Space-age Citroën CX begins move into DS territory

Have you noticed how Citroën CXS are moving? Ten years ago we couldn’t give them away but now the very best have big price tags. Dutch dealer Gallery at Brummen has a left-hook ’77 GTI with 80k for £14,000 and Seymour Pope in Herts has a rhd 1987 auto GTI with 38,000 miles for £13,500. These are prices that even the most passionate CX owner wouldn’t have dreamed of a few years ago but the market now sees the CX as the new DS and good ones are selling fast. London dealer DD Classics is asking £25,000 for a mint ’79 GTI which is the very top of the current price curve. But the CX phenomenon isn’t countrywide – yet. A private seller in London is advertising a rhd ’85 CX 2.5 GTI with 72k miles and history for only £2000. And it’s had ‘signiëcant suspension work’. Such a huge chasm in prices throws up opportunities. And we shouldn’t be surprised at the CX’S renaissance. See one in the metal and it’s stunning – space-age and otherworldly – and of the million built between 1974 and 1991, literally hundreds of thousands have crumbled into rust. When’s the last time you saw one? You’d think with the myriad CX models sold in the UK over those 17 years the survival rate would be more than 120 cars. But that’s all the DVLA has on its database. Rarity is clearly another factor dragging up values. And they do drive wonderfully with silken ride, epic cruising heft and, if you ënd a rare GTI Turbo, 140mph top speed. Go for a cherished GTI at provincial classiëed advert money and you’ll be ahead of the game. Time to take them seriously.