FLOATING INTO THE FUTURE

Citroën's DS-replacing CX was at a cutting edge so sharp it still looks fresh today, and it had the drive to match - as five superb survivors reveal

- ANDREW ROBERTS

If it is difficult to imagine that the final CX departed the factory in 1991, it is nearly impossible to believe that the model first entered production a full 50 years ago. The CX was Citroën's last entirely in-house creation, and that it still looks contemporary is a testament to its designer, Robert Opron, and the vision of the double-chevron marque.

The oldest member of our quintet today is also believed to be the earliest surviving UK-market CX. To look at Philip Hanson's 1975 2200 Super is to marvel at its impact on motorists five decades ago.

At that time, the Triumph 2500S was a highly agreeable car, but its Michelotti styling harked back to the early 1960s. Meanwhile, the Vauxhall Ventora FE epitomised pseudo-Americana, the Ford Granada Ghia revelled in its conventionalism and rumours were already circulating about the SD1 successor to the Rover 2200 TC.

Then there was the CX. Beneath its lithe silhouette were front-wheel drive, a transverse engine - a first for Citroën - and self-levelling hydropneumatic suspension, plus a 'cyclops eye' speedometer. Your dealer could boast it was 1975's European Car of the Year, while one advertisement proclaimed: "The car of the year is the best car for the job - now and for the years ahead.' There was even a conventional brake pedal in place of the 'mushroom', although that 'STOP' warning light was slightly disconcerting.

Naturally, in the great Citroën tradition, little was straightforward about its development. Work commenced at the end of the 1960s on Projet L, and Opron reflected that it needed to be easier to build in mass production than the DS.

In addition, Citroën collaborated with Lancia between 1970 and 1973, but plans for cross-pollination between the CX and the Gamma came to nothing. By 1974, the famous marque had become part of the Peugeot empire, following years of financial challenges.