1986 Citroën CX 25 GTi Turbo 2 Lot n° 140

A TGV for the freeway Citroën test vehicle Most powerful version of the CX Sold without title Chassis n° 131505 The Citroën CX was an expected car at its launch. Having inherited the heavy task of succeeding the DS, whose sales were running out of breath after a 20-year career, it finally took up the challenge with mastery. The flagship of the Citroën range, it was to combine tradition and innovation and symbolize the future of the Quai de Javel brand. The styling was entrusted to Robert Opron. If the silhouette is in the line of the DS, the designer was inspired by the GS and the SM. Shorter by 21cm in short wheelbase but offering more space inside than the DS thanks to its transversally positioned engine/transmission unit, it was a car renowned for its comfort and safety, inheriting the hydraulic suspension of its predecessor and disc brakes, as on the GS and SM. In the throes of financial difficulties, Citroën wanted to make a big impact and offer a major innovation on its flagship. They joined forces with Germans NSU to found Comotor, a company that would supply Wankel engines to the two manufacturers: a 110 hp 995cc twin-rotor, also available on the GS, and a 160 hp 1493cc tri-rotor were planned for the range, but were abandoned just a few months before the launch, following the 1973 oil crisis. The CX ended up using the engines of its predecessor. If this decision cooled potential customers at the beginning of its career, Citroën made up for it throughout the CX’s career, constantly increasing its power, culminating at 170 hp on the GTi Turbo. The GTi Turbo 2, produced from 1986 to 1989, received an air-to-air exchanger which lowered its fuel consumption, the black spot of the model. The vehicle we present in these pages is a 25 GTi Turbo 2 model, which left the Aulnay-sousBois factory in 1986 and immediately joined the ranks of the Société des Automobiles Citroën as a technical test vehicle. Used by Citroën teams, it presents itself to us with little mileage but needing a slight overhaul. Repainted at the Rennes factory but keeping its original interior, still as welcoming and comfortable, this car only wants to gobble kilometers, pedal to the metal.