Nothing is ever 100% sure in this world, particularly nowadays as regards intercontinental travel, but by the time this is published, I should be in Europe (France and Switzerland, to be precise) for a couple weeks to visit family. So to celebrate that homecoming with the requisite sense of occasion and Gallic enthusiasm (not an oxymoron, just the absence of shrug), here’s the latest French car I found in Tokyo.
There aren’t too many older French vehicles around here – compared to the literal tons of classic Mercedes-Benzes, VWs, Minis, Lancias and Chevrolets I’m encountering on a regular basis, I fear that the French national automotive reputation for fragility (certain Peugeots excepted) may have reached the shores of the Asian archipelago where I found this CX.
It must take a certain amount of commitment to drive a classic big Citroën in Japan. I know many in France who would never attempt anything so daring. I also know and wrote about at least one die-hard CX fanboi, so the intricacies and quirks associated with the upkeep of these vehicles are somewhat familiar.
This renders the ownership of this exceptionally well-preserved and fortuitously parked Gallic land spaceship all the more extraordinary. Series 1 cars like this one, i.e. built between 1974 and 1984, were already scarce on French roads when I moved to Asia a decade ago. The better-preserved and oldest ones had already migrated to the Netherlands, the most Citroën-obsessed country in the world, just like the nicest DSs had done back in the ‘90s.
The question is: was this late-model Series 1 Pallas IE extracted from France (or Holland?) recently, or did some thoroughly Francophile local citizen purchase this car new back in the early ‘80s?
It’s not impossible, and there are a few oddities that do point to this being a Japanese-market CX from birth. Certainly now this one is owned by a genuine Citroëniste, given that lovely faded “Citroën Club du Japon” sticker. As to the oddities mentioned, I would point to the turn signal repeaters on the front wings as exhibit 1. Oh, and it’s an automatic too, which was not a commonly ordered option on the French market back in 1982, but was already very prevalent on higher trim cars in Japan by that point in time.
Here’s what the cabin looks like – the plot thickens. Most higher-trim CXs like this Pallas would have been clad in leather in Europe. This gray fabric is not seen very often, but Japanese car buyers are famously adverse to cowhide, so this and the slush box makes for a very unusual combination of options for a big Cit. This may also be a reupholstered example, as it does look suspiciously spick-and-span for a vehicle this age (and from this carmaker), although in Japan, you never know. The ashtray overflowing with unfiltered cigarette butts, on the other hand, looks about as French as a baguette stuffed with snails, cheese and frogs’ legs dipped in red wine.
Even though this is supposed to be a higher trim car, rear power windows were still an extra-cost option. Compared to the Prestige I wrote up last year, the rear legroom, though decent, is nowhere near as compelling. The same can be said when comparing the standard wheelbase CX to its venerable predecessors, the DS and the 15-Six – and indeed, many contemporary observers thought Citroën had short-changed their clientele on the rear legroom front, only to then launch the expensive Prestige to make up for it.
Going back to the automatic transmission, that option was rather belatedly added to the CX’s options list. The late model DSs could be ordered with either a 4-speed hydro semiautomatic, a 5-speed manual or a 3-speed Borg-Warner automatic. When the CX arrived in 1974, only the 4-speed manual was on the menu. In 1976, the 3-speed C-Matic was introduced. It was an electrically-operated semiautomatic box and torque converter that had been developed in-house to be mated with the Wankel engine briefly used on the GS. It wasn’t related to the DS’s hydro box, being closer to the Saxomat found on the NSU Ro80.
C-Matic page in the Citroën CX Norwegian brochure, 1977
Being Citroën’s proprietary design, the C-Matic was heavily promoted as a great solution, getting rid of the clutch pedal but keeping the driver in control of gear shifting, blah blah. The usual arguments for the alleged superiority of the semiautomatic box – all true in theory. In the real world though, the compromise left automatic aficionados wanting and folks who wanted to shift their gears themselves just… bought a manual, and could get an excellent 5-speed from 1977. The C-Matic was nixed after MY 1980 and replaced by a fully automatic ZF 3-speed unit, available only for the larger non-turbo (and non-Diesel) engines.
