I don't believe so. They certainly were unconventional in the powertrain department, though. The DS was originally intended to be powered by an air cooled flat-six, but development costs meant that it ended up with a conventional (and somewhat unrefined) inline four. They did use an air-cooled four in their smaller GS…

I suspect that it's air surspension, rather than the hydropneumatic wizardry that it was originally equipped with. From the photos that I've seen, the engine bay is missing the characteristic fluid reservoir and 'spheres' (the nitrogen-filled accumulators that work in place of springs).

I recall reading about this build when it was done. From what I can remember, it started out as an engineless basket case. It makes it slightly better, but I do agree, the whole thing is the antithesis of what Citroën is about.

Ha. The one in my MG is like that, too. It seems to spend all its time pegged either empty or full, with no rhyme or reason as to which. My solution is to carry a conveniently-sized stick to shove down the filler neck every once in a while!

On my 1956 MGA, not only was the heater optional, but so were the windscreen washers! Where fitted, they came in the form of a small hand pump set into the dashboard.

Ha. Going further than that, my folks' 1980s Audi 100 had an auxiliary heater that burned fuel to heat the cabin while the engine was switched off!

Oh, God. I have been studiously avoiding their articles on this 'issue'. Sure, it's better since Bertel left, but Jack Baruth is just as much of a raving loony when it comes to politics.

Hear, hear! It always makes me cringe to see sites (especially over here in the US) citing the Telegraph and, even more so, the Daily Mail as reputable sources. They're the Fox 'News' of papers.

Oh god. The center console of my late, lamented Rover SD1 was full of those (and silly vacuum valves, hoses and actuators). Wickedly clever, but a nightmare once it's 25 years old!

Old Jags had telltales on the parking lights, too – I think that the idea was to make it easier to spot the corners of the car for parking etc.

The system used no electrical contacts. Instead, cast plastic light pipes would take light from the given bulb and channel it to display in those little fender-mounted pods. Different lights would be assigned different colors. And, for the rear lights, the system had a little display pod on the inside of the car,…

The Rover P6 had them too, but only for the US market, where the parking lamps and indicators shared a lens. In other markets, the upper part of the lens was clear, and only contained the parking lamp, and the telltale was there to help locate the corner of the car.

Germany uses stickers – one for the car's safety inspection, one to affirm that the license plate was issued legally.

The venerable 3.5l Rover V8 (a.k.a. the Buick 215). It may not be the smallest, but it has to be one of the most ubiquitous small-displacement V8s ever made, having been used in production cars for 46 years (1960-2006).

I'm worryingly close to this stereotype. I wear plaid, have thick-framed glasses, and daily-drive a beat-up (but mechanically perfect) VW Scirocco with peeling clearcoat. Not only that, all of the presets on my radio-cassette are NPR.

I'm conflicted as to whether that counts for or against, but I have to admit, the Royal Family does have excellent taste in cars.

Reliant Scimitar. Because sporty station wagon. And yes, by the same folks as the Reliant Robin.

Heh, much more fun (and less tedious) than doing it properly.

Yes! The fact that it came with 3-point belts as standard (as well as crumple zones, breakaway engine mounts, and all-round disc brakes) in the 1960s makes it quite significant in the automotive-history stakes.

I gather that there are some work-arounds involving replacing the universal joints with CV joints, or replacing the splined driveshafts with linear bearing ones. Pricey either way, I'm sure. In any case, it beats the swing axle setup on the Spitfire and Herald!