Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

Oh dear

Drove the work Ford Ranger again today, felt much lumpier than it did last week, sadly not as much fun... Here's another pic of it anyway, lovely day for it...

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If there's ever a car for opening the window, resting your elbow on the sill and grasping the door frame above, that's it.

*Relies on long forearm length

The fascination with driving agricultural machinery continues to surprise and delight...

Having driven various Defender, Hilux, shogun, Discovery (MK1), Nissan thing - the one which was also badged as a Ford, I can't see the appeal for the vast majority of driving.

I'd rather be in a half decent estate car.

Talking of half decent estate cars, I am picking this up on Friday...
It's a Citroën C5 Tourer Exclusive, with a 2 litre 160bhp turbodiesel motor.

We want more comfort, performance and loadspace than the Focus can provide, and I'm a big fan of the hydropneumatic supension.

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i looked at a couple of these. really nice to waft in.

I am so looking forward to it. We do 350km journeys to the in-laws pretty frequently and the Focus is a slow, loud, uncomfortable and rather awful thing to do the journey in.

This Citroen is so cosseting. You can even adjust the top half of the backrest separately from the rest. You can raise the ride height so we can navigate my in-laws' long uneven rocky driveway, and it automatically lowers at speed to use less fuel. Other nice touches are the ability to easily remove the rear seat bases for more boot space, the electric tailgate, and the button in the boot to raise or lower the suspension so you can load and unload heavy stuff more easily. France has made me boring and practical.

boring and practical.

Sounds amazing tho. The e46 is mega low compared to anything else I’ve had. Being able to raise the ride height would be a godsend. And with a baby now, a smooth ride is probably more of a priority over spirited driving on the windy A roads - I definitely see the appeal.

I definitely see the appeal

This. Just checked used prices and seems this could be a likely contender when our 20 year old Outback dies. Newer petrol ones look hard to come across, all appear to be diesel.

The E Class has air suspension in the rear which is handy for levelling the car with a big load, but it doesn't have it in the front - which the previous generation did. Something of a downgrade, and means it can't do the clever stuff alluded to above, which is a shame.

Yes, they did sell petrol models for a short while, including a V6 3 litre, but very few of them ever sold in Europe due to the mistaken pro-diesel regs, so finding one now, especially in the UK, would be hard. The later diesels are Euro 5 which isn't too bad. Not sure if any are clean enough to meet Euro 6.

Big complicated Citroëns here don't have the stigma of being hard to fix because it's actually illegal to trade as a mechanic unless you've passed training in their various hydropneumatic systems. Plus nothing rusts here. Quite often I see 80's and 90's Renaults, Citroëns and Peugeots in daily use.

The lower spec ones have springs and double wishbones which is fine, but fuck that. Had to be the fancy one!

very few of them ever sold in Europe due to the mistaken pro-diesel regs

I welcome the day when enough time has passed or my budget has increased so this is no longer an issue with used cars. Found exactly the same when trying to find a decent E61. Maybe I should just get over it and go with diesel for the next car, would make things a lot easier.

Found it:

VW part number: WHT000155

https://www.skoda-parts.com/spare-part/wht000155-wing-bolt-skoda-20424.html

You made a great choice.

After having one and getting it written off, I miss it.

I have the citroen cables and software to turn all the extras on ;)

EDIT: Does yours have the multiple 12v sockets in the boot?

Big complicated Citroëns here don't have the stigma of being hard to fix

As they are not complicated suspension wise, actually really straight forward. But I can drone on and on.

Which of the addative fluids does this take?

No idea. Can’t find any mention in the manual for that year.

We have a boot 12v socket and a removable torch. That’ll be handy for the ice box.

Also chilled glovebox. Yay!

Also chilled glovebox. Yay!

Yay indeed. I hate it when the Worthers Originals get warm and sticky.

This generation of c5 still look fresh. The interior seems really nice too. Because of their french reputation, they're great value here in Aus. Often tempted by the 3.0l V6 turbo diesel ones that pop up for around $10k. Crazy value.

I would buy this automobile if I could, cool as fuck... Practical, something, something and etc... Love it so much...

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The owner even parks in the fucking road, he/she DGAF... Heroic...

Fat, balding, middle-aged man with thin sunglasses and a tattoo of a right-wing football hooligan group guaranteed.

I'm 60% there!!

What are parts supply like?