An article appeared in Hagerty Insider on July 19 titled; “Delightfully odd: America’s favorite French collector cars”. It began with the author, Andrew Newton, saying; “Everyone has a favorite car and, as a rule, that car is never French. At least here in the United States, where most of this newsletter’s readers reside. Too weird, too different, too unreliable. And those are the nice critiques.”
However he does say that the most popular French car insured by Hagerty is the 2CV.
He goes on to discuss its features, concluding that; “buying and owning a 2CV should be a rewarding experience. Parts are affordable, working on one is straightforward, and the purchase price offers tons of fun and character for the money even if it’s a ripoff in terms of performance per dollar.”
For the DS he muses; “But one person’s “weird” is another’s “creative,” and French manufacturers are famous for novel and thoughtful solutions in automotive engineering and design. This is why one of my favorite cars is the Citroen DS.”
For the SM he states that the cost of entry isn’t exceedingly expensive, especially given the rarity, beauty, and unique driving experience, but ownership costs can be expensive. “SMs come with all the complications of a DS, and layer on an Italian thoroughbred engine that can be needy.”
The prices mentioned for 2CV, DS and SM are quite high and presumably are based on what owners are valuing their cars at when insuring them with Hagerty. It’s unlikely they can they can actually get such values on resale, but granted there are exceptions!
And no mention of other Citroën models that were available here; the Ami, CX, XM and the Traction Avant. (Though understandable that he just picked three.)
Nevertheless, it is delightful read and the full article where there is also mention of Peugeot, Renault and Simca can be found at: https://insider.hagerty.com/trends/delightfully-odd-americas-favorite-french-collector-cars/?utm_source=SFMC&utm_medium=email&utm_content=MED_UN_UN_EML_UN_UN_Insider&hashed_email=f4321c92c0f93003b7d3fed00ba8bcd2a2d4d2bb877ad0888d8c814df121e3fc