C’est la vie
‘The Citroën C5 was as relaxing as taking a bath’
Its passing has barely raised a comment in either the trade or the motoring press – who really ought to know better – but the last ‘proper’ Citroën was sold new in the UK in the summer of 2016. No longer can you walk into a showroom and buy a Citroën which rides on a sphere of nitrogen, and that’s a real shame.
Like the passing of Concorde and its supersonic travel and the Sierra with its blacksmith-crude RWD layout, the demise of these Citroëns leaves the world a less romantic place.
The last C5 with oléopneumatique suspension that I sold came in against a Honda Civic. Now there are few things in life as well engineered as a Honda, but such was the crudity of the Civic drive in comparison, I remained convinced the man would ask for his money back. He never did, but in holding back from advertising the C5 just in case, I got to smoke it. And it was wonderful. Not quite wonderful in the Xantia-style as the suspension hydraulics were no longer connected to the power steering and brakes, but just joyous to drive.
Nobody was ever cut-up Audi-style by a fluid-filled Citroën. That’s because the ride was as relaxing as taking a bath. On the earlier models, you didn’t push the brake pedal, but gently squeezed that mushroom. Of course, we’ve all stood a Citroën on its nose before ‘remembering’.
In my experience, the fluid and nitrogen suspension was more reliable than steel springs. You’d have gone through a lot of snapped springs and leaky dampers before replacing a sphere, ride height sensor or a fluid flush. And working on the fluid suspension was a damn sight easier and often cheaper.
I recently tried to buy one for the purposes of this story, but I failed. An ex-bt fleet example at auction – with ivory leather no less – sold for a fortune. My local dealer sold their last-ever new example, in Caravan Club estate format, for £30,000 in a heartbeat. At another Citroën dealer, a good contact tipped me off that one was due in, but guess what? It was already earmarked for someone else explicitly requesting the Hydractive high-water mark.
So it’s au revoir. For now.