That Dengel 504 is brilliant.

I took (and passed) my driving test in a 504 Familiale, the 7 seat estate version.

It looked a little out of place in the test centre carpark next to a load of BSM Mini Metros (this was the 1908s) but raised a slight smile from the examiner when he asked me which one was my car.

old big Citroens are brilliant. Alot of them did not have a brake pedal, just a rubber switch pod thing on the floor. I love the citroen xm. Futuristic looks in the early nineties.

Having spotted a typo now its too late to edit the original post I;d like to point out the the date should read 1980s, not 1908s.

I’m not quite that old…..

Dick . I’ve witnessed the same on the m74 and a rolled Berlingo that had been sideswiped by a camper.

How ever it’s not the crushing I’m worried about its inertia, lack of air bags and to that end actual crumple zones.

Short of having active braking the new bingos are far far better in ncap than the old ones (although the number remains the same the ncap tests are ever fluid and ever evolving….a car tested to a 3 or 4 in 1995 is less safe than a 3 or 4 in 2012)

504 Familiale, the 7 seat estate version

My in-laws had one of these (before I met my wife) and used it to tour around France in, with predictable results – despite owning a French car in France, when it (frequently) blew up, none of the dealers were able to help. Bouff!

none of the dealers were able to help.

Because everyone knew back then that dealers sold cars and serviced them till the guarantee ran out then you went to a back street mechanic that feared nothing and would fix anything. I bent a con rod over revving my 605 downhill back in the days there were never speed checks on the autoroutes. I limped it back to my tame mechanic who had the head off while we were chatting, noted that the pistons were at different levels and asked when I needed it next. He handed it back on the agreed date and it ran perfectly for another 12 years.

The 605 wasn’t mad, you just had to be mad to own one. My groupe N Samba Rallye was a bit mad and my co-driver of the day even madder to sit in it.

Great thread.

My mum had a Citroen Visa Super X, which I basically used as my first car.

It was pretty weird. Very practical, as you’d expect, but certainly not normal. However, it was a complete hoot to drive. Little 1.2 revved freely to the limit (until it died suddenly, luckily after I’d handed it back to mum!), and a combination of excessive body roll with surprisingly good grip was perfect for scaring the shit out of your mates. I drove it in an appropriate manner, flat out, all the time. Which did not necessarily mean fast…

The wheels were solid magnesium alloys with 3 bolts, and a very rare tyre size, the spare sitting on top of the engine. There was a small chin spoiler as well as a particularly “gobbed on” rear spoiler.

The dashboard was a wonder in itself. I particularly liked the pod/drum thing to the side which had all the lights, indicators and wiper controls on it, and the way some of the other switches were accessed by reaching through the steering wheel.

eskay –
I have posted this before, my brother’s R5

Mega picture – great-looking, cool car that’s eager to hooligan, looks like it’s on its way to having fun. If i had to title the shot, I’d call it “Shenanigans pending”. Made my evening, that – I can hear it! 🙂

Renault 16? Lots of innovations including being one of the first large hatchbacks, one rear wheel 3 inches in front of the other and loads of other stuff

@trail_rat Agreed, a roll is very different to a collision – which is what my head typed but my fingers didn’t!

Agree with what malgrey says about the Visa. Great fun to drive. I had the Cub, which had the enlarged engine from a 2CV! Body rotted away so mine was mostly filler. The engine had an interesting fault of stopping at the most awkward moments due to the sensor that fired the spark failing. Dash was a bit barking as well. Air cooled, so had a sheet of plastic to put in front of the engine on cold mornings.

Malgrey’s pic prompted further memories – a mate at uni had a Citroen ZX Volcane, which was great until it died, and another friend had a Citroen AX GTi, which was terrifying as it felt like being in a tissue box on the motorway! Great fun on the backroads though.

I bought a 2cv from Laura Kuenssberg

Renault 5 Turbo II – https://www.pistonheads.com/regulars/ph-spottedykywt/renault-5-gt-turbo-spotted/39625

I bought a 2cv from Laura Kuenssberg

She’s changed

I can’t believe I’ve gone all these years thinking that Bugatti were Italian!

Jakester
Renault 5 Turbo II

That’s a lovely bit of kit, but a GT Turbo is some way short of a Turbo II.

@ AlexSimon Well they are kind of German now..(VW Group)

Alpine has redone the A110:

James May reviewed it on Amazonshitcarshow the other week.

I had an F reg 1.6 205 GTi in my early 20’s – bloody loved that car.
Not as quick in a straight line as my mates 1.9 but was way better through the corners.
Would love to have another one but trying to find a nice example for a reasonable price is proving difficult.

Regarding the Clio V6 I was lucky enough to have poke around a certain Mr Flavio Briatore’s company car.
My ex-GF’s Dads best mate was a designer at Renault F1 back in the early 2000’s – Flavio, being the generous chap that he is, lent him his pearlescent yellow one for the weekend. It seemed to have an intermittent problem though as it would just randomly cut out – lovely car though.

That’s a lovely bit of kit, but a GT Turbo is some way short of a Turbo II.

Ah, yes, sorry – I meant it’s the second iteration of the GT Turbo!

My cousin is a massive Citroen fan, his highlights for me were a Visa GTi and a BX 16v, Xantia V6 converted to manual gearbox, and a top of the range XM, (might have been V6, can’t remember) He’s down to a single Dyanne now.

My best Citroen was a BX TZD turbo diesel. Them XUD engines were brilliant for the time and the hydropneumatic suspension, (which ultimately was the thing which killed it at 170,000 miles) combined with lush seats made it the best car I ever owned for long distance trips.

I went through a Renault phase in my youth.

I had a 5 Gordini turbo (crashed), two 18’s ( hateful), a 9, a 25 ( which was mahoosive, like driving a fluffy oil tanker) and a 19.

Always fancied a Fuego.

why do things kill cars. Surely you can just them fixed? Are they dead because it was deemed uneconomical to fix them? Shame if so.

why do things kill cars. Surely you can just them fixed?

Rust. eventually theres nothing left to weld too.

@trumpton,
Very true, someone with deep pockets and long arms could have kept my BX going, but at the age and milage it was, it was getting more expensive in repairs than a decent second hand ZX.
I used it for business travelling, so had to rely on it daily basis well, it was becoming a liability

I guess now they are seen as modern classics so people buy them in all sorts of conditions to work on them. I understand that at the time they were just another car, so not valued.

Yeah, I guess rust is a killer. Classic cars now get rebodyed so again at the time they were just a normal car I guess again and not worth it.

thanks.