Km: 26963 Kms
YEAR: 02/1976
COLOUR: Gris Largentiere AC082.
MODEL:
CX:
The last of the real CITROËN before the takeover by PEUGEOT (June 1974).
PALLAS:
The most luxurious model with natural leather upholstery option.
Notice that the door trims are in plastic, DS Pallas doors were fully trimmed in leather.
2000:
1,985 cc engine, 102 bhp at 5,500 revs per mn.
4 speed gearbox.
4 disc brakes.
Consumption: 10,5 l / 100 km
Originally at the time: Manual steering necessitating a larger steering wheel, to satisfy the old customers used to Traction and ID. The fact that the servo steering was not standard was much criticized.
Price at the time: 5,396 euros. (Minimum monthly wage = 208 euros)
HISTORY:
I hadn’t set out to buy a car that day in December 1998. At random in order to kill time on a trip to Lyon while at Orange station, I bought an out-of-date magazine (see “Retromania” attached here). I discover an advert for this car, but at a very high price for the time.
On the phone, the lady seemed a little unusual. Without asking her for money off, she tells me straightaway that she has lowered the price by 10,000 Francs. Her father would never know, she told me, as he was dead.
A meeting was arranged at Villeurbanne. The car was pushed out of the garage after ten years of not moving. In broad daylight, it appeared as new. It had a strong smell of leather, even from the outside (and still does to this day!). The blue protective plastic films on the controls and on the stainless steel door sills were still present. They ought to have been removed by the garage when preparing the car for sale. Her brother who had ordered the car for their father was a Citroën dealer, so he had decided to leave them in place.
The deal was quickly done. As I was on foot, I decided to bring the car back by road. For this, I ran to buy a battery. Some petrol, air in the tyres, some quick checks and I was ready to turn on the ignition. The lady then told me that I would not be able to leave at the wheel of the car, saying “it will be too emotional for the CX, after so many years at a standstill!” After a few seconds of trying, the car restarted, to her great amazement. I let the engine run.
A little annoyed, the lady returned to her point: “Anyway, it’s been at the low position for too long, it won’t go up, and you won’t be able to leave!”. At that moment, the back of the car rose up, followed by the front. The lady was distraught. At the moment of my departure for the south, she confided in me “But what will it think of such a long journey, when it has never left this Department?”