No one designs cars like the French — though many would say that’s a good thing.
Uniquely styled, mechanically complex, and (sometimes) rewarding to drive, French cars are an experience like no other. Buying a French classic is a bit like being married to a supermodel: They can be very high maintenance, but the rewards are well worth it.
Here are five of the most fantastically French cars you can buy in America.
Peugeot 505
The 505 is a great way to ease into the weird world of French cars. Its angular styling and sharp handling are distinctly French, but the mechanicals are fairly straightforward and reasonably modern, as Peugeot sold 505 sedans and wagons in the United States from 1980 until 1990. Cars and parts can be a little hard to find in the States, but with over 1.3 million 505s built worldwide and the power of the Internet, you should be able to find everything you need to keep your own 505 running.
Find your Peugeot 505 for sale here.
Renault Fuego
The Fuego (Spanish for “fire”, never a good name to give a car) came to America at a time when the Renault/AMC alliance (the partnership, not the sedan) was still seen as a good idea. Based on the mechanical bits of the R18 — the French equivalent of the Corolla — the Fuego attempted to inject a little style and sport into the lineup, with Renault even offering a turbo model. The Fuego was available in the United States between 1982 and 1985; sales weren’t great and survivors are few and far between, so you’ll have to hunt a bit to find one. But, when you do, chances are you’ll be able to buy it for a song.
Find your Renault Fuego for sale here.
Citroën DS
No list of French cars would be complete without The Goddess. The Citroën DS (and its successor, the SM) has everything that makes French cars so French: From its beautiful and bizarre styling to its byzantine hydropneumatic suspension, the DS proudly gives the two-finger salute to one hundred years of automotive engineering. To drive a DS is bliss; to keep one running is an accomplishment. Because of their mechanical complexity, these cars trade at affordable prices. Unless you want a garage queen, plan to spend a fair amount of time learning how the systems work and scrounging for parts.
Find your Citroen DS for sale here.
Citroën 2CV
The 2CV was France’s answer to the Volkswagen Beetle: A simple, affordable people’s car that would run forever, no matter what you did to it. With a tiny two-cylinder air-cooled engine, there aren’t many parts to go wrong, and since Citroën built about 5 million 2CVs over its 42-year production run, finding those parts is fairly easy. Ironically, these are among the more expensive French cars on the used market, but you should be able to find a nicely restored example in the $8,000–15,000 range.
Find your Citroen 2CV for sale here.
Renault 5 Turbo
The French have built plenty of strange cars, but the R5 Turbo is nuts even by Gallic standards. Renault took their 1.4 liter engine, turbocharged the daylights out of it, then stuffed it into the humble front-wheel-drive R5 (known to us as LeCar) — not under the hood, mind you, but in the back seat. The engine (which started at 158 horsepower and in racing versions rose as high as 345) drives wide rear wheels housed in outrageously flared fenders. It’s ridiculously quick and big fun to drive. These cars don’t come cheap, but there is a strong enthusiast community here in the States, so you should be able to find plenty of support, both mechanical and emotional.
Find your Renault 5 Turbo for sale here.
[Photos courtesy JSBFoto.]
The Wise Guide team writes about things we think you’ll like, introducing you to great products, services and special deals. We do have affiliate partnerships, so we may earn revenue from the products and services you buy.
Now, we were supposed to do away with “News Bot” type articles, with all things attributed to a specific author here – right? This falls under the generic category, and shouldn’t be permitted. (?)
Mark, is AutoGuide forcing this upon you? The articles by this “writing group” are very generic and “Yahoo Autos click links to buy this sh!t” in nature, aside from this one on French cars. And it’s just shilling Ebay Autos.
Also, this is Chris Tonn’s job here, writing rando things like this about French junk.
I’m not pleased.
What’s your beef exactly?
-Generic author group name, not supposed to happen.
-Articles created solely to shill product links and/or Ebay.
-We have an author here for writing about weird cars – he hasn’t done so for quite some time.
