The bubble bursts
By James Walshe
As a lifelong Citroën enthusiast, I write about Citroëns in Practical Classics in most issues throughout the year. Given that I have to fulfil my duties as a motoring writer by talking a lot about Fords, Vauxhalls, Austins and so on, it’s therefore always a thrill to write about my favourite car.
Earlier in 2017, I successfully secured four pages of the magazine in order to celebrate the hydropneumatic Citroën. Production of the C5 was due to end and so I set about gathering every individual model I could, with assistance from many other owners and club members. Firstly, the 15H was essential and without it, the whole thing pointless. It was, after all, the very first – a production testbed for the DS, which arrived a year later.

What resulted was magic – and a day none of us will forget. Each and every owner was to be congratulated for their attendance, as the weather that day was truly dreadful. I would have expected one or two to drop out and yet, here they all were, trundling into Donington circuit. What a sight! I was sadly missing three models: An M35, GS Birotor and an XM Estate. I had aimed to get the first and second generation/incarnation of all models and in the end, all hydropneumatic Citroën badges were at least represented.