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Saloons & estates · Road

Citroën CX

Robert Opron · 1974

The CX floats because it refuses to choose between luxury and logic.

Worth your time?4.5/5Yes.Drive the whole thing.What works, what does not, who it is for ↓
10:44in productionCh. 1 · A designer’s last word/ 10:44 · ceiling 15 min
6 chapters · 10:44Ceiling 15:00

The brief is written and checked. The video joins this page when it is cut.6 chapters · 1 min read · 10:44 planned

Read the brief

The CX is the last complete expression of Citroën’s pre-merger philosophy: hydropneumatic suspension, front-wheel drive, fastback form, and aerodynamic discipline. It succeeded the DS without imitating it. It won European Car of the Year in 1975. It was Robert Opron’s final and favourite design. It marked the end of the 'big Citroën' era that began in 1934.

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Chapters & takeaways6
  1. 1:16
    A designer’s last word

    Opron’s farewell to Citroën was a deliberate, self-contained evolution of the DS — not a reboot, but a refinement.

  2. 2:38
    Layout as hierarchy

    Front-wheel drive and stretched wheelbase options made the CX both space-efficient and socially graded — standard for executives, long for limousine duty.

  3. 3:46
    The end of an era, crowned

    Winning 1975 European Car of the Year confirmed it as the final successful model of a lineage stretching back to 1934.

  4. 4:57
    Built on the edge of bankruptcy

    Launched at the 1974 Paris Motor Show, it entered production just as Citroën collapsed — and left right-hand drive behind until 1975.

  5. 6:14
    Aerodynamics you can see

    Its 0.36 drag coefficient wasn’t theoretical — it shaped the fastback roofline, the flush glazing, and the underbody panelling.

  6. 7:25
    The last float

    It carried hydropneumatic suspension into the 1980s without compromise — the last big Citroën to do so.

3 more chaptersFewer chapters
Worth your time?

Yes. Drive the whole thing.

4.5/ 5
What works
  • It gets the fastback form right: clean, low-drag (0.36 Cd), and functional across saloon and estate variants.
  • It gets the hydropneumatic system right: refined, self-levelling, and calibrated for long-distance composure.
What does not
  • It does not offer rear-wheel drive.
  • It does not have a manual transmission option in right-hand drive until well into 1975.
  • It does not carry forward the DS’s glass-fibre roof or its structural daring.
Drive it if
  • It is for drivers who value ride integrity over steering feedback, aerodynamic honesty over stylistic repetition, and French engineering autonomy over corporate consolidation.
  • It is not for those who require driver engagement through mechanical linkage or chassis talk.
Skip it if
  • It is not for those who require driver engagement through mechanical linkage or chassis talk.
Who should drive it, and who should skipHide who it is for
The written brief1 min read

What the car is and where it came from

The CX is a front-engined, front-wheel-drive executive car launched in 1974 as the successor to the DS. It was Robert Opron’s personal favourite and final Citroën design, developed as Projet L and debuted at the 1974 Paris Motor Show.

How it works, in terms someone would actually use

The CX uses front-wheel drive and hydropneumatic self-levelling suspension. It moves air and fluid to keep the ride height constant, regardless of load or road surface. The driver feels a floating, unbroken connection to the road — not isolation, but absorption.

What it gets right

It gets the fastback form right: clean, low-drag (0.36 Cd), and functional across saloon and estate variants. It gets the hydropneumatic system right: refined, self-levelling, and calibrated for long-distance composure.

What it does not

It does not offer rear-wheel drive. It does not have a manual transmission option in right-hand drive until well into 1975. It does not carry forward the DS’s glass-fibre roof or its structural daring.

What it changed

It ended the ‘big Citroën’ era that began in 1934. It proved a fastback saloon could be both executive and aerodynamic without abandoning hydropneumatic innovation.

Who it is for, and who it is not

It is for drivers who value ride integrity over steering feedback, aerodynamic honesty over stylistic repetition, and French engineering autonomy over corporate consolidation. It is not for those who require driver engagement through mechanical linkage or chassis talk.

Is it worth your time

Yes. It is the last car Citroën built as its own master. Its design logic is intact, legible, and uncompromised by merger-era cost-cutting or platform sharing.

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9:12
Citroën GSRobert Opron · 1970The Citroën GS is a small family car designed by Robert Opron, launched in 1970 after winning Citroën’s 1967 internal Project G competition. It was built as a fastback four-door saloon and five-door estate until 1979. A revised version, the GSA, was produced from late 1979 until 1986 in five-door hatchback or estate body styles. Combined production reached approximately 2.5 million units. It has a front-engine, front-wheel-drive layout and seating for five passengers. Noted for its aerodynamic body shape with a drag coefficient of 0.318, fully independent hydro-pneumatic brakes and self-levelling suspension, and air-cooled flat-four engine, the GS was styled by Robert Opron, with a low nose, a two-box silhouette, semi-enclosed rear wheels and a sharply vertical Kamm-tail. In 1967, having abandoned the ambitious Projet F begun by Bertoni and taken over by Opron, Citroën initiated a competition for a new mid-range model that pitted Opron and the Bureau d'Études against Giorgetto Giugiaro and Italdesign. Both teams submitted designs for front wheel drive three- and five-door cars powered by flat-four engines. Opron's proposal carried the day, and his Project G eventually became the GS released in 1970. Some have claimed that Opron based the GS' shape on the Pininfarina Austin 1800 Aerodinamica Berline of 1967. Others assert that, while it may have been influenced by the Italo-English concept car, Opron's design was an independent work, and point out that Citroën has never acknowledged any link.
10:06
Citroën XMBertone · 1989The Citroën XM is a pivotal failure: technically audacious, commercially inert, and stylistically isolated. It advanced hydropneumatic suspension into the electronic age — but lost the emotional and mechanical connection that made Citroën’s earlier flagships endure.
10:23
Citroën C6Jean-Pierre Ploué · 2005The Citroën C6 is an executive saloon launched in November 2005. It was designed by Jean-Pierre Ploué’s team to replace the XM, six years after the XM ceased production in June 2000. It draws directly from the C6 Lignage concept shown at Geneva in spring 1999.
10:57
Citroën Traction AvantFlaminio Bertoni · 1934The Citroën Traction Avant redefined what a production car could be — not through novelty, but through integration. Its welded unitary body, front-wheel drive, and four-wheel independent suspension formed a coherent system. It did not chase speed or luxury. It solved for lightness, space, and real-world composure. Its influence is structural, not stylistic.
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