Our CC has one of the last evolutions of the venerable Citroën OHV 4-cyl. that first appeared in the 11CV Traction Avant back in 1934. Throughout the years, almost every component was gradually changed: the crankshaft got five main bearings, heads turned to alloy, carbs were replaced by EFI, the engine’s orientation and rotation were switched, and the displacement kept growing until it reached 2500cc by MY 1983, and so on. In this Pallas IE (Injection Électronique), the 2347cc develops 130hp, pretty much as it did in the DS23 IE of the mid-‘70s.
The 2.5 litre GTI Turbo, which arrived in 1984, provided 168hp, making the CX the most powerful French saloon of the day, taking that oh-so-coveted crown from the infamous Talbot Tagora SX. Not too shabby for a prewar relic, but pretty sad that the CX had to wait a decade for that engine. Speaking of which, our feature car said GTI on its C-pillars, which looked mighty fishy to me. Besides, “GTI automatic” is a contradiction in terms. Guess the owner likes the look of the GTI logo – and there’s no arguing that it’s ice-cool.
But then, so are many aspects of the CX. The concave rear window, for instance. I’m not sure it serves any real purpose aside from looking awesome. Aerodynamics perhaps, but that must be pretty marginal. And the shape prevents the fitting of a rear wiper or a hatchback, so it’s not exactly a practical feature. But it still looks great, and the CX would be a lesser design without it.
Here’s another example. The door handles on the DS were, for the longest time, common sticky-out items found on any 1955 car. In 1971, they switched to flat types à la 1957 Chrysler. Messy details like that were absent from the CX: Robert Opron and his team decided to design the door handles carefully and properly, not just use whatever Citroën happened to have in stock.
Series 2 cars, with their heavy-looking (but actually rather flimsy) body-coloured polyurethane bumpers and spoilers are a poor substitute for the original design’s more delicate and chiseled looks. A Diesel Series 2 would make for the ultimate beater though – indestructible, economical and supremely comfortable. But also noisy, slow and ugly.
On the other hand, if you’re going to go to the trouble of owning a virtually pristine CX in Tokyo, are keen on fast cruising speeds and enjoy looking at your car from time to time, then this Pallas makes a lot more sense. The automatic just makes it more city-friendly, though it does knock the fuel economy down a peg.
No doubt that I’ll have some Euro-sourced CCs to share when I get back. Doesn’t take anything from this absolute minter of a CX – these are rare in France too, especially in this condition – but the road fauna is always quite different over there. A nice change from the JDM. I’ll be stuck in quarantine for two weeks upon my return, as is the rule in Japan when flying in from dirty, disease-ridden cesspools like Europe (and most of the rest of the world, really). On the plus side, I’ll have some time on my hands to write up a few posts. In the meantime, I hope your summer is as smooth and relaxing as a ride in a CX Pallas.
Related posts:
Curbside Classic: 1984 Citroën CX Prestige – Stealth Spaceship, by T87
Cohort Classic: 1981 Citroën CX Pallas D – Modernism’s Last Stand, by Perry Shoar
Car Show Classic: 1985 Citroën CX 25 GTi Series 2 – Blue Is A Warmer Color Than Grey, by Nigel R. Tate
Vintage Review: Citroën CX 2500 Diesel Pallas, by Yohai71
Car Show Outtake: 1982 Citroën CX 2400 GTi – Fuel Injected Flying Carpet, by Johannes Dutch
Vintage New Car Preview: Citroën CX – The New Big Citroën, by PN
CC Capsule: 1991 Citroën CX Evasion – Last Chance Wagoon, by T87
Car Show Capsule: 1983 Citroën CX Orphée by Deslandes – Hello Strangest, by T87
CC Global Outtake: Citroën CX Pickup with Integrated Cover – CXamino, by PN
Cohort Outtake: Citroën CX Break – Pretty In Pink, by PN
Miniature Curbside Classic: Citroën CX by Playart and Nissan Juke By Tomica – An Eccentric Pair, by Tom Klockau
I live in the very GM centric part of Mid Michigan, but we are also a college town, so there was at least one of these running around the area 25 years ago.
It showed up at the hardware store I worked at, and I’m pretty sure I was the only one who knew what it was.
Got to climb in the trunk to figure out what the owner needed to mount a CD changer. (I did say it was 25 years ago, right!)
