If you didn't have a Citroen?

[citroenxm]

One of the dream garage lists had a 505 listed in series 2 form. Why? What makes up for the horrible S2 dashboard?

I prefer the smoother front end grill on the Phase Two, the intro of the Turbo D 2.5 (Though I know its only 95 bhp due to DERV technology back then) and an improoved spec in all areas.. The 505 GTdT is a very well equipt car, even with limited slip diff on it!

[White Exec]

Quite sobering that we have to struggle so hard, now, to find a car that rises above the competent-but-unexciting-and-mundane - or have to delve back in time to a point when it was so much easier to choose. All to do with manufacturers needing to produce in vast quantities, and with shared and borrowed engines, platforms and components.

Citroen has now been brought to heel, it seems, and a halt brought to its DNA-driven desire to bring technical excellence and innovation to market. Hopefully, we'll not end up with the equivalent of the Rover badge being stuck on indifferent lumps, but there's no guarantee.

Then I suppose most folk look to a car to simply provide the same degree of reliability that comes from most other consumer durables. OK, but not a lot to get excited about.

Keep smiling!

Chris

[russ92xmsed]

I think Citroen and Peugeot will continue to design quite different cars, but it's technology and legislation that has made designing cars so much more difficult. Add in the change in what the market wants, and it all looks a little dire for our beloved French 3.

Interesting what you say Jim, about the 406, I always thought they were rather good in the ride and handling department.

Going back to Ryton, it is such a shame as it was part of our motoring history too, ....before Peugeot inherited it. It's the same picture with Longbridge. Couldn't believe how much of that site had now gone.
Economics of building cars over here at the time forced Rytons closure. Not to emotion crappy replacements for very good pre existing models. It's as though they knew they had a winner, and couldn't ever replace it effectively, so they didn't bother and produce rubbish instead. The 207 was utter detritus! The 208 is better, but why oh why put the dials above the steering wheel, thus making it a bit of a chalk and cheese car!

I bet if they still had Ryton today, they would be making much better quality cars than the other PSA factories. They should have used it to make DS3's....they were in demand and out stripping supply at one point. Hindsight and all that.

One thing peugeot really needs to get back to is the ' Lion goes from strength to strength'.

[citroenxm]

Closure of royton was down to manufacturing costs.. the 206 was half way through its production run when it closed and all production moved to our chineese counterparts or where ever labour was cheaper and costs were lower... Im shocked to hear of it flattened but i guess its been seen as an empty developing development site and with an apparently shortage of housing was forced to demolish to developed little card board box houses that will blow away with the first gale we get..

[CitroJim]

I've never quite understood the logic of building houses on former industrial land...

It's all very well having all these places to live but where, if all the industry has gone, do the people that live in them actually work? Are these people the ones you hear of who commute silly miles a day? It's just all wrong...

Paul, I know what you mean near here there's been a huge development on what was formerly considered land fit for nothing at all - especially living on...

I've seen more spacious rabbit hutches - in fact the RSPCA might have something to say if you tried to keep rabbits in them due to lack of space and density. This method of housing can't be good. We as humans need space to live in and space around us and distance from our neighbours. If we don't have all of that lot we tend to deteriorate very badly mentally.

And besides, absolutely nowhere to keep an XM and a cache of spares for it

[russ92xmsed]

Precisely guys. Madness.

[citroenxm]

They don't need jobs to live in them Jim.. the government will hand out ALL the cash and money they need to live in them while we hard workers struggle for just being honest workers!!

rewarded for not working.. penalized for trying our best..

[messerschmitt owner]

Exactly Paul, they were so cool. Love the massive rear hatch window too. on a recent visit to our local scrappy, there was a later model in light blue in there. Can't remember the model now, but had a look around it.

it was a 22 txi

[citroenxm]

Exactly Paul, they were so cool. Love the massive rear hatch window too. on a recent visit to our local scrappy, there was a later model in light blue in there. Can't remember the model now, but had a look around it.

it was a 22 txi

How SAD . The Phase 2 Txi was normally a 2.oi 12v, but the older 2.2 8v unit was available on special order to expire old stocks.. So a very rare model there.

Such a shame.

[messerschmitt owner]

it was a nice looking car too - quite good bodily!