Does this explain why I — who doesn’t like any other SUV (including the podgy Fiat 500x) — find the Cactus rather appealing? The 2CV is one of my favourite cars and certainly my favourite Citroën. That is saying a lot given the brilliance of the DS and Traction Avant.
I hadn’t really connected the C4 Cactus with the 2CV until I read this wonderful article, with lovely Parisian photography, by Gavin Green. While from a different era, and different class of vehicle, in the Cactus the light*, large and ‘happy’ philosophy of the mighty 2CV lives on.
Citroen C4 Cactus meets its 2CV ancestor in Paris by CAR Magazine
Even the tourists queuing outside the Grand Palais know they are looking at something different, and something appealing: a Citroën that shows a better way, and a Citroën likely to succeed…
* One line is as much a indictment on the bloated over-weight things badged ‘mini’ these days as it is praise of Citroën’s achievements:
“It’s 200kg lighter than a basic Mini hatch and as roomy as a Focus”
The Cactus 1.2 weighs 1020kg, the 1.6: 1085kg. It’s lighter than the 5 door Mini hatch 1.6 (1205kg), let alone the even more obese 1390kg Countryman 1.6!
Picture credit Citroën New Zealand - Weights from www.parkers.co.uk
