Citroen C4 Cactus – Driven To Write

Best Indentations

Time to put down that chisel.

Parking knocks come as standard. Image: MOTOR1

It’s probably sentimentality, but despite decades of disappointment I still maintain a vague attachment to what is by now only a platonic ideal of Automobiles Citroën. At least that’s the only reasonable rationale for why my interest is invariably piqued by the announcement of any freshly minted car bearing the double chevron. Equally without variance however is what I feel about what is routinely presented.

The newly fashioned Citroen C4 is only the very latest of a long and wobbly line of underwhelming visions from Vélizy; a car which replaces without doubt one of the dreariest vehicles ever to bear that fabled emblem, although in the latter case, it was probably the other way round – the emblem (just about) bearing the car.

This being so, it was either a case of overcompensation on the part of Citroen’s design team, or more likely a misguided directive to Continue reading “Best Indentations”

A Letter In Your Writing Doesn’t Mean You’re Not Dead

A yellow Cactus in an underground setting sets your correspondent off into futile reveries of austerity motoring.

Towards the latter part of the 1980s, I can recall taking the view that Citroën was missing an opportunity to (in)directly replace the 2CV by introducing a pared-back version of the Visa, powered by the 602cc flat twin and featuring perhaps a full length sunroof. It wouldn’t have been the same as the beloved tin snail of course, but might have extended the life of the concept beyond the point where collision and emissions regulations killed-off the Deuche or any chance of a more sympathetically developed successor.

Now in reality there was probably little real appetite, either within PSA or indeed amongst the buying public at the time to Continue reading “A Letter In Your Writing Doesn’t Mean You’re Not Dead”

Quick Test Drive – Cactus Revisited

Today, Providence has provided me with a chance to drive one of the facelifted C4 Cactii.

Sorry, yes it’s another article about the Citroën C4 Cactus. I recall there have been a fair few on DTW. Indeed, I wrote an article on the (then) new to the UK, C4 Cactus in September 2014. It was one of the first things I had published here – courtesy of the terrific trio who founded this splendid site.

Today, I dropped the C6 into a local dealer to have DPF additive – erm – added. I will admit that I had a minor thrill when I realised that my courtesy car for the day would be a new-shape Cactus. Hence, I thought I’d Continue reading “Quick Test Drive – Cactus Revisited”