…and a list of “fantastic French cars” that INCLUDES the Fuego (a piece of garbage) but EXCLUDES the Citroen SM, which is a TOTAL modern classic, and probably the best French car ever made…
And it’s on Ebay.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Citroen-SM-/121981924285?forcerrptr=true&hash=item1c66b073bd:g:eNMAAOSwfQRXMQUh&item=121981924285
All this “list” tells us is that the author knows nothing about cars.
I agree with Corey.
“The Citroën DS (and its successor, the SM)”
It’s included under the DS entry.
“probably the best French car ever made”
Hardly! Ever heard of Bugatti or Facel-Vega or Talbot-Lago?
Many think that the car’s name SM stands for Sadomasochism. Well, as per your comment below, you know what you’re talking about.
“-Articles created solely to shill product links and/or Ebay.”
That’s exactly what it is, and we make some money by posting it.
TTAC’s editorial staff has nothing to do with the content in the post (though we do review it prior to it being published).
As for Chris, he just started a new full-time job. He’s a busy beaver.
I appreciate the reply, thanks for letting me know. I will no longer bother to click on anything under “The Wise Guide.”
@CoreyDL At the risk of sounding like a shill, you should click on them because it helps pay for all the other things we do here.
But that’s your choice and I respect it.
:( These types of articles just make me irritated to read. I see them all over (except here) so that’s why I spend time here when online!
@CoreyDL
Let’s have a frank discussion, shall we? Yeah? Okay.
Regular readers don’t click banner ads. Hell, most people don’t click banner ads. So what do the advertising networks do? They make the ads more obnoxious and prone to clicking accidentally.
The media industry’s solution is to inject sponsored content into the normal content flow. This is the way most media outlets are going because it’s more effective than traditional banner advertising, which — remember — most people don’t click.
TTAC has issues with nefarious advertising. It drives me mad. I send emails regularly to those at VerticalScope pleading that it be cleaned up, blocked, and made less intrusive. They do what they can, short of turning ads off altogether.
By running content like this, we will negate our reliance on banner advertising over time while also returning some control of advertising messages back to editorial.
I didn’t want to make you angry! This could have been a Housekeeping article too, what you said here.
TTAC has a right to make money, just like any company. In fact, if it doesn’t, TTAC will close, which would be a shame because then I would have no excuse for not spreading 12 yards of mulch onto the flower beds.
We can live with this.
You waited too late, all your plants will be up and out and you’ll have to spread it over them!
Though I’m not thrilled about being referred to as any sort of beaver, busy or otherwise..yeah, I’ve been swamped with a new day gig.
Thanks for checking up on me. I’ll be back at some point with more weird stuff, I’m sure.
At the risk of sounding like a kiss a$$ (but we all know better), I like Corey, I like Mark, & I like this article (because I like weird, French cars).
Oh, and I’d rock a Citroen C6 ANY DAY AND TWICE ON SUNDAY if it were sold & serviced in the US of A.
Bring us plush riding, opulent, unique French chariots!
That was quite effusive for you, must have been the late hour. Ha
“:( These types of articles just make me irritated to read. I see them all over (except here) so that’s why I spend time here when online!”
I’m sure they’ll be happy to refund the money you paid to read it.
if you don’t want to read something, it’s a lot less effort on your part if you, y’know, skip reading it instead of reading it and spending hours complaining about it.
Show me hours, Jim.
@@222MY MOTHER USED THIS ONE WEIRD TRICK TO WORK AT HOME@@@22
AND MAKES $88.55 AN HR NOW ENOUGH TO BUY A NEW PUNTO!!!@@@
I’ve always seen “this 1 weird trick”….
This just in…BTSR just hacked Flybrian…
Kicking up my floorplan into HIGH GEAR and LOADING UP ON HELLCATS SRTS AND HEMI JGCS!!!!
Doctor’s in VIRGINIA hate Flybrian for his weird trick.
(Picture of jellyfish.)
I know you’re proud of that Mirage.
I see you have a 2013 Charger for sale with a melting center console.
dxsdcl7y7vn9x.cloudfront.net/435428/720F4CB7-DC06-4794-BB43-AAD52C74D51A_74.jpg
Mine is also doing this, even though it is in covered parking most of the time.