…flying in from dirty, disease-ridden cesspools like Europe…
That sort of ruined the mood here like somebody farting hard in the small room after eating the spicy food. If you don’t like the dirty, disease-ridden cesspool, don’t fly there. Just stay in Japan.
You seem to have penchant of aggravating the CC readers with your inconsiderate remarks here and there. Last time, it was the “stupid Trump supporters”. CC isn’t the place for your personal rants that have nothing to do with automobiles.
Not to mention being “ungrateful” for our comments that correct your mistakes, especially with Mercedes-Benz automobiles. Paul and others gladly acknowledge their mistakes and fixed them. You? Nope…
I will skip reading your articles from now on.
Since he’s European, I took his remark as a sarcastic dig at the Japanese, not Europe.
Oliver, oops…you fell headlong into the sar-chasm. Best make like a cat: pick y’self up, dust y’self off, and do an I-meant-to-do-that dance for whoever might’ve seen you take a spill.
If we all adhered to your nothing-not-about-cars interpretation of the rules around here, every post and comment would be limited to make, model, engine, year, transmission, emissions package, tire size, acceleration, driving characteristics (no analogies!), paint colour, and brief descriptions of trips taken. Also, you quite enjoyed my pointed mockery of a stupid person in one of my COALs; you said so in the comments. So maybe more of a thick skin and less of a flounce is warranted now. Friendly advice.
Psssst…Oliver:
Click Here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JtnEUPvpus
“ As early as 1983, Jerry Schwarz, in a post on Usenet, wrote:
Avoid sarcasm and facetious remarks.
Without the voice inflection and body language of personal communication these are easily misinterpreted. A sideways smile, :-), has become widely accepted on the net as an indication that “I’m only kidding”. If you submit a satiric item without this symbol, no matter how obvious the satire is to you, do not be surprised if people take it seriously.
Japan has been famously and historically xenophobic – at one point they closed to country to ALL foreigners – for a couple hundred years. They can’t close off the country from the rest of the world anymore, but with COVID, they’ve come as close as they can. They are making it very difficult for foreigners to come into Japan, with the quarantine, hence TATRA87’s frustration and sarcasm. He is speaking bitterly of the Japanese Government’s treatment of foreign residents, not expressing how he feels himself.
The quarantine policy does have some reason behind it though; the government has handled COVID rather poorly – less than 40% of the population has been vaccinated as of the time I write this, and reported daily new infections have reached an all time high.
Sounds like you’re looking for a reason to get mad, Mr Twist. No point in arguing with you, as you have made up your mind, but your selective outrage by way of taking words out of context or misquoting me is *slightly* disingenuous. (That last bit was sarcasm, btw.) Not sure you’ve made yourself more popular by this little outburst either…
Thank you, Ralph L, Daniel Stern & Lokki for your messages. Hope they get read by their intended recipient.
Nice CX and automatic not a commonly seen feature on local cars either untill this century now manuals are hard to find, I put another 1600 comfortable kms on my Citroen over the weekend most of them towing a trailer, once you get used to real comfort and superb roadholding its very hard to step down to any other brand of car
The tail ends of Citroens never look quite finished to me, as if generic taillights were stuck on at the last minute.
In the 70’s and 80’s, there must have been some of these in the DC area besides the French Embassy, and I certainly would have noticed, but no memories come to mind. I don’t see the appeal of a tiny accelerator pedal.
It looks great in that metallic gray which really sets off the chrome. And in such stunning condition. I too wonder if the cloth is original, it seems to have a fair amount of detail in the central portion of the seats pointing to it being factory, but again, the condition. If it is repro, the material is very reminiscent of that on some VWs of the era, sort of a heavily flocked burlappy sort of material that was very durable.
And is that a speaker mounted on the floor between the rear seats behind the center console?
Usually I’m a fan of the later models with the body color and black rubber bits, however this one really speaks to me. Were I in the market for this sort of car back when new and in the European market, the competition would likely be C2 Audi 100, BMW E28 and the W123. Objectively the Germans might offer the better built car, but wouldn’t possess that certain je ne sais quoi…
I had similar thoughts about the upholstery fabric being new. I have noticed the same thing in a number of his finds in Tokyo. Japanese are very fastidious, especially about what they touch with their body, hence the near universal use of those lace car seat doilies, even in taxi cabs. The subways and trains have immaculately cleaned fabric seats.
