Walleeme

agnewjim

unclezak

TR3-A

Perhaps he just moved.

Making him ex-LAX

Stoatmaster

Amscram

SundaySunday

BustedWheel

FЯeeMan is slowly cЯawling out of the new commenting system

They do that for a couple of weeks, until you develop more sensitive feet than a specialist concubine.

Stoatmaster

the good dr zero

When it ran.

The other 50% of the time, it was a real pain in the ass. I learned a lot about hating Weber carbs with this car. And you just have not lived until you have tried to push-start one of these when the battery dies. When the pump isn't running, the hydraulic system loses pressure and the car settles down to the ground.

So yes...if you want to spend eternity in PCH, you can't do much better than a CX. Add a late 70's/early 80's Citroen diesel motor into the mix and there's just no end of the fun you'll have.

When it's running, you'll want to get on the freeway and cruise. When it stops running, you'll be 300 miles from home and 3000 miles from the nearest parts. How can that not win?

StunGod

That being said, when they do need service, they are truly Hell.

Zarba

The only vehicles in hell are Citroens, probably.

I still want one. The CX was ahead of it's time ten years into the model cycle, and they were used in Children of Men because it was assumed no one would realize that 25 year old French station wagons weren't cars of the future.\

Still, this Lotus would be really awesome if it ran, and fairly hellish compared to most cars, but it's no contest with the Citroen.

Paul Y. can't think of a better, shorter handle

I want them both.

(picks up stick, gouges out eyes)

Elhigh

Grab up the CX and convert it to run on veggie oil. Once the suspension fails, you can either throw in an airbag system or ride on the bump stops. In either case, you should swap on some oversized chrome dubs. Once you've thrown that much money into it you can finish the job and make it a Lowrider Magazine cover car. Then watch the fun as P Diddy and Shaq wannabes run around trying to find their own CX hoopty.

Bonus points for having a built-in name for yourself: MC French Fry.

SundaySunday

It's the hydropneumatic suspension that will keep you in sight of the brimstone.

Stoatmaster

amblito

Hotrodelectric

brandonvalentine

Citroen is just cool and straight chillin... love the citroens

but the Rover V8 won it over for me... with open exhaust and a cam it is perhaps the nastiest sounding motor on earth. And stuffed into a flyweight Lotus? Total win.

Mrb00st

POLAЯMISSESEVEЯYBODY

*Somehow drive coax your car to the West Hills of your burg

*Find McMansion with ez access and no gardeners to hassle you

*Pull in to drive, take quick snaps of car with (important) park-like setting and house in background

*Arrive at AutoTrader kiosk photos in hand, smug in the knowledge that Prospective Buyers will assume your maintenance log is Fully Up-T-Date

powermatic

I want that Frogmobile, and I'm close to Portland. Goddammit!

powermatic

russell_s

At one time I wanted to do something like the guy on Craigslist that traded a red paper clip and kept trading up until he got a house. I wanted to trade my Bronco and keep trading up until I got to a Ferrari. I stopped after 3 trades, not really advancing from where I started.

P161911

The CX would probably be more hell though.

P161911

mikedrawcar

But "Hell"? Is it "Hell" we want? Select the Froggy for Hell any time. In two-and-a-half words: hydropneumatic suspension. I'll bet you have to special order the extra-special Martian (or Parisian) mineral fluid from overseas. And then during those short blissful periods when the Stradivarius chassis performs properly, you hover over the road in a car like no other ever, serene like Buddha upon a cloud.

wkiernan

I love the ad. "Parts readily available online."

Yeah, whatever. Sure, the English drink warm beer because they have Lucas refrigerators, but at least they have real beer....

I've recommended this project to a good friend of mine in PDX who has a perfectly restored '67 Lincoln Continental convertible sitting in his garage, taking up space...

Kelly

NovaloadMissesPolar

Number_Six

@Chuck031768: I disagree - the Lotus has many parts that you can actually buy at the local parts place.

Citroen FTW. The factory trailer hitch makes me fantasize about a Loadrunner conversion...

HoubaHouba!

Evil-Jeremy

slowjoecrow

The $6 Citröen seems actually like a good deal and less hell, plus you could get FRNCHFRY as a vanity plate after you fuel it with veggie oil.

Triborough

The Lotus, on the other hand, is a special kind of hell (British), but there will be more than four other people in the world that give a crap about it, and to everyone else, you could at least explain that it's a classic British sports car.

I vote Citroen because A) I like it better, and B) it's probably actually worse to own.

Paul Y. can't think of a better, shorter handle

Chuck031768

FLB

UDMan

///Mink

TR3-A

The best part is that if the CX is truly tango-uniform, I can send most of it to the crusher and save the doors as spares for a Lands Precedent.

thatguy01

I'll second that about BMW turbodiesels. I haven't driven any, but I've been a passenger in an X3 with a 3.0d and it's turbine-smooth, pulls like a railway locomotive and does 40+mpg. Altogether very impressive.

Euromobile

evoCS is possibly NSFW

Shawnw86

Seriously, a 123d (twin-turbo) has V8 levels of torque and just sounds growly and sporty when you put the hammer down. And 40+mpg. Brilliant.

