Citroen XM Forum

My favourite car...

The other thread on G's got me thinking.

There are many cars I aspire towards, mainly other Citroens (DS, SM etc.) but my favourite? I guess I am only qualified to talk about those I have owned, as I feel you can only judge a car by experience, rather than whether you think you like it. Often a car which one has coveted can turn out to be a disappointment in real life.

On that basis I have to state the following. I will always be a lover of A series cars, the Dyane particularly. I was considering the case for CX and G as 'favourite car' but I realised that isn't true.

I do strongly believe that the G is a better car than the CX, and the CX better than the XM, however that is only part of the equation. I am 6'6", and have a bad back. I can tolerate the CX and G quite well long distance, but they do feel a little cramped. In the XM however, I am more comfortable than in any other car. The seat is acceptable, as is leg room. For that reason and the XM's other many strengths (rustproofing, refinement, excellent ride, gorgeous design etc) the XM is my favourite car

Thats one of the reasons I like them, I'm 6'0" and shrinking but have long legs and the XM is the only car with a long enough seat to stop my knees flapping about. In a number of ways I think the CX was superior, the front suspension design for a start, central steering knuckles gave the car a stability that I have never experienced in anything else and the diravi steering was magic, the only thing that really let it down for me was the heater, probably wouldn't bother a lot of people but I must be warm, there, the XM wins hands down.

The quality of the XM interior is also superb, possibly better than any other car, the seats on my last CX were begining to wear at about 250k, I have never seen worn out seats in an XM, they were still good in the last one I sold at nearly 300k, the plastic is also of good quality, very little goes wrong with the Mk2 interiors.

So, grab them while you can boys.

Peter

Peter.N. wrote:Thats one of the reasons I like them, I'm 6'0" and shrinking but have long legs and the XM is the only car with a long enough seat to stop my knees flapping about. In a number of ways I think the CX was superior, the front suspension design for a start, central steering knuckles gave the car a stability that I have never experienced in anything else and the diravi steering was magic, the only thing that really let it down for me was the heater, probably wouldn't bother a lot of people but I must be warm, there, the XM wins hands down.

The quality of the XM interior is also superb, possibly better than any other car, the seats on my last CX were begining to wear at about 250k, I have never seen worn out seats in an XM, they were still good in the last one I sold at nearly 300k, the plastic is also of good quality, very little goes wrong with the Mk2 interiors.

So, grab them while you can boys.

Peter

Cheers to that

Isuzu 117?

I like it. It's unusually nice looking for a 1970's Japanese car.

Not sure about the alloy wheels though (at first glance it looks like the brake discs are on the outside )

The Isuzu 117 Coupe was a midsized Gran Turismo type 2 door fast back coupe designed by Giugiaro. The first series had circular headlights and a completely different dashboard than the restyled model with the square headlights.
In 1975 I sold my 5th and last Mazda car and bought a new, forest green 117 coupe with a 3-speed autobox, SOHC 1800 cc 115 HP engine. SU twin carburetor which was fun to tune. Top speed 180 kph. ( So this was the circular headlight type)
When I decided to live in Holland for a while in 1977 I took it with me and drove it with self made wooden number plates with Japanese lettering. The two of us repatriated a couple of months later!
Then followed a 2-year interlude with a 95 HP turbo diesel powered Mitsubishi Galant Lambda coupe. After that the 1979 Isuzu 117 Coupe with square eyes. 5-speed manual, DOHC 2000 cc 135 HP engine. Fuel injection.

In its heyday Isuzu built more than 2000 cars per month but the suspension set up did it in. Although the front was double wishbone, the rear was more rigid. Other makers had already dropped the elliptical spring set up for the rear suspension and all of a sudden owners started scrapping their cars en masse. I had to cry when I saw the low mileage cars piled up at scrap yards. Many with less than 40 thousand km.

Thank you Paul and Andrew for your comments
The alu wheels in the picture are original for 1979-'80. They were a pain to clean and to keep looking nice so I got an aftermarket set. I am still looking for the photos . . .

I found the photos, but not the digital ones. In one of the many good old fashioned family albums


Top: 1976
Bottom: 1980


Both 1983

Thank you for your patience

That is a smart looking car Jan. I'm not so keen on the wing mounted mirrors, however.

robert_e_smart wrote:That is a smart looking car Jan. I'm not so keen on the wing mounted mirrors, however.

Yes, it is a well designed body. The mirrors did give one a very good view of what was behind. And they were electrically controlled. In those days all cars were mandatory equipped with them and they did not look out of place. That has changed, but you can still see them on taxis and executive company cars.

robert_e_smart wrote:That is a smart looking car Jan. I'm not so keen on the wing mounted mirrors, however.

They were all like that in the olden days

HENCE THE Name WING MIRRORS!!

Which every one mistakeing calls DOOR mirrors WING mirrors! There Not on the blydi wings now, they are on doors!

It does get me when someone says wing mirrors!

Paul

citroenxm wrote:HENCE THE Name WING MIRRORS!!

Which every one mistakeing calls DOOR mirrors WING mirrors! There Not on the blydi wings now, they are on doors!

It does get me when someone says wing mirrors!

Paul

I don't get it