FCA quality. It’s the best!
CoreyDLs are overpaying on car INSURANCE click here to LOWER YOUR RATES with this STRANGE TRICK!!
28Cars,
You should’ve seen the lime green wheels that car came with. I bought a set of factory alloys (rollin’ on 14s, BOYEEE) for it out of a desire for normalcy and wholesale potential. You should’ve also seen the bump sticker – its actually DE so the foglamps are dealer-installed as is the Bluetooth. Plus, someone paid $1785 for ‘Premier Paint Protection Assurance.’ lolz.
Sometimes I buy things just to buy. I also got a ’14 Jetta TDI Sportwagen yesterday just because.
Ajla,
It looks like someone tried to pry out the console shifter. BTW, does yours have the VEHICLE NOT IN PARK error?
Man that console issue looks bad. My friend has similar plastic warping in his gen 1 Fusion.
I believe the 505, like the 504 it replaced, was styled by Pininfarina.
Hence the pleasant appearance (for a French car).
You are correct. And the 505 was sold in the US from ’79 to ’92, not ’80-’90.
What no mention of the Nissan Versa, a thinly veiled Renault Megane?
+1 with an old Scenic cast off mill.
Don’t know if there’s much Renault 16 this side of the pond.
I am totally okay with articles like this NEVER appearing in TTAC. Peugeot, is a car? I thought our literary peeps were using onomatopoeia to denote the sound one makes as they regurgitate their escargot upon finding out it is made with snails. “Look at that S-Car Go…”
It’s perfectly understandable if you’ve never heard of Peugeot. They’ve only been making cars for 127 years.
And bikes and pepper grinders before that!
Can we import that Citroen with the Maserati V6 yet?
You can buy one right now, if you have about 40 large and a five-figure credit line with someone who knows how to fix Citroens…
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Citroen-SM-/121981924285?forcerrptr=true&hash=item1c66b073bd:g:eNMAAOSwfQRXMQUh&item=121981924285
And it is a fabulous car – my dad owned one. It was temperamental (and that’s a kind assessment), but, man, what a car – fast, exotic-looking, luxurious, and full of radically advanced tech. That Maserati engine note was pure sex to listen to. Plus, there was the added bonus of being able to use the hydropneumatic suspension to raise and lower it, which was a constant amusement while sitting at traffic lights.
OK, the “click here for the five best French cars you can buy here” bait is a big bunch of whatever. I get the need for content.
But, for heaven’s sake, TTAC but when you run something like this, make the list worth a crap. Any list of imported French cars that includes a junkpile like the Fuego but excludes the actually-fantastic, modern-classic Citroen SM is pure nonsense, and tells us only that the author doesn’t know anything about cars.
The author is a listbot.
And a particularly dumb one to boot. This is like making a list of “the five best Corvettes ever made” and leaving off the ’63 split window coupe.
which is funny, since the story goes the designer who insisted on the split rear window immediately demanded its deletion once he drove the car.
Be fair, FreedMike, the list does include a mention of the SM as the “successor” to the DS. Um, yeah . . . .
Is this a joke? It’s a little early for April Fool’s day (or late).
I owned 3 of these cars (Citroen DS, Citroen 2CV, Renault Fuego) and a cousin of the 4th (Peugeot 504), and a bunch of other French cars too weird to even mention. I’m finally over my infatuation with French cars. Now I have a Chevrolet and Cadillac. They sound French, and that’s close enough.
Just because cars are interesting and unique doesn’t make them any good.
Even the French are less enamored with French cars than they used to be. With ECE in place, BMW, Mercedes and Audi are selling their lower priced cars like crazy in France, putting Renault and PSA on the ropes. Nicolas Sarkozy, the previous French president, became infamous when he bought a BMW shortly after he took office. The French voters were angry that he bought a German car, and even more angry that he bought one made in the US.
And, yes, I owned a Citroen SM, the one with the equally infamous Maserati engine. Citroen and Maserati actually merged for a while, and this was the offspring. Not too long after, they divorced. I replaced the 2.6 L Maserati engine with a Ford 2.8 L V6, and it made the car a much nicer car.
