In the 29 June 1974 edition of Autocar (shortly before Peugeot acquired the company) they published a rather lightweight, superficial and inaccurate article about French cars. This is an extract... Click here for the complete article

IF any nation’s car manufacturing industry was well placed to weather the recent fuel crisis, it was that of France. The taxation policy which ever since the war has encouraged the use of small engines; the road network which led to the gearing of cars for economical high-speed cruising; even the relatively high proportion of country-dwelling, agricultural Frenchmen; all had helped produce a range of cars which stood the four major manufacturers in very good stead.
It would be foolish to pretend that there had been tremendous foresight behind it all. Yet in many ways the French have had the foresight to adopt advanced thinking and turn it to advantage. Study for a moment our table of those French cars currently available in Britain. Every single one is equipped with radial-ply tyres as standard - thanks to the lead given so many years ago by Michelin. Two of the four manufacturers produce nothing but front-drive cars, and the other two build them in fair and increasing proportion. It was Citroën, of course, who gave the French their early opportunity to appreciate the advantages of front-drive, at both ends of the market.
The French industry works to its own logical plan — which means its policies rarely parallel those of its German and British neighbours. For instance, the biggest of the four manufacturers, Renault, is a nationalized concern. And only one — Simca — is American-owned.
Few international links have been forged. Citroën’s marriage with Fiat proved a fragile and impermanent thing. Renault have remained stoutly independent except for a strong technical link with Peugeot and ultimately with Volvo.
Again unlike the British and the Germans, the French have scant regard for the American export market, and hence for American rules and regulations.
In the past, Renault, Citroën and Simca have tried without much success to sell cars in America; now they take the view that the Common Market is big enough to keep them happy, and that room for further expansion is to be found by investing in “third-world” factories and CKD assembly plants.
Evidence of this policy can be found in the massive sales figures of French cars in all the EEC countries including Britain, where Renault is consistently the top imported-car seller, well backed up by Simca, while Citroën and Peugeot have made great strides here in recent years.

TO AN EVEN greater extent than Peugeot, Citroën believe in creating a highly advanced design from the ground up, and then putting it into production for many years. Their attitude has softened slightly of late, in that their three basic designs (2CV, GS and DS) have spawned an almost bewildering succession of developed models, though never straying far from the basic engineering concept.
The 2CV has never been available in Britain in any numbers, but from it sprang the Dyane and Ami models which are an increasingly familiar sight on our roads. The formula is unique, almost the Renault 4 carried to the extreme; roomy body, small engine, excellent cross-country performance.
Latest addition to the Ami range, and taking it somewhat away from the original concept, is the Ami Super with the 1,015 c.c. engine from the GS. With this power unit the performance is dramatically improved, and the car comes much more into the reckoning as a conventional contender in the medium-car stakes.
The GS itself continues to sell well, though it is now accepted that the original version was slightly underpowered for British conditions and the later 1220 is a better bet, not only for performance but often for economy as well. The bare figures suggest disappointing economy for an engine this size, but one must always remember that the car is large — indeed, much larger than the average medium-sized car. Like all Citroëns, it takes a lot of getting used to, but in return it offers remarkable handling and ride.
The big D-series cars seem to go on and on. By no means all the versions are available in Britain, but even so there are enough to be confusing. The original DS19, first shown at Paris as long ago as 1955, inherited its engine from the previous traction avant Citroëns.
The ancient power unit sat strangely in such an advanced chassis, and eventually it was replaced by the present series of engines, all based on the 1,985 c.c. unit in the D Special. It is enlarged for fitting in the D Super with its five-speed gearbox; and enlarged yet again for the DS23 and Pallas. In its largest size, it is also available with fuel injection.
Injection is a standard fitting on the SM, the first serious French essay into the prestige car field for a very long time, and one generally acclaimed for its host of advanced features.
There is plenty of evidence in the SM to support any view of Citroën’s dogged engineering independence, not least in the use of the seemingly illogical 90 deg V6 engine. The SM continues to be available only in left hand drive form, and Britain has yet to see the automatic-transmission version with its engine enlarged to three litres.
As far as new cars are concerned, Citroën have a glaring gap between the GS and the DS, and one imagines most effort must be concentrated there.
The company’s long-range thinking, though, makes any possible introduction date a matter of pure guesswork for those not directly concerned.