Goodwood Festival of Speed 2019: Citroen turns 100

The innovative French manufacturer celebrates a big birthday this year, and is reminding the Goodwood crowds of its most important models

Autocar

6 July 2019

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Citroen is celebrating its 100th birthday in 2019

Widely acknowledged as the world’s most innovative mainstream manufacturers, the company is bringing the party to the UK with a collection of classics, concepts and icons at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. From the pioneering Traction Avant to 2018’s snarling C3 WRC car, the French brand has no shortage of groundbreaking motors to call upon for an impressive display. We’ve been around the paddocks and in the grandstands to bring you the best of the bunch.
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Citroen 2CV

Have you ever seen a Citroen 2CV and not smiled? There’s something about the way it pitches and rolls with the slightest turn that screams good fun. Everyone knows why it was initially built, so we won’t palm you off with anecdotes about farmers and their eggs, but the only precious cargo in the passenger seat this weekend is a series of very happy hillclimbers.
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2019 Citroen 19_19 concept

The Citroen 19_19 Concept was created this year to look ahead to the firm’s next 100 years, with its main focus being around the ideas of extreme comfort. Highlights include a new, modified version of Citroen’s Progressive Hydraulic Cushion suspension and a fully glazed cabin, designed to give passengers in the autonomous-capable car a feeling of freedom.
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2019 Citroen Ami One concept

The Ami One concept explores some of the issues facing makers of very small cars as consumers turn to bigger models or stop buying cars entirely. It’s a two-seat show car that meets Europe’s quadricycle regulations meaning, in theory, it could be driven without a driving licence in some countries.
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2018 Citroen C3 WRC racer

Missing the 2016 edition of the World Rally Championship to focus on developing its 2017 competitor, Citroen returned to the stage with the dizzyingly quick C3. Unfortunately, a series of crashes put paid to the team’s hopes of victory, but Sebastian Loeb’s evolved 2018 racer allowed the team to regain some lost ground last year, and it currently holds the first and third spots in the 2019 standings so far.
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2018 Citroen C3 WRC racer

The rally cars are usually called upon to open the hill on each day at the Festival of Speed, before moving to the dedicated rally track. As usual the drivers didn’t disappoint, with Norwegian Mads Ostberg, a one-time WRC winner who is competing in a lower spec WRC 2 Citroen in 2019, putting on a show for the crowds.
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2019 Citroen C5 Aircross

Today Citroen’s position as an independent-thinking, design-led car maker is spearheaded by the C5 Aircross, which has helped it grow sales across Europe in 2019 despite the overall market trend being down. Next year, we expect to see the same design thinking applied to a new large saloon.
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2003 Citroen Xsara WRC racer

Legend Sebastian Loeb didn’t top the drivers standings in the 2003 World Rally Championship, losing to Norweigan Petter Solberg by just one point, but the team’s Xsara was competitive enough to claim the overall manufacturer top spot. Beating back the Subaru Impreza, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo and Peugeot’s wide-body 206, the Xsara is understandably one of the most recognisable motorsport heroes at Goodwood.
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2003 Citroen Xsara WRC racer

Beating back the Subaru Impreza, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo and Peugeot’s wide-body 206, the Xsara is understandably one of the most recognisable motorsport heroes at Goodwood.
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Citroen Traction Avant

As its name would suggest, Citroen’s pre-war luxury saloon was a pioneer of the front-wheel drive format, but it had more than one string to its bow. An unlikely recipient of the world’s first crash-resistant monocoque body, the ‘Big Fifteen’ (as it’s come to be known on this side of the Channel) also packed the world’s first mass-produced four-wheel independent suspension.
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Citroen Traction Avant Cabriolet

The Citroën Traction Avant was produced from 1934 to 1957, with approximately 760,000 cars - including this open-top version - produced in that unusually long timespan (a hint at the financial pressure Citroen was under at this time). This Traction Avant Light 15 Roadster is one of the finest examples of its kind.

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