Rust-MyEnemy is stll out there!

Rust-MyEnemy is stll out there!

scotte

I don't find the smell of diesel particularly offensive, but I do hate being behind a knackered old diesel that's belching black smoke, oil and unburnt fuel out the back. It turns your windscreen into something resembling the Exxon Valdez disaster.

@TX_law: "This is for all my homies in Bruges". Yes, it's in frickin' Belgium.

Euromobile

ecniv

TX Law

amblito

The Delo products are the best ones but probably impossible to find. There are a couple of reputable products available and a lot of really bad products with no active ingredients in them.

texajeff

@amblito: That's a poor attitude to have. There's absolutely nothing wrong with diesels. I used to be afraid of them myself, until I drove a nice turbodiesel. They've got stacks of torque, they rev lower, so they're quieter at motorway speeds, they're more robust and they're far more economical.

@sos10: Excellent story!

@Rust-MyEnemy: Funny you should say that; I reckon Citroen should do a deal with Maserati and build a new SM! Imagine a Maserati V8 in a modern coupé based off the C6! They might want to add four-wheel drive though.

The Lotus would be far more hellish, but the Citroen wins this by a country mile simply because it's far cooler and I'd actually want to own it.

Euromobile

that rover V-8 sucked so much ass...
i had one in a 71 rover P3500
it was gutless
and guzzled gas...
and that was in good state of tune...
it was sooo... well... Amerikan....

the lotus deserves better...
a cosworth ?
or A-series toyota engine?

sad to say, but the french would be LESS hellish...

wheels OF satan!

Jonny Lieberman

When Citroen wanted to built car in China, they bribed the official by giving them CX. So, if you make a trip to China and spot a CX, you know where it comes from...

Joest

rognbrow

FLB

TheBrewPub

So the owner claims that all this fine ride needs is some cosmetic TLC, huh? When I first read that, I thought it said "cosmetic tic" which is probably what you'll end up with when you start digging into this thing.

zxasqw12

Please witness this Grace Jones video for a CX cameo and your coolity dial will spin freely.

The next step would be a CX with FWD V8 conversion.

But that may be slightly too kinky, even for the French.

Rust-MyEnemy is stll out there!

I had to vote CX. The rear wheel covers sealed the deal, but read between the lines and we might have some dealin' to do:

"I hate to sell this, but I have to..."
"I am serious about selling...by this weekend"
"I need cash..."
"...will not entertain lowball offers"
"...need to raise money desperately"

So, does he REALLY want it gone?

@lascauxcaveman: Go offer him 2 bills for it, just to find out which way he's leanin'.

TheBrewPub

Now if the competition were a Peugeot 404 Camino with a Cummins, things might be different...

dohcspit

Normally, I would see "French Diesel" and consider er done. But, you gotta offer it up with a feckin ROtus with a Rover V-8?

Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot?!

I am going wid da feckin fiberglass Brit screwball. I mean, how can ya get any closer to Beelzebub eh?

CEman

I remember driving on an early christmas morning from our hotel near Grenoble, France, to the ski resort Mégève when we encountered a completely frozen road.. with a curb and downgrade... we knew we were not going to make that corner and would end up against the brick wall... don't ask me why, but we were in a very good mood and we were just laughing all way against that wall.

The damage was not to bad, but the battery had moved backwards and had broken a part of the hydraulic system, so no suspension, no brakes and no Diravi steering...

Finding a garage open on christmas morning was going to be difficult, but in the small village where the accident happened, the owner of the local citroen garage, left his christmas breakfast, drove 70km to a colleague citroen dealer, took the part of the hydraulic system of a showroom car, drove back, installed it and the car was running again... He refused to take any money.

My father brought him a dozen bottles of good wine next year.

sos10

13thfloorelevator

nitroracer

And no power steering for the big boat even with all the hydraulics on board. Only the estates had power steering even though everything else was the same.

Its gotta be the frenchie today.

NatefromOgden

DuraAce

French car with very questionable reliability or british car,FROM THE 70s

You do remember the 70s right.

Reason enough to say

Vive La Differance! (Mange merde et mort Lotus!)

russell_s

DuraAce

JoeKing

Maymar is convinced M.C. Escher engineered his car

sos10

amanz

discontinuuity

FLB

zweirad

harumph

PS to Murilee "6,000 frogskins..." Too funny!

Charles_Barrett - Now with Variable-Valve Timing

I have a little over $6000 in my checking account as of depositing my paycheck this morning and I am now in Hell. Seriously, if this car was just about any other color, I'd be looking at a probable future divorce.

Thanks, Jonny. Thanks, Murilee.

lascauxcaveman

I could be wrong, but I believe the CX shared a Peugeot motor as well. While still rare, that cuts back on the hell factor.

On second thought, the CX has the Grace Jones factor.
[www.youtube.com]

eltonito

franzouse

squablow

Schm, problems around every corner

Joetimek

amblito

Vejmezo

LTDScott, Porcubimmer pilot

Mysterious Utility Bento

harumph

French! Diesel! ...French diesel!

Eric Merrill