I suspect that there’s a boutique market for car seat fabric in Japan for that reason. It would be just like them.
Most of these European vintage cars over there are clearly immaculately maintained and clean inside (with the exception of the butts in this one). This upholstery looks too new to be original.
Another factor is the famously high humidity of the Japanese summers, and until recently, the general lack of air conditioning in cars. Leather upholstery is no treat when the temperature and humidity are high and the traffic is moving slowly.
Leather; usefull for boots motorcycle jackets and miniskirts awfull as vehicle upholstery,
The best thing about leather upholstery is that it isn’t vinyl. I can only tolerate it for more than 15 minutes without cooled seats.
it looks like it has been re-upholstered. That speckly tweed doesn´t seem to me to be the kind of thing you´d get on an S1 CX – it was usually a “jersey” nylon material of with the world´s lowest Martindale value and world´s least resistance to UV.
Whatza Martindale value?
It´s a measure of resistance to wear. Upholstery is tested to see how many times it can be rubbed before visible wear sets in.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martindale_(unit)
CC is SO educational. To think I’ve lived so long without knowing there was such a thing! 🙂
Seriously though, I’m amazed at the wide variety of knowledge and life experience we have here.
+1
Haddya like that! Neat.
When I go to auto shows (I hate going to auto shows) I usually go during the industry preview days, which are the least-worst ones: you don’t have to deal with the bovine crowds of the public days, and you don’t have to wait around looking at a bunch of covered-up cars, revealed one at a time at obnoxious little ginned-up ceremonies with gimmicky lighting, raucous music, brainless booth barbies (still, in the second decade of the 21st century), and some dillweed babbling about how the All New Toothgnasher Superflash Sports Vehicle is the most bestest ever in the whole wide world for 45 minutes.
Where was I? Oh yeah: when I (have to) go to auto shows, and I’m there during industry days, it’s amusing to see the seat belt people scrutinising the seat belts, the body seal people opening doors and trunks and taking notes on seals, the paint people eyeballing the paint, the brake people peering through wheel slots, and otherwise like that while I’m taking notes on the lights.
Not dispositive, but they are suggestive. This front-of-fender location was common on Japanese-specification cars (numerous makes and models), while CXs built for European countries that required repeaters mostly had them behind the front wheel—though Italy might have been an exception, favouring the Japanese location, and there may have been others as well.
«Bof, we are Franch! Now we weel seet awound weareeng owair berets, dreenkeeng owair waahn, eating owair snails, smucking owair Gitanes and Gauloises—pair’ops seex or sevvan at a taahm—and shrooging owair shooldairs een a deesaffected mannair!» I was shocked right to the core some years ago while sitting late one night at one of those indoor-outdoor restaurants Paris is full of when someone at the next table turned and asked me, in French (i.e., they didn’t have me pegged as a foreigner), if I minded if they’d smoke. I was sure I’d crossed into some alternate universe. Cigarette smoking is popular in Japan, too, but its litter is not, so an ashtray crammed full of cigarette ends, I think you’re right: that’s rather less popular in Japan.
Quote: …”Cigarette smoking is popular in Japan, too, but its litter is not, so an ashtray crammed full of cigarette ends,..”
Given the overdone ashtray display, this must be one of those Japanese fetishes like buying used female underwear from vending machines or worshipping the perverted squid. I’ll bet, the vehicle’s owner even dresses up in some French schoolgirl’s traditional uniform, after work, before opening his freezer filled with baguettes and garlic-buttered snails
Those European cesspools have existed forever…..I recently saw a WW2 doco showing Japanese pow wearing face masks back then…..great article
JDM cars of that Citroen’s era featured fender mounted rear view mirrors and an import would likely have to be festooned with them for local sale,
Ex JDM cars all feature very tidy interiors and hard wearing fabrics, they are masters of them, the French are not and interiors of French cars wear quickly I’d bet that one has been redone and had the leather seats improved with fabric facings.
