Normcore - Neighbors
Back L Sender Driving a Citroen CX n New York in France.
Steel yourself, dear reader, for a bombshell You can not buy a new French car in America, you haven t been able to 20 years, since 1991 when Peugeot ejected the US following a fall sales long and nasty.
Maybe this is not news to you maybe these 20 years seemed a deprived eternity as punishment undeserved jail or waiting for a drink in a Parisian restaurant but chances are you do give not a scam the nation that has blessed us with the 24 hours of Le Mans and Citro n DS also gave us many decades of automotive waste forgettable after the Gauls left, questions linger What did we forget Why does French cars run here If Alfa Romeo and Fiat may come back if Peugeot Citro n and Renault and if Dominique Strauss-Kahn didn t fumble that New York maid who did.
In our search for answers, we found half dead Citro n on eBay for the price sacred -crapcan 1500 Then, in the interest of science, we conducted in France The goal was to learn something about the cultural divide, or perhaps kill the car and bury him in his native land but mostly we just wanted to give the damn thing in exchange for ideal back for something still french, but better and more reliable, as for example, a pack of cigarettes.
Of course, there was put in first guard, Citro n wasn t real Citro n, but a gray import market in 1989 known as CXA CX25 Luxury It was built by Citro n but imported by a cabal of New frogheads Jersey called CX Automotive, which makes both American marginal and the last really weird French car sold here hydropneumatic suspension a flying branches only God and secondly, France is not in question continental France, but an island off Newfoundland called Saint-Pierre Saint-Pierre and Miquelon neighbor are collective overseas, the only remnant of the north American empire of France its 5888 citizens speak french, drive french cars, and buy things with euros.
When we arrived at Eurocar Imports, the owner, a British expatriate named Christmas Slade pushed CX in a service bay, he announced that the car refused to start, then insisted that we were not idiots want to drive halfway to Greenland His customers, he said, always ask to purchase new Citro ns he does not think it will ever be possible; The French, he said, did away to talk to a niche buyer.
Two hours later, the CX led a gallon of water in the fuse box of a leak from God knows where had bypassed some relays and fuses Slade suggested that we should avoid the wet car As set off, it started to rain, I decided it was a good omen.
Even by French standards cars, Citro ns are odd legendary DS of the company, launched at the Paris Salon of the automobile in 1955, set the stand ard elegant proportions and sleek hydropneumatic chassis that could set both the height bearing and brake proportioning on the fly the four-cylinder, front-wheel drive CX product 1974-1991, has a version of the DS suspension When new, risk our car drove well hydro Cits are often stuffed you can peak speed bumps at 40 mph and do not feel a thing and looked Sitting respectable in Jersey traffic, covered with white stained rust paint and peeling tint of the window, it looked like a limo some prom french crackhead the suspension has been working since she was the body on the floor.
mechanic Forty-six years Joe Carter approached the CX at a Shell station in Toms River that makes this car, he asked the French, I told him that I thought a lot, he said he looks a little French like a nightmare.
Berkowitz has climbed in the CX and started the engine, pressurizing the suspension Trunk increased to the correct ride height, but the nose remained slammed like a dog stand is a nightmare, I said.
In the traffic on the Pulaski Skyway, a man in a white Chevy Tahoe pulled alongside Hey, boss That car has an electronic suspension Five minutes later, a guy in a BMW 740i drove and flashed a gold tooth lift it he shouted SA Citro n.
Citro n left America in 1975, and our CX was unbadged But people still remember calling great surprise how the brand.
On the New Jersey Turnpike, we slowed for a toll booth, the car bounding like Berkowitz got used to the brakes of the CX, which are hydraulically assisted and sensitive enough that you can lock the front wheels with a toe The toll attendant threw a look at the car and visibly declined, eyeing our money price as if it bore the hantavirus.
Yes, Berkowitz said, taking his change, I'm right's a baller.
Bored on I-95, I took a good look at the Citro ns inside The dashboard resembles the head of ET, and the turn signal switch life above the dashboard position lights change cascading down of the steering column; the horn is where the headlight must be; and door handles are vertical pistol handles, latch a trigger is what you draw from if you had never seen a car before the bizarre white slate became so charming Strangely miles also set the crankiness of the suspension halfway through Connecticut, the CX began to rise like a dream, potholes and frost heaves quietly disappearing under the wheels.
Apart from Berlin, Massachusetts, Berkowitz too accidentally filled the rusty gas tank, leaking fuel poured out of the tank, which prompted us to run out and buy a fire extinguisher We sat then with the Citro n slowed extinguisher at hand, waiting for the tank to run below the leak a truck driver observed things and offered us a game, you know, he said, to repair it.
Back L Sender Driving a Citroen CX New York in France Feature Car and Driver, return, sender, driving.