I’ve got a million French car stories, none of them good.
Bob
Guys, this is sponsored content. It’s here and it’s going to stay. Why? Because it allows me to pay my writers. So, if you have an issue with it, don’t click it. Simple as that.
Yeah, I get it, Mark, but maybe next time make the list worthwhile to read? Maybe you could edit it up to TTAC’s standards? The writing isn’t bad, but making a list of “greatest French cars ever to come here,” and leaving off one that was probably the best ever (Citroen SM) isn’t gonna fly with your reader base.
Just sayin’.
I want you to think about what you just said for a moment.
This is sponsored content. You are advocating for me (editorial) to craft the message of sponsored content (advertising).
No. Not going to happen.
The team behind The Wise Guide is new to the audience here. Over time, the message will surely be crafted more toward the tastes of the B&B. However, it’s not my responsibility, nor should it be my responsibility, to craft advertising messages for the B&B.
Like I said…just sayin’. I’ll click it because I like the idea of your continued employment, tho…
On occasion, I like to quickly peruse EBay for unique vehicle offerings. I don’t see an issue with this type of advertising. If interested, I’ll follow the links (like I did today). If not, it is easy enough to skip over the promotional article.
Mark, you do realize that with this post you’ve just lost any credibility or goodwill that you’ve managed to build up with your readers since your disaster of a first post upon taking over TTAC, right? Re-read what you wrote above; it essentially says “I’m going to publish this shit just to get the money so go ahead and ignore it because we both know its crap.”
Some people think the post (which is advertising, and somewhat outside of my control, though I can veto it if I see fit) missed a couple of vehicles and has a tone not befitting TTAC. As someone who has zero fascination with French cars, save maybe the Avantime, I like the piece. However, I can also understand why others might not.
At the end of the day, this is the reality: TTAC is a business. Yes, our primary mission is to publish content that’s relevant to our readers. We do this every day within our editorial team. Every. Single. Day. But this is advertising (or, more specifically, affiliate content) that allows us to make some money to keep the lights on and — hell — maybe even make a profit.
I didn’t tell people to ignore it. If anything, in my earlier reply to CoreyDL, I said he should click on these pieces so we can continue doing business, so I can continue paying my writers, so you can continue reading the other pieces you come here to read. If you think it’s “shit,” tell me why you think so. If you take offence to affiliate/sponsored content, tell me why you think so.
Additionally, I like the fact that we can have an open discussion about advertising. It’s much more difficult to have a similar conversation about banner ads for a multitude of reasons.
speak for yourself. The disclaimer is right there at the end of the piece. I was able to read it. What’s your excuse?
sheesh, kids today think everything on the internet should be free to them.
I worked at a Renault dealer in USAmerica.
Those would be furthest thing from FANTASTIC I can imagine.
you know that nice grey bar across the print newspaper pages that contain this type of stuff? that says “advertisement” or “paid content”? Something along those lines would serve better than trusting your informed readers to recognize “the wise guide” by line and translate. Now if part of the contract is that you present it as a news story from TTAC… well, the doors have to stay open, but the customer is always free not to come through them. Think twice.
We can definitely do a better job of marking it as sponsored content next time around. Thanks for the suggestion.
If you mark sponsored content clearly (say, a slightly different background color with hover text?) I’ll click it on purpose, because I want TTAC to stick around. And I’ll click on it all *twice* if it helps get rid of the damnable flash ads that literally crash my browsers *all the time* and make it difficult to read the desktop site at all!
And if you run a list of the 5 best Saabs to buy, I’ll click on all the internal links too because I’m crazy.
1. Saab 9000 Aero
There is no need for a 2-5.
They only made 7 models!
– Original 92 to 96
– 99 and original 900
– 9000
– new 900 and 9-3 hatch
– 9-5
– new 9-3 sedan
– new 9-5
The question then becomes: “other than the GM-badge-job 9-2x and 9-7x, which two Saabs shouldn’t you buy?”
You missed a couple!
