Citroen Xantia<\/h2>\n

\"Citroen<\/p>\n

Innovations:\u00a0(re)active suspension, ability to beat Porsches at the elk test<\/strong><\/p>\n

Okay, so the tidy-looking Xantia didn\u2019t actually get its computer-controlled anti-roll suspension set-up until the arrival of the Activa model in 1995. But when that car arrived, it looked set to revolutionise the way we look at suspension, thank to zero-roll cornering and impressive comfort. Still cited as the fastest volume production car in Sweden\u2019s legendary Elk test, the Xantia Activa\u2019s dynamics are only now being replicated in rivals\u2019 active air-suspension set-ups.<\/p>\n

10) 2006 Citroen C6<\/h2>\n

\"Citroen<\/p>\n

Innovations: fully-active suspension, active headlights, double glazing, head-up display, class-leading depreciation<\/strong><\/p>\n

A number of production cars claimed to have fully active suspension \u2013 not least the Citroen Xantia Activa \u2013 but the C6 managed it with an all new addition to its Hydractive 3+ set-up known as AMVAR. The C6 could adapt to road conditions and driving style thanks to a quartet of computer-controlled variable absorbers that altered damping as well as the suspension stiffness handled by the car\u2019s Hydractive 3+ set-up. Sadly Citroen saw fit not to fit it with the Activa\u2019s zero-roll set-up\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

by Keith Adams<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Source: https:\/\/www.carmagazine.co.uk<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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FLEET MANAGEMENT AUDIT<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For fans of Citroen, this event looks like heaven. It\u2019s where a huge number of European car clubs converge to show their best cars, while specialists in the idiosyncratic French marque come along to sell their wares in a packed exhibition hall. If you\u2019re looking for a rare component to keep your classic Citroen on…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":9193,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9192"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9192"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9192\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9194,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9192\/revisions\/9194"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}