Citroen Rendezvous to celebrate 40 years of the CX

Largest French car gathering in North America returns to upstate New York this weekend

This weekend, scores of French cars will descend upon Saratoga Springs in upstate New York for the annual Citroen Rendezvous. Every year more than a hundred Peugeot, Renault, Citroen, as well as the odd Simca, Panhard, and Bugatti cars from all over the U.S. and Canada will rally in upstate New York for a three-day event that sees everything from the earliest Traction Avants from Citroen to the very last Peugeots that were sold in North America in the early 1990s.

This year, Citroen Rendezvous will spotlight the Citroen CX, which will be celebrating its 40th birthday. The CX debuted in 1974 as a successor to the still-futuristic DS, featuring a modern exterior design coupled with an amazingly comfortable and ergonomic interior that still feels modern and decadent today. The CX carried on the hydropneumatic suspension technology introduced in the DS while offering more powerful engines and a very avant-garde interior that still feels futuristic today. Offered with gas and diesel engines, the CX was later offered in long-wheelbase form, in addition to station wagon versions. The CX was never officially sold in the U.S., though hundreds of examples were imported privately or through CXA Automotive of New Jersey, which federalized the car, adding quad sealed-beam headlights, emissions equipment, and other bits. CXA also imported a small number of XM sedans when that model replaced the CX in 1989, and every year there are a couple examples of that model at Rendezvous as well. At the 2013 Rendezvous, we even went for a ride in a 1992 XM diesel station wagon that came down from Toronto.

Last year's edition of Citroen Rendezvous featured just about every single iteration of the CX, in addition to a recently imported CX ambulance complete with a very French siren. A Citroen fire truck was in attendance as well. With the 40th anniversary of this model, visitors will likely see upwards of four dozen examples of the model on the show field.

 Jay Ramey 

Last year we even saw this XM station wagon at Rendezvous. 

In addition to the anniversary of the CX, the Rendezvous event will be marking 80 years of the Traction Avant, 55 years of the Panhard PL-17, and 45 years of the Citroen Ami8.

While Rendezvous is a club show rather than a spectator event, admission is free (if you manage to find the show field in rural New York state), and there is plenty of food and drink at a farm restaurant on site. If you'll be in upstate New York this weekend, stop by on Saturday and see the largest gathering of French cars in North America.