Alex Moulton's Citroen XM

Yesterday we received an email from the new owner of Alex Moulton’s last big Citroën, a 1998 XM.  Given that Alex Moulton sold this car back in 2010, it is notable that this XM still exists as very few have reached the grand old age of twenty-two.  The car has spent a few years off the road and is very pleasing to hear that it has been restored to running order and looks to be in very good condition.

August 1995 and the new XM (right) takes over from the old.

August 1995: Alex Moulton - at a youthful 75 years old - with his new Citroen XM.

In a remarkable coincidence, scarcely an hour later a gentleman telephoned, having seen the original (2010) advertisement and enquiring as to whether we knew where the car was now as he was interested in buying it.  XMs were not big sellers when new, and they are now very rare indeed - particularly this one, a three-litre V6 24 valve in the top ‘Jacques Chirac’ specification.  It appears that Dr. Moulton’s car is the last survivor of its kind.  It was not his first XM; it was preceded by one from 1993 and another from 1995.  Alex Moulton had a habit of arranging for photographs to be taken when one car was replaced by another and here we can see the blue 1995 Series 2 car taking over the reins from the maroon 1993 Series 1 model.  Alex Moulton is, of course, famous for his hydraulic suspension systems – so why was he so often driving cars with hydraulic suspensions designed by others?

Alex Moulton’s admiration for Citroen cars stretched back a long way.  His friend John Morris (of the SU carburettor company) drove a Citroen Light Fifteen Traction Avant and the inimitable Alec Issigonis was an early adopter of the revolutionary Citroen DS with its whole car high-pressure hydraulic system that operated the suspension, steering, gear-change and brakes.  Always one to get down to fundamentals, Alex Moulton found the simple and very inexpensive 2CV ‘even more remarkable’ than the DS and in 1955 bought an example of the van version.  This 2CV was used for kayak-carrying duties and, perhaps of more significance, some suspension testing and experiments.  Alex was fascinated by the mechanical front-to-rear interconnection of the suspension on the 2CV and the great improvement in ride quality it gave, despite the almost comical roll angles when cornering.  The Three Musketeers (Alec Issigonis, John Morris and Alex Moulton) were all great protagonists of interconnected suspension and Moulton in particular was inspired by the successful system on the 2CV and the potential opportunity to both simplify and improve the interconnection by the use of hydraulics, as had been demonstrated by similar recent developments in braking systems.

Alex Moulton with his 2CV Van at The Hall, Bradford on Avon, 1955.

A page from Alex Moulton’s notebook showing the suspension testing on the Citroen 2CV in 1955.

Thus, the interconnected Moulton suspension system was born. Initially named ‘All-Can-Do’, it later gained the ‘Hydrolastic’ moniker.  It has often been compared to the Citroen hydro-pneumatic system conceived by Paul Magès and first used on the 15-6H Traction Avant in 1954.  However, Moulton’s Hydrolastic suspension bore little resemblance to the complex Citroen system but the later Moulton Hydragas did share similar springs in the form of nitrogen gas-filled ‘eggs’ or ‘spheres’, albeit at rather different pressures and with the Citroen items needing to be recharged or replaced every few years in contrast to Moulton’s system that was designed to last for the lifetime of the car. 

In what could be seen as a direct snub to BLMC and British Leyland, Alex Moulton chose the Citroen GS over the Hydragas-suspended Austin Allegro as his personal transport during the 1970s, and later added a Citroen CX to his stable (both the GS and CX having Citroen’s hydro-pneumatic suspension).  Given the circumstance, it is more likely that the decision was taken purely on the merit of the cars in question, and Alex was deeply impressed by the competence and cohesiveness of the GS design, and particularly by the comfort offered by the suspension.  When the GS/A was replaced by the Citroen BX in 1983 Alex was dismayed and sourced one of the last new GSA models as he considered it to be fundamentally superior to the new BX.  This GSA remained in Alex’s possession for twenty years, although it was replaced in active duty by his first XM in 1993.

Alex clearly liked the XM and could do so without any sense of lack of loyalty as his own Hydragas systems had been confined to the Metro and MGF since the demise of the Austin Ambassador in 1984.  When he learned that the model was nearing the end of its production run he again sought out the best example he could find, the three-litre 24 valve he bought in 1998.  The XM occupied the middle ground in his garage, between the Minis and Metros and the Bentley Brooklands.  It covered a greater annual mileage than all the others with the minimum of fuss.

Today, many still confuse Moulton’s Hydrolastic and Hydragas suspensions with the Citroen hydro-pneumatic system.  Alex Moulton was no doubt inspired by the photographs of Citroen directors sipping champagne whilst being driven in armchair comfort in the DS, but it is to the humble 2CV being driven across ploughed fields carrying baskets of eggs that we must attribute the most influence.  In a further twist, Alex Moulton did work as a consultant to Peugeot-Citroen (PSA) in the late 1970s and one result was a prototype Citroen Visa with Hydragas suspension – but that’s a story for another day.