In 1970, the French entered the lower middle class with vigor and introduced the Citroën GS . The latter featured several innovative elements from the DS type in combination with an air-cooled four-cylinder engine . Until then, the car company was not very involved in this category, except for the luxurious DS and the cheaper ID derived from it, mainly the small, weak, cheap Ami type was sold. Citroën made such a splash in the lower middle class that the GS was named Car of the Year in 1971.
At the time of the birth of the GS type, however, the automaker was not doing well. The DS type had been in production for an incredibly long time, the SM type fell short of expectations in sales, the oil crisis broke out in Europe and Citroën spent a fortune developing its own Wankel rotary engine . All this drove the car company under the protective wings of Peugeot . One of the reasons Peugeot didn't gobble it up like Talbot and Simcu was the very successful sales of the GS hatchback. It is thanks to him that the car company has survived to the present day. After all, 1,896,742 units were sold.
The initial motif in the design was the divine DS, the smaller brother was obviously inspired by the silhouette of the body with a flowing rear. There was also hydropneumatic suspension, with which Citroën completely outclassed the competition in terms of comfort. Of course, it was also possible to adjust the ground clearance and independent suspension of all wheels . The hydraulic brakes worked depending on the car's current load. All this sounds fabulously good, so it is necessary to mention a few typical ailments of the car. Citroën's workshop processing deteriorated rapidly, materials were also saved more than is healthy and the heating of the air-cooled engine was not very warm. And there was no question of anti-corrosion protection at all. The basic liter boxer with a power of 41 kW was too weak, so volumes 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3 gradually got under the hood of the GS. For those, you could choose between a four-speed manual and a three-speed automatic . In 1979, a better, more powerful GSA type appeared with a five-speed manual transmission. Driving with it was not bad, even the standard GS was nimble and at the same time stable, only the engine had to be revved up a lot.
When the GS disappeared, it was replaced by the boxy BX model. During their career, however, they managed to be produced not only in sweet France , but also in Spain, Portugal, Slovenia, South Africa, Chile, Thailand, Indonesia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. It was in Indonesia that the car was produced until 1990. The Slovenian version, on the other hand, always had headlights with a pair of round parabolas. Citroëns were also successful in the East German market, not surprisingly, even the GDR 's political elite drove cars of this brand, specifically the CX type.
Photo: AutoWP
