1977 Citroen GS Pallas Saloon

Description

Citroën’s daring new GS stole the show when launched at the 1970 Paris Salon, proving that not all small cars had to be conventional and boring and was suitably rewarded with the European Car of the Year award the following year. The sophisticated new GS boasted a specification sheet years ahead of its nearest rivals, with front-wheel drive, an aerodynamic body, power assisted disc brakes all round and Citroën’s trademark brilliant ride thanks to the hydro-pneumatic suspension derived from the DS. Styled by Robert Opron, the GS was not only elegant, its slippery body shell (with a Cd of 0.36) enabled the car to reach an impressive top speed in excess of 150 km/h and it will still happily cruise at the speed limit, with excellent fuel economy an added bonus. Like its contemporary the Alfasud, Citroën employed a horizontally-opposed ‘boxer’ motor for the GS, albeit air-cooled in the best 2CV tradition. Mounted ahead of the front axle, the all alloy unit displaced just 1015cc in its original guise (later rising to 1299cc) and developed around 50 horsepower. The GS’s self-levelling suspension comprised double wishbones up front and trailing arms at the rear, with interconnected spheres, while the disc brakes (all round) never had any trouble pulling up the GS’s 855 kgs. One virtue of the front-wheel drive layout was the Citroën’s huge boot, with the rear hatch opening to the floor providing superb access. The GS was originally sold with three different trim levels, including the basic Special, intermediate Club and upmarket Pallas, the latter boasting tinted glass, hubcaps, side moldings and better equipment levels inside. An unsung hero in the history of the French marque, the GS outsold all previous models bar the Deux Chevaux, with production reaching almost 2.5 million units by the time its replacement, the BX, arrived in the mid-1980s.