Citroens, like the French, have flare. Fashion and quirky styling doesn't arrive any better than out of France. This is applied to their cars too; forget about the politics and the striking workforce that tabloids relish in presenting us with, look at the quality. Luckily, the Citroën C6 is a prime example - and one you will probably have forgotten about.
Forgotten Hero: The Citroën C6
The French are famous for various aspects; good cooking, impeccable fashion sense, wearing a stripy top while riding a bicycle. Citroen are also famed for a number of things; hydraulic suspension, futuristic design, erupting into a ball of flame for no good reason. Or at least, that’s the stereotype. The C6 denounces all these French-car urban legends and proves exactly how Citroën can rule the automotive world when budgets allow. And when people actually buy them, of course.
The Citroen C6 is the pinnacle of elegant French design, paired with impeccable ride comfort, and it’s a rare sight on the road. That puts you into an exclusive club – only 23,000 units were made. This may sound like a huge number, but Citroen churned out little more than 3,000 vehicles per annum of its short seven-year life span. BMW produce that number of 5-Series in a week.
Back in its infancy, the C6 was offered with a shed-load of different engines. The best one out of the range, by far, was the 3.0L V6 diesel. The petrol engines were clearly designed by Satan and built by mischief-makers in light of the woe they can create, while the smaller diesels had the rampant acceleration of a slug in a bag. The V6 diesel could rack up 60mph from a standstill in under 9 seconds, with a reasonable average MPG working alongside a clean (190g/km) output. It was seriously impressive, especially when you consider it had automatic windscreen wipers, and lights, way back before they were so much as mainstream.
Compared to its rivals it fell far short of the mark, however – challengers were quicker, more economical and cheaper. These reasons helped to drum sales into a steady flat-line. As did the battering it took when it came down to company car tax – it sat in the 35% band, well above its rivals at 30%. That’s a rather sizeable lump of extra cash the business user had to pay as benefit in kind to run a C6 instead of the safe-bet BMW.
However, rivals couldn’t waft along nearly as well as the C6. Its soft suspension and comfortable seating encouraged you to relax and temporarily forget your woes. Right up until the dashboard tried to imitate the Blackpool lights with a wide array of warnings.
The C6 does space in abundance – the boot is large, the headroom could accommodate Marge Simpson after a perm and transporting four adults in comfort wouldn’t be much of a challenge at all. The interior design might already be out-dated: a dashboard sprayed with switches, engrossed in material - hiding electronics of dubious quality - but its charm and pleasing aesthetics help to overlook this.
Apart from owning something rather special, there really is no sensible reason for owning a Citroen C6. Owners found that the dashboard was caught doing a rather uncanny impression of a Christmas tree due to everything failing, but just have a look at it. Not since the original Jaguar XJ6 has something in the business car class looked so original and gorgeous.
Originally, the question of depreciation hung in the air, and when you realise that they cost £40,000 (€48,000) when new, picking one up a few years down the line for just under £4k is a kick in the teeth to those who bought one fresh out the factory. A 90% depreciation value is just mad.
Production ended in 2012 with the limited supply, and buyers predominantly using company cash to purchase them, not necessarily saving the car from second hand value blues. Which is why you can pick one up now for next-to-nothing.
This is all well and good, but why should you really consider a Citroen C6?
Increasing rarity aside, just revel in the fact something as cool as the C6 exists. Classy and exceptional, it’s one of those unusual cars where every drive is special. The styling is almost perfect in every way, right from the curved back window to the sloping front.
Yes, there are cheaper and more reliable cars to purchase with £4000, but the C6 isn’t like anything else on the market. It is distinctly unique, and, for this reason, the C6 is not only going to be a head turner in years to come – but also a great investment. Few cars out there make such a strong statement about who you are, or want to be seen as.
As they become fewer in number, the values are sure to rise. Already they aren’t too easy to find. Purchase one; adjust to it and, when it’s as uncommon as watching the X Factor without seething in rage, watch the asking prices rise like all historic classic Citroens have. £75k for a DS2, anyone?