Maybe or not; that Japanese regulation requiring sideview mirrors to be visible through an area of glass swept by wipers was sporadically enforced even when it was in effect, especially on low-volume imports, and it was withdrawn completely in 1983.
What a great car. This is one CX I would dearly love to own. I am still pissed that I sold my 2400 IE Pallas auto ten years ago.
The cloth interior is not original. But it looks very nice. For ultimate cruising comfort it would need the middle arm rest (an extra option which my old CX had).
The automatic option is not that rare. But maybe that is because I live in the Netherlands which is, as Tatra87 correctly mentions, Citroen country. Even so, such a perfect Series One CX with the big engine, air con (much rarer) and automatic is a rare find. Thank you for dreaming away once again on a perfect CX.
This is a pretty nice car and I love the chrome bumpers. I think there is a CX parked not to far from my house. I think I’ll go for a walk this evening and check it out.
The purpose of the concave rear window is that it’s self-cleaning, on the move, making the rear wiper redundant. The tweed seats are original inasmuch as they were offered for the model vintage with this exterior color but only for mid level trim Turbodiesel. In practice, however, being Citroen, everything was possible 🙂
Look the same to me
My 12.2 cent’s worth – 10 yen in AUD – is that the door armrests aren’t the same material – perhaps THAT is the original covering? Also, the French fitted woolly seats at that time, such as in the 505 Pug, and wool doesn’t pill like these have. Mind, wool also doesn’t last worth a damn either, not Frog’s wool, anyway. A couple of years in suns of the south and they all looked like a cat had had a breakdown whilst locked inside.
In Orstralia, Dr T, there was a batch of RHD ones absolutely identical to this, some with cowhide and some woolly, but nearly all automatic injected and called Gti. Citroen (again) nearly died out after that, but then some BX’s began to come in on the higher tides. Ofcourse, being plastic, most of them melted in the same suns that had killed the woollen CXs, but that’s another tale, and possibly a lie.
I saw one of the CXs number accelerate flat-chat through local roads about 10 years ago and it moved off with some elan – but man, it sounded like a bunch of angry blocked vacuum cleaners behind a megaphone! One would need to focus imperiously on the silken ride and stunning looks, as the propulsive convulsions are most declasse indeed.
Haven’t noticed the piping on the edges, these are reupholstered. It also explains the pilling, I have identical original seats in an 84′ Break and they haven’t pilled so I guess you’re right about the cat 🙂
The automatics are pretty high revving, thus noisy at highway speeds, having the old 3 speed ZF.
Ah oui m’sieur baum, but the door armrests aren’t the same material as each other, let alone the seats. The plot thickens…
I am, however, intrigued at the thought of this Frog’s wool that you mention, and my mind is filled with many questions, such as the colour of said wool.
From experience, watching a CX hoofing along back roads in the sun is a sublime experience, but one must always place one’s finger in one’s ears – the symphony is intended to be visual not aural.
What a superb example, irrespective of the re-upholstery (which I suspect it is) or otherwise.
Are the rubber blocks on the corners of the bumpers original, maybe Japanese specifc?
All higher trimmed versions have them, they offer additional protection for the indicators in the bumpers, VERY vulnerable position, if good looking
I still like Citroens and another one has joined my fleet, another C5 diesel of course but this time I went for an automatic simply because I had an automatic C4 to drive for a while I burned my leg with chemical truck wash and could not drive my car for a couple of months, anyhow when I got it back it still drove just fine I replaced the front tyres and a week later a MK2 C5 appeared for sale then another I rang one located in NZ Skyliner territory and it had sold so I later got hold of the owner of the Auckland car and bought it, 15 years old it had only done 138,000 kms not even due for its first cambelt change anf a new cambelt kit came with it actually it has nearly $1000 woth of new service spares with it some are unique to the HDI173 engine it has,my previous C5 sold last week to a lucky new owner he low balled my mate who had the car and I accepted the offer, the only thing wrong with it was its untidy and has 407,000kms racked up but runs and drives perfectly all the computerised systems work as intended a really good car.
The newer one has a leather interior oddly enough Im starting to like it the car is supremely comfortable theres a sport setting for the suspension which tightens every thing up, and another that makes the engine really angry and makes the car go like a bullet and is entirely un neccessary. SO not a CX but on of its very capable descendants