The CX replaced the legendary DS in 1974, and nearly 1.2 million units were sold until 1991. Citroen hasn't sold a vehicle here since 1974, which is a shame since they've come out with a handful of cool designs since then. So it's notable when privately imported examples do pop up.
In keeping with the DS and in true quirky French fashion, the CX features unusual styling cues and progressive engineering. It was available as a 5-door fastback, 5-door station wagon, or extended wheelbase limousine. This is the desirable fastback, which looks the best of the bunch.
I love how this was Citroen's largest car and flagship vehicle, and yet it's four cylinders, front-wheel drive and cloth seats. Were they out of touch, or a step ahead of the curve? Probably a little bit of both. Simplistic drive layout aside, these had innovative features such as hydro-pneumatic self-leveling suspension that helped the car glide over even the worst road surfaces, speed-adjustable power steering and a single-spoke steering wheel with all controls positioned on stalks reachable by the driver without taking their hands off the wheel.
The body was designed by Robert Opron who was responsible for a couple other Citroen and Renault designs and he keeps the tradition with the CX while also forging ahead into the future. It's more plain and modern than the DS, but that suits the car's hyper-techno-utilitarian nature just fine. The covered rear wheels help aerodynamics and these look even better with full-space spoke-less alloys (or plastic covers?). The large block single-unit headlights and clean, simple panels were a revelation in 1974 and still look fresh today. Note the parts-bin side mirrors which were also used on Aston Martin for quite a while.
The seller says this has the 2200cc 4-cylinder engine mated to a 5-speed manual transmission, and has 98 kilometers on the clock, which is only about 60k miles. They say it's never been in an accident and still wears its original white paint. The also say it's got "all books and extra manuals" and a Texas title. These were never sold here, although a few independent companies brought them in under lax importation rules during the grey market heyday of the 80s. It's unclear how this got here, but a clear title helps matters.
Overall, it looks like a decent example of a rare car. This has either daily driver potential or weekend-only cruiser.
Available here on craigslist in Dallas, Texas for just $7,250.
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