-Sonnet
-9-4x
Which one was a WRX in Swedish drag?
9-2x was Impreza.
Correct on the Sonnet.
I’m not convinced that the 9-4x was ever released. Some were built, and some were allegedly registered, but by whom? Never seen one in person.
They certainly never made it to my local dealership.
It’s the Saab to buy if you are a collector, but not if you want to drive.
Too bad. The SRX carried the whole Cadillac brand for 5 years or so. The better-looking 9-4x would have sold well.
They made about 500 of the 9-4x, and they were sold! I saw one on 71-S last week after work.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Saab-9-4X-/121979980605?
@HH
I’m not sure of 9-4X was ever retailed new but there are a handful which trade hands at Manheim every so often.
I’ve seen 2011 9-4xs with medium miles for $20k on cars.com. I’d take one of the NG 9-5s over the 9-4x though.
Also the 90, and the 600.
90 being the front half of a 99 mated to the back half of a 900 2dr sedan, and the 600 being a Saabized Lancia Delta.
And it is Sonett, not Sonnet.
Of the 500 9-4x, I think ~250 of them are in the Portland, ME area, along with a decent percentage of all the rest of the Saabs still on the road. I see 9-4x’s all the time. And the Trollblazer, the 9-7x – see tons of those around.
Saab 96!
(I kinda want one, like I kinda want a 2CV.)
Didn’t Norm used to have a SAAB 9000 that could out-accelerate a grizzly bear while towing the Eiffel tower up the empire state building, all while getting 40 MPG?
I believe it had the tri-griffin tune.
Fantastic?
Odd!
Odd?
Weird!
Citroen Ami 6
Panhard PL17
Matra M530
Renault Caravelle S
Peugeot Bipper Tepee
https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2009/10/whats-wrong-with-this-picture-whats-in-a-name-edition-2/
I’ve seen advertising posts like this get used on different sites I visit that cater to my other dipsh*t millennial interests (films, craft beer, food, vintage lawnmowers, beard oil, etc.)
Although I hope it doesn’t happen here, usually it turns into a sh*tshow between the editorial staff, regular readers, and corporate mothership.
My three humble suggestions would be to make it more explicit this is a sponsored situatuon, don’t try to inject any “TTAC-style” into anything, and turn the comments off for these posts. It looks like these ideas have already been brought up in other comments.
Good luck with it.
Do you know of any good sites devoted to long-defunct computers?
Dell.com
_OUCH_ Mark ! .
.
=8-) .
.
-Nate
You can also import the early versions of the Citroen XM with its gorgeous styling and equally gorgeous ride. I’d also bring in an early version of the Alpine A310 (with 3-lug wheels) and replace the crummy PRV V-6 with a Honda 3.5l V-6.
My dad worked at a Dodge/AMC/Jeep/Renault dealer in the 80s and we had a few Fuegos as demos. The turbo was grey with a buttery brown leather interior that smelled SO good. My older brother would take it out, beat the snot out of it and one of the 1/4″ fuel hoses would burst. I remember my 14 year old self replacing that hose, several times.
This article has given me hours of meticulously-restored 2CVs to stare at.
The blue one for 19.5 is to die for… Fortunately, given the distance, I am less likely to be parted with my money…
This article gets two things way up. Six stars.
They can be bad for that. The productive part of my brain is still angry at whoever first mentioned The Old Car Brochure Project. So many wasted online hours.
I don’t know why there is so much hatred for these articles. TTAC is remarkably low in ads compared to other free sites. Given that the alternative is articles hidden behind a pay wall, I’ll take this.
Because it was handled so poorly. The audience here is sophisticated enough to know the bills need to be paid and would have accepted a post from Mark saying “we’re going to start with sponsored content, said articles will have a disclaimer in the title ….. blah blah blah”. Instead it felt like it was snuck in without a heads up.
The anger is a good sign, it means there’s “ownership” of the site amongst the readers.
I enjoyed the article despite all the belly-aching..
I’ll take a 505 and a DS.. For starters. Vive Le France!
“the DS proudly gives the two-finger salute to one hundred years of automotive engineering.”
