Good point. Citroen was seeing itself as a the vanguard of automotive technology, at any cost and independantly from benefits or sale levels. This partly explain why they went bankrupt in 1974 and saved by Peugeot (under heavy insistance by the French government)
The DS was the most advanced car of its time but a) it was underpowered and b) it was sold at a price too low for benefits to happen. Citroen was a on dangerous downward spiral.
However given that Citroen's DS and CX 4-cylinder (that finished production powering the CX until 1991) traces it roots to the pre-war Citroen Traction Avant engine that was to also form the basis of the infamous shelved V8 model, it could be the case that the answer for Citroen is a POD where the Traction Avant V8 manages to enter production and from the post-war evolves into a lower displacement sub 3.0-litre V8 (later V6) for the French domestic market, while export market versions feature a version of the V8 with a displacement of around 3822-4998cc (using the displacement of the DS/CX 4-cylinder engines as a rough guide).
That same engine could also form the basis of an in-house V6 (assuming the pre-war V8 manages to enter production) as well as a dieselized version of the V8 (or V6) if they were inclined and had the capital to do so, along with Citroen even having OTL plans to spawn a 1.6 4-cylinder in the Citroen F Project.
Last edited: