Tag Archives: Citroen

Coffee, Croissant & Cars 05/16 – Avenue Drivers Club

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Last Sunday I popped along to the Avenue Drivers Club meeting just long enough to get today’s snaps before being called out for work before I had a chance to enjoy either a Coffee or Croissant.

Austin 12/4, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol,

Despite arriving shortly after 8 am the 1928 Austin 12/4 above was already leaving indicating the Square was already full.

Kenworth, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol,

Among the larger vehicles packing the Square was this 1999 Kenworth semi.

Honda Civic Type R, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol,

One of several Honda Civic Type Rs circulating was Spoonz, so new the registration is not yet on the DVLA data base.

Toyota Altezza, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol,

A personal import from Japan is the 1998 Toyota Altezza above, known in markets outside Japan as the entry level Lexus IS or GS.

Citroën Visa, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol,

It is amusing to think a couple of French chaps might have piled into the Citroën Visa above and driven all the way to Queen Square for an Avenue Drivers Club meeting, if highly unlikely.

Swallow Doretti , Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol,

Finally even rarer than the Italia 2000 GT which appeared at last month’s Avenue Drivers Club meeting is the Triumph powered Swallow Doretti seen above of which only 280 were built.

Thanks for joining me on this “Coffee, Croissant & Cars 05/16” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I will be looking at another Packard. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Torrential Drizzle – Odyssey Battery MSA Rally Cross Pembrey

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May 1st dawned overcast as I headed down to Pembrey for the third round of the Odyssey Battery MSA Rally Cross Championship, by the time I got there the drizzle was approaching torrential helping to prepare the track for a full day’s entertainment that was scheduled to include no less than 52 starts.

Ford Fiesta, Kevin Procter, Odyssey Battery, MSA Rally Cross Championship, Pembrey

Ford Fiesta driver Kevin Procter seen taking the inside line above, out fumbled his rivals to win the Supercar class.

Suzuki Swift, Tom Llewellin, Odyssey Battery, MSA Rally Cross Championship, Pembrey

Rally Cross debutante Tom Llewellin is seen leading his rivals in the Junior class for Suzuki Swift 1300’s, after finishing second in his first heat Tom led the final from start to finish.

Peugeot 206, Guy Corner, Odyssey Battery, MSA Rally Cross Championship, Pembrey

Guy Corner is seen above making a splash, in his Peugeot 206 above, on his way to victory in the Super National Class.

Citroën C2, Phil Chicken, Odyssey Battery, MSA Rally Cross Championship, Pembrey

The Super 1600 class was won by Phil Chicken in his #62 Citroën C2 beating the #72 Suzuki Swift driven by Tristan Ovenden.

Citroën Saxo, Graham Rumsey, Odyssey Battery, MSA Rally Cross Championship, Pembrey

Graham Rumsey saw off four Polish challengers to win the Hot Hatch class in his #45 Citroën Saxo beating 2nd place finisher Tomasz Wielgosz in his #1 Peugeot 106 and 3rd place finisher Robert Potyra in his #18 Saxo.

BMW Mini Cooper S, Keifer Hudson, Odyssey Battery, MSA Rally Cross Championship, Pembrey

After getting liberally caked in mud by his fellow competitors in the 1st qualifier for the BMW Mini class Kiefer Hudson seen above, jet washed his #53 Mini down and came back to win the final.

Swift Sport Championship, Odyssey Battery, MSA Rally Cross Championship, Pembrey

The Swift Sport Class final had not one, but four starts after first Aiden Hills rolled his car, then Jeff Hankin followed suit on the second attempt, on the third attempt Bradley Durdin backed into the barriers and finally Nathan Heathcote completed 3 laps in his #55 Swift ahead of Chris Woollett in the #7.

RX 150, Chrissy Palmer, Odyssey Battery, MSA Rally Cross Championship, Pembrey

Chrissy Palmer held off two generations of Llewellin in the Honda Fireblade powered Rage RX150 final beating the younger Ben in the green #7 above and Dad double British Rally Champion David who put on a notably spectacular display in his white example.

Porsche 911, Barry Stewart, Odyssey Battery, MSA Rally Cross Championship, Pembrey

Regular readers might remember the last time I saw Barry Stewart’s spectacular Porsche 911 was at the Brighton Speed Trails a couple of years ago, above Barry is seen leading the field on his way to a win in the Retro class ahead of the Metro 6R4 driven by Rob Gibson and Rear Wheel Drive Ford Escort Mk III driven by Ray Morgan.

Thanks for joining me on this “Torrential Drizzle” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I will be looking at another Packard. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Avante Garde Hyper Typage – Devine DS

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Star of the seriously bizzare at the 2014 French Motorshow was the Devine DS which Citroen offered up as a vision for the future of it’s DS brand.

Divine DS, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

As if to emphasise the DS as a stand alone brand the Devine features no Citroën badging.

Divine DS, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

While the avant garde design is based on the most important C segment hatchback dimensions, think Citroën C4, Volkswagen Golf, Ford Focus, the Divine DS does not prefigure any specific model that is being planned for production.

Divine DS, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

The 20 inch front wheels are powered by a 266hp 1.6 litre four cylinder engine sourced from sister company Peugoet’s RCZ R model.

Divine DS, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

It is unlikely that the front hinged front and rear hinged rear scissor doors will ever go into production on any model, they were fitted merely to offer viewers a great view of the bold hyper typage interior.

Divine DS, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

According to Citroën ‘Hyper-typage’ is a new concept for an interchangeable interior ambience manifested by dashboard and door scrolls that can be changed in just 15 minutes.

Divine DS, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

The three ambiances envisaged are sober‘Mâle’ alternating alternating carbon fibre textile with glazed, burnished leather, sophisticated and elegant ‘Parisienne Chic’ made in cooperation with fashion embroidery experts Maison Lesage, and finally a darker and even more glamourous ‘Fatale Punk’.

Divine DS, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

Fashion jeweler Swarovski was responsible for setting crystals into the Divines head lights and door panels.

Divine DS, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

Exterior design leader Bertrand Dantec points out that since technology provides a panoramic digital rear view both the interior rear-view mirror and rear window have been dispensed with, though the rear view door mirrors have been retained.

Thanks for joining me on this “Avante Garde Hyper Typage” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Showcasing Creative Technology – Citroën Survolt

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At the Geneva Motor Show in 2010 the Citroën stand showed the Survolt concept sports car, designed showcase the companies Creativity and Technology, to the public for the first time.

Citroën Survolt, Goodwood, Festival of Speed,

The zero emissions Survolt is based on the Citroën Revolte hybrid concept supermini that was shown at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2009 with styling influenced by the 2008 GT by Citroen petrol powered concept sports car.

Citroën Survolt, Goodwood, Festival of Speed,

The cockpit features a large amount of glass, that hides a chrome finished safety cage within the cabin.

Citroën Survolt, Goodwood, Festival of Speed,

The low slung motorsports heritage of the design means that the vehicle is as difficult to enter and exit as one might expect of any purpose built competition vehicle.

Citroën Survolt, Goodwood, Festival of Speed,

Unlike the hybrid Revolte the Survolt is only powered by two electric motors with a combined output of 300hp.

Citroën Survolt, Goodwood, Festival of Speed,

Silently the Survolt will accelerate from rest to 62 mph in less than 5 seconds and on up to a top speed of 160 mph.

Citroën Survolt, Goodwood, Festival of Speed,

The batteries are believed to give the all wheel drive Survolt a range of 120 miles between recharges.

Citroën Survolt, Goodwood, Festival of Speed,

It is believed Citroën are looking at founding a one-make racing series based on a production version of the Survolt.

Citroën Survolt, Goodwood, Festival of Speed,

Limited production of the Survolt is believed to be a possibility from 2018.

Citroën Survolt, Goodwood, Festival of Speed,

If you cannot wait that long to try the Survolt virtual versions are available on the Asphalt 6: Adrenaline, Asphalt 8: Airborne and GT Racing 2 games by Gameloft, on Racing Rivals by Glu Mobile or Driveclub for PlayStation 4.

Thanks for joining me on this “Showcasing Creative Technology” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be going for a test drive. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Triple London Championship Night – Wimbledon Stadium

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Thanks to a recent fb friendship struck up by Ray Miles in Florida and Rob Hughes in Liverpool I was alerted to the Triple London Championship Night which ran at Wimbledon Stadium couple of weeks ago.

Ford Escort Mk2, Andy Steward, Classic Hot Rods, London Championship, Wimbledon,

Thanks to a soccer match in Chelsea I got snarled up in traffic and missed the first heats for the Junior Micra Stock Cars, Superstox and 2.0 Hot Rods, but made it just in time to catch the first heat for the beautifully turned out Pinto powered Classic Hot Rods which featured a great battle for the lead between the #198 Mk2 Ford Escort driven by Andy Steward and the #45 Austin A40 Countryman driven by Craig Boyd which went Andy’s way.

Superstox, London Championship, Wimbledon,

The Superstox action featured a bit more bumping and boring for which the cars are better equipped, unfortunately I arrived too late to get a programme and the only thing I can tell you is that the race was won by John Saunders, who also won the first heat and that the green #454 seen above finished 5th in heat to having finished 4th in Heat 1, if you know who the driver of the #454 is please do not hesitate to chip in below.

Nissan Micra, Samuel Dobbs, Junior Micra Stock Cars, Wimbledon

Samuel Dobbs is seen above on his way to a win in the 2nd heat of the Junior Micra Stock Cars which with all their additional safety equipment and what appeared to be standard suspension have some interesting handling characteristics.

Vauxhall Tigra, Robert Gamble, 2.0 Hot Rod, London Championship, Wimbledon

Robert Gamble seen in his #133 Vauxhall Tigra above held on to win the 2nd Heat for the 2.0 Hot Rod’s from the #71 Citroën Saxo driven by Gordan Alexander.

Barry Lee, Kenny Ireland, Wimbledon Stadium

Four time Hot Road World Champion Barry “#351 Leapy” Lee, and Scottish Saloon Stocks, Superstox & Hot Rods champion Kenny Ireland are seen on a lap of honour above they were joined as guests of honour by 1976 World Champion George Polley and 1980 World Champion Mick ‘Duffy’ Collard.

Ford Anglia, John Bowring, Classic Hot Rods, London Championship, Wimbledon,

Craig Boyd retired his Austin early in the 2nd Classic Hot Rods heat, leaving Andy Steward to an easy win once he had battled his way into the lead, the race featured a fantastic race long scrap between the Ford Anglia’s driven by #101 John Bowring, #924 Stuart Wright and #911, seen on the outside, driven by Harry Steward who crossed the finish in 6th, 7th and 8th places respectively.

Nissan Micra, Robbie Bruce, Junior Micra Stock Cars, Wimbledon

Repeating his heat one Junior Micra Stock Cars win in the final was Robbie Bruce seen above three wheeling his way around turn 2 aided by second place finisher #340 Will Blazer.

Citroén Saxo, Gordan Alexander, 2.0 Hot Rod, London Championship, Wimbledon

Gordan Alexander fought his way to the front to claim the 2.0 Hot Rod Final in his #71 Citroën Saxo the #565 driven by Dan Smith and the #39 driven by Rick Parnell who were both also pedaling Citroën Saxo’s.

Ford Escort RS2000 Mk2, Lee Wood, Wimbledon Stadium,

Lee Wood is seen above leading Mick ‘Duffy’ Collard during a demonstration run for the fans in their immaculate replica World Championship winning cars.

Ford Escort Mk2, Andy Steward, Classic Hot Rods, London Championship, Wimbledon,

Andy Steward retained his Classic Hot Rods London Championship title despite the best efforts of Craig Boyd in his repaired #45 Austin seen lifting an inside wheel above.

Jason Cooper, Superstox, London Championship, Wimbledon,

Jason Cooper is seen above taking the flag in the Superstox final at the end of an entertaining evening at Wimbledon Stadium which I hope to visit again before it is scheduled to be swallowed up by dreaded property developers.

My thanks to Ray Miles and Rob Hughes for giving me the heads up also to Rob for event programme details, to keep up with news on Classic Hot Rods follow Rob Hughes dedicated fb page linked here, news on Spedeworth events at Wimbledon and their other venues can be found on this link.

Thanks for joining me on this “Triple London Championship Night” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow for Americana Thursday. Don’t forget to come back now !

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French Presidential Idiosyncrasy – Citroën C6 Lignage HDi Auto

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Much to Peugeot’s credit since acquiring Citroën in 1974 it has allowed the company to pursue it’s own identity characterised by technological innovation and extreme, some might say idiosyncratic, aerodynamic styling when conservative badge engineering the brand around Peugeot models must have been a tempting option that might have offered some benefits of from the economies of scale.

Citroën C6 HDi Auto Bristol,

In 1999 Citroën took it’s Citroën C6 Lignage concept car featuring rear rear hinged suicide door to the Geneva show as a spoiler for the model it hoped would replace the XM in it’s range by 2000.

Citroën C6 HDi Auto, Bristol,

Not for the first time production of the new Citroen was delayed and the production C6 did not appear until 2005 now sans the suicide doors, while production of the XM had ceased in 1999.

Citroën C6 HDi Auto, Bristol,

Originally only two engine options were available either 208hp petrol 3 litre / 183 cui V6 or 201 hp turbo diesel 2.7 litre / 164 cui V6, these were joined by a 168hp twin turbo four cylinder 2.2 litre / 134 cui diesel in 2006 and the 2.7 V6 turbo diesel was replaced by the 237 hp 3 litre / 183 cui V6 turbo diesel in 2009.

Citroën C6 HDi Auto, Bristol,

As one would expect of a top of the range Citroën the model rides on hydropneumatic suspension, first seen on the DS, now known as Hydractive 3+ with electronic censors and a computer chip ensuring a ride so steady one would have no problem driving one across a field with a camera mounted on the roof to film a horse race for television.

Citroën C6 HDi Auto, Bristol,

Other technical innovations carried by the C6 include a head-up instrument display, a lane departure warning system and the directional headlamps are now of the Xenon type.

Citroën C6 HDi Auto, Bristol,

French Presidents Jacques Chirac & Nicolas Sarkozy both chose C6’s as their official cars of which 23,384 examples had been built when production of the model ceased on 19th December 2012.

The 2007 example seen in these photographs taken in Bristol is powered by the 201 hp turbo diesel 2.7 litre / 164 cui V6 engine and was first registered in the UK on the 30th July 2007.

Thanks for joining me on this “French Presidential Idiosyncrasy” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow for a Cambrian adventure. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Why Wear Anything Else – Citroën Xsara Coupé VTR 2.0i

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In 1997 Citroën employed German super model Claudia Schiffer as the eye candy to attract potential customers to it’s new range of Xsara models, in the UK she used the strap line “why wear anything else ?” in the Xsara’s 1998 add campaign.

Citroën Xsara Coupé VTR 2.0i, Rally Day, Castle Combe,

The Xsara shares the same platform as the earlier Citroën ZX and Peugeot 306 models with the fully independent rear suspension tracing it’s origins back to the 1977 Peugeot 305.

Citroën Xsara Coupé VTR 2.0i, Rally Day, Castle Combe,

2000 saw the introduction of a face lifted Xsara with mildly altered body panels, a new steering wheel and a new wiring harness that came in for criticism when issues with unusable driver’s door window, central locking and interior lights became an issue due to the wiring being to thin.

Citroën Xsara Coupé VTR 2.0i, Rally Day, Castle Combe,

In 2003 the top spec 2 litre / 122 cui engine was down graded from 164 hp to only 135hp when the EU series engines replaced the more powerful XU series engines, perversely this was just around the time that Rally Driver Sebastian Loeb was coming of age with the visually similar but mechanically quite different Xsara T4 WRC on the World Rally Championship stage.

Citroën Xsara Coupé VTR 2.0i, Rally Day, Castle Combe,

Sebastian won 28 World Rally Championship events outright with the Xsara T4 WRC model including five consecutive ADAC Deutschland Rally’s, he narrowly missed the 2003 World Rally Drivers championship while Citroën claimed the 2003 World Rally Manufacturers Championship, from 2004 – 2006 Sebastian drove Xsara T4 WRC’s to his first three World Rally Drivers Championships.

Today’s featured 2003 Citroën Xsara Coupé VTR 2.0i, seen at last years Castle Combe Rally Day, has had some body panels replaced and paintwork added to make it look like a 2003 – 2005 era works Xsara T4 WRC, the ad offering the car for sale advised potential customers that the engine output had been raised to 220hp.

Thanks for joining me on this “Why Wear Anything Else” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be visiting Blackpool for some rally illuminations. Don’t forget to come back now !

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