The “two finger salute” was an English thing. Whenever the French captured English archers, the first thing they did was chop off the index and middle finger of their right hand; the two main fingers needed to draw their bow. The “salute” was a way of saying “F–K you, I’ve still got my fingers!” which was eventually shortened to just “F–K you!”
In an age where so many people run various different adblocks, content like this is often required simply to keep the lights on. I have no problem at all with it, and will click on it gladly.
Dear The Wise Guide,
I found this post both interesting and highly informative and as a loyal TTAC reader who is an influential car enthusiast along with being a member of the highly desirable demographic group with disposable income you are targeting here are some topics that would be of interest to both myself and highly desirable influencers like myself:
Five Cars You Won’t Believe Are For Sale But Really Are!
Five Cars For Sale Now That Desperately Need More Exposure and Clicks
Five Cars For Sale Now That Are Better Than Your Dream Car
Five Best Plastic Buckets for Washing Your Dream Car
Five Best Car Washing Soaps to Put in the Five Best Plastic Buckets for Washing Your Dream Car
Five Fabulous Seat Covers for Cars That Don’t Have or Need Seat Covers
Five Fabulous Seat Cover Cleaners
The Five Best All Weather Floor Mats and/or Products Sold by the Company That Sells the Best All Weather Floor Mats
Five Things Never to Leave Without on a Trip (Including Four You’ve Never Heard Of)
Five Fun Frivolities for Filling Your Glove Compartment
Five More Serious Things You Should Put in Your Glove Compartment
Five Best Small Things That Won’t Take Up Too Much More Space in Your Glove Compartment
Five Reasons Best Storage Solutions for All That Crap You’ve Got in Your Glove Compartment
I’m looking forward to more great content from your group. I can’t wait to tell all my virtual friends (because I don’t have any real ones)!
Acd, I invite you to create your own site even half of what TTAC is, and do it all for free.
I’ll gladly pony up a portion of the hundreds of dollars a year I used to spend on Car & Driver, Autoweek, Road & Track, Motor Trend and Automotive News if it would help keep sponsored content/fake bs articles off the site.
If I’m ever rich when I’m older, the Renault 5 Turbo is definitely on my list of cars to buy.
As for this article, I really don’t mind sponsored content I see it on other sites I’m on and it’s super easy to ignore, especially if they tell you(obviously). Being a super greedy entitled Millenial I hate ads with all that is in my being. But, I’ll take this over a pop up video or something.
+1. Pseudo-article ads are mildly annoying, but I’d take a dozen before a single intrusive pop-up video for Clorox. At least we can all make 70+ snarky comments on the article.
Mark, I rarely comment here in spite of the fact that TTAC is on my “must read” list every day. I figure we are here because we are car enthusiasts, The French built some really cool machines and I enjoyed the reminder. Sponsored content? So what. The article was a good read and that’s what counts. Fact is, if I came across a restored R5 Turbo I’d buy it, and a Renault R8 Gordini even more so. So don’t let a few self appointed critics get to you while the silent majority enjoy the articles.
Best,,
Bob
Thank you for your support!
You can also buy that single C6 up in NY State that made some news recently. The owner sounds like a hoot and he can even get service for it. Good luck registering it anywhere else, though…
My flight instructor had a Fuego. It was an “interesting” car.
Gad , what a bunch of self absorbed whiners .
.
The article says ” Five Fantastically French Cars You Can Buy in America” .
.
_NOT_ : ‘Five Fantastic French Cars’ , ‘Five Really Good French Cars’ not even ‘A few French Cars That Beat Riding the Ghetto Bus ‘ or other pablum .
.
You came here to read so read or shaddap and move on .
.
Having owned various French cars and been a mechanic in an Indie French Garage actually run by two old Frenchies , one perennially pissed off (Adolf) and one super mellow cool (Jay) , I have no serious love for French cars old or new although there are a few I really thought were damn fine cars if weird simply because _French_ you know .
.
Cory , don’t be disingenuous ~ you know you read every single comment , don’t lie .
.
-Nate
(still missing my ’59 2CV AZ)