The Citroen CX Workshop

About the CX Workshop

This website is dedicated to providing hard to find maintenance, update, technical and repair information for the Citroën CX. The owner of this site owns two CXs, a 1980 CX Athena and a 1987 CX 25 GTI. Both are currently off the road which is too long of a story. The CX 25 GTI is undergoing conversion from an automatic transmission to a 5-speed manual, using parts taken from a 1989 CX Diesel Turbo 2. The Athena is waiting for attention, it hasn't been run since 2007 or so. When I get back to her I'll tell the long story.

Three of our Citroëns
		at Rendezvous 2007, held in Saratoga Springs, New York.  From left, the maroon CX is the 1987 Safari, next is the 
		1987 CX 25 GTI, and that's Dad's white 1973 SM.

Three of our Citroëns at Rendezvous 2007, held in Saratoga Springs, New York. From left, the maroon CX is the 1987 Safari, next is the 1987 CX 25 GTI, and that's Dad's white 1973 SM.

I am also responsible, along with my brother, for the upkeep of four CXs owned by my elderly father, who cannot work on the cars any more (he's 92 years old at this writing in 2022). They are a 1977 CX 2200 Diesel, a 1984 CX 25 GTI 5-speed (pictured at the top of this page), a 1985 CX 25 Prestige, and a 1987 CX 25 Safari. The Safari is on the road after a long absence due to transmission failure (not the transmission's fault) and the Diesel simply won't die. The other two need rod bearing replacement so are waiting for us to have time to remove and repair the engines.

In addition to the CXs we have three SMs. My brother's SM is presently being reassembled, it was painted last year. The engine needs to come out for some work, and he's looking for a later ('73) automatic transmission because the '72 version makes the car too slow. He'd convert it to a 5-speed but his wife wants to drive it and she doesn't do manuals. My father's SM needs a head gasket replaced but is otherwise in very good condition. My '72 5-speed needs a complete paint job, but is a good looker from ten feet away, and runs great. We'll be doing a section for the SMs too as we've made numerous improvements over the years.

The final Citroën is my father's 1991 XM, presently in need of attention as well due to a failed crank sensor (we think). It also needs new wheel sensors all around to fix the ABS. Without ABS working the XM is downright dangerous until after the first brake application! Don't ask my how I know!

My first Citroën was a 1966 DS 21 Cabriolet, an original Chapron product! (Dad's first was a 1969 ½ ID 19 that he bought new in Fort Worth, Texas.) My Cabriolet had the Citromatic transmission and was a lovely car, but suffered from rust so I sold it to my father when I was posted to W. Germany. I owned it for a little less than two years. It is still on the road, not sure where, but Phillipe Devint, famous in Canada, took it and restored it.

I bought my first CX when in W. Germany in 1981. I'd bought what I thought would be my last car a few months prior, an 1975 DS 23 5-speed that was an export model for Bahrain. But one day I was out with my roommate looking for a car for him when we came across a CX on a car lot. I had to try it, and despite it being manual steering and only 2 liters I was bowled over and just had to have it.

>My first CX, pictured here in the driveway of my house in W. Germany circa 1981

My first CX, pictured here in the driveway of my house in W. Germany circa 1981

After buying it I sold the DS 23 to my brother, who was in England (where I'd bought the car, he had discovered it there, another long story). Our parents came over to W. Germany that summer and we drove both cars to England as part of that holiday. Mom was not terribly impressed with our super fast driving on the Autobahn, so got a Guiness as soon as we landed in England! I drove that CX for a year or so then sold it to buy a CX 2400 Pallas with the DIRAVI steering. I imported the 2400 to the U.S. in 1983, took it to North Dakota with my new bride, then Texas. Sold it when we were posted to England. While in England I ran a '79 GS 1220 Club for a couple of years, alongside my '87 FIAT Spider that I'd brought from Texas and sold in England after we returned to the U.S. In 1990, while still in England (Oxfordshire) I bought a CX 2400 Familiale for 200 quid and fixed it up. A year later I bought a BX 16 RS which I lost all my money on when it would not pass MOT the following year. Since we had to return to the states I ended up selling for just £250!

Back in the U.S. I was Citroën-less for several years then bought the Athena in 1998 which I restored. Now it needs it again, but long story there. It took Best of Show at the 2000(?) Rendezvous at Northfield Mountain and was my daily driver for several years. Then came the CX 25 GTI which I bought from Roland Sotello in Pennsylvannia. I drove it regularly until I realized that people had no respect, it was dinged in the parking lot, so I retired it and bought a BMW 325xi.

My stable of BMW motorcycles, minus the '85

My stable of BMW motorcycles, minus the '85

My other passion, aside from Citroën cars, has been motorcycles. I've driven BMW motorcycles exclusively since 1975 and presently have four BMWs in the garage, a 1985 K100RS, a 1996 BMW K1100RS, a 2006 BMW K1200GT and a 2012 BMW K1600GT. Combined they have nearly 600K miles and all but the '85 are running nicely and look great. I've owned three other BMW motorcycles, an R75/5, R90/6, and R100/7 RT.

Working on the 1980 CX Athena.  The engine is beside the car, not over it! January 2004.

Working on the 1980 CX Athena. The engine is beside the car, not over it! January 2004.

I maintain and repair my vehicles. Only rarely have I put them in a shop, and that's usually when I simply don't have time. I own a 2010 Audi A4 Avant (in need of a timing chain and head rebuild at present, my fault) and a 2015 BMW X5 Diesel that's superb. So I have a long history of auto maintenance and repairs, including doing the heavy work of engine rebuilding and transmission repairs, along with repairing the Citroën hydraulic systems. Between my brother and I we have 80+ years of experience, and want to share that in a broader way through this website. The site has been around for many years, very much neglected. I won't go into why that is, other than to say I had a very challenging full-time postion with the U.S. Department of Defense, in a three-letter agency. So time was always a challenge. I'm now retired and have decided this should take some of my attention. Hopefully you find the information on this site helpful, and easy to understand. It is focused on CX owners so may not be easy for those outside that special group, which is fine. Comments are welcome, I am active on several Citroën email lists.

CX-L email list
Citroën-SM email list
Citroën DS-ID email list

A quick word about the email lists. They are hosted on groups.io, having moved from Yahoo three years ago. They are robust groups with a great deal of technical information on the sites. The sites have a Files section, along with Photos and other features so members can find information at their fingertips. I've learned a lot from the lists, hopefully you will as well, or they stimulate your interest in getting into